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2 OPPOSITE: Lange manufacture Caliber L with orbital moon-phase display, depicting the earth, moon and sun, on the back side New Moons By Carol Besler FEATURE: NEW MOONS CAROL BESLER The Current Golden Age of Dial Decoration is Yielding Creative Interpretations of the Man in the Moon. 109

3 FEATURE: NEW MOONS CAROL BESLER New interpretations of this complication are inspired by historical references, including 18th-century moon-phase pocket watches and astronomical clocks from the 14th century. The moon along with the sun, stars and planets is entering a phase of distinction in timekeeping. As one of the few indications that is usually portrayed graphically rather than numerically on a watch dial, the moon-phase indicator is ripe for reinvention as a decorative motif at a time when dial finishing has become a crucial factor in high watchmaking. As with so many other aspects of mechanical watches, new interpretations of this complication are inspired by historical references, including 18th-century moon-phase pocket watches and astronomical clocks dating from the 14th century, which had miniaturized rotating spherical versions of the moon and planets. Even simple, flat moon discs are being engraved and textured to resemble the topography of the real thing. The moon-phase indicator, a frequent consort to the perpetual calendar, has always been a respected complication. Conceptually speaking, it is the opposite of the chronograph, as it tracks the slow monthly march of time rather than precisely ticking off 100ths of a second. In the course of a month, the moon passes through eight phases; the depiction of these phases is one of the most longstanding conventions in watchmaking. Traditionally, moonphase indications comprise an aperture on the dial with a blue background and two golden moons each moon, in turn, gradually emerges during waxing and then disappears during waning. Somewhere along the way, it became popular to paint these moon discs with a face, eerily resembling a modern-day emoticon, one that is not always smiling. 110

4 INNER WORKINGS In its basic form, a moon-phase function is driven by a 59-tooth wheel that advances one notch every 24 hours, when the lunation is rounded off to 29.5 days. A simple moon-phase complication must be adjusted every couple of years to account for the lag. More complex moon-phase complications track a cycle of 29 days, 12 hours and 45 minutes and use a wheel with 135 teeth, reducing the need for adjustment to once every 122 years. Some also track the age of the moon, the number of days since the last new moon. Most moon-phase indicators depict the lunar phases as they appear to observers in the northern sky, because clocks, watches and the moon-phase complication itself were invented in the northern hemisphere and more people live above the equator. Perhaps due to the rapid expansion of watch markets, complications now often display the lunar cycle in both hemispheres. The waxing moon s crescent appears to curve toward the right when seen by an observer in the northern hemisphere and curves toward the left when viewed from the south. Conversely, the waning moon s crescent appears to curve to the left for observers in the northern hemisphere and to the right for viewers below the equator. POETRY AND CREATIVITY It goes without saying that we no longer need a moon phase to track the days of the month, since most any calendar or smartphone will do the job. But we don t really need a mechanical watch to tell the time, either. We love mechanical watches for other reasons, and we love moon phases for the beauty and poetry of the complication. The following moon-phase watches, all introduced this year, demonstrate a renewal of creativity applied to the indication of the lunar cycle. Since the complication itself is not particularly thick, many moon-phase watches serve as nice dress watches. OPPOSITE: The Blancpain Villeret Carrousel Phases de Lune DE BETHUNE De Bethune s signature spherical moonphase disc is directly inspired by astronomical clocks. In the DB28 Digitale, the disc takes center stage as the main feature. The blued-steel-and-palladium sphere is framed by a ring of blued titanium set with white-gold stars and surrounded by barleycorn guilloché. The starry sky motif is repeated in a ring above the retrograde minutes index. Hours are indicated cleanly and without hands in a jumping-hour display beneath the minutes arc. The watch contains manual-winding Caliber 2144 in a 45-mm titanium case. De Bethune signature innovations include a self-regulating twin barrel, a circular balance wheel made of white gold and silicon and a balance spring with a flat end curve. $105, debethune.ch BOVET The moon disc of the Récital 11 Miss Alexandra is all about verisimilitude. It is engraved with the likeness of the surface of the moon, and hollow parts are filled in with a luminous material that makes the moon glow, just as it does in the night sky. The moon-phase function requires only a single, one-day correction every 122 years, via the pushbutton in the center of the crown. The central dial is guilloché black mother-of-pearl with 10 diamond indices. The hour and minutes hands are shaped in such a way that they form a heart every hour, just before they intersect. The watch is 37.5 mm wide and holds self-winding Caliber 11DA16-MP, with three-day power reserve. From $43, bovet.com CARTIER The moon of the Rotonde de Cartier Earth and Moon is represented by a tourbillon escapement a first in watchmaking, with the phases displayed on demand. Press the button at 4 on the caseside, and a panel set with lapis lazuli descends to partially obscure the tourbillon carriage. The crescent formed represents the moon s shape in the sky. During a full moon, the tourbillon escapement is on full display, and the lapis disc rests behind the Roman numeral III. The numerals are openworked on an 18-karat white-gold grid, poised above the dial. The 47-mm watch contains manual-winding Calibre 9440 MC with tourbillon and dual time-zone function, in a series of 50 numbered pieces. From $271, CARTIER cartier.com FEATURE: NEW MOONS CAROL BESLER 111

5 FEATURE: NEW MOONS CAROL BESLER A. LANGE & SÖHNE The new Perpetual Calendar Terraluna dramatically displays an orbital moon phase on the caseback using components of the movement as part of the composition. The balance wheel serves as the sun, and three rotating discs represent the sky, earth and moon. The moon s position and phase are shown simultaneously; it orbits the earth once a month, depicting its actual position in the night sky as it waxes and wanes. The earth also rotates once a day on its own axis; it is daytime on the half that faces the sun (the balance) and night on the other. Thus, the display also functions as a day/night indicator. The mechanism reproduces the synodic month of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds so precisely that it will not need correction for 1,058 years. From $229, alange-soehne.com MONTBLANC The traditional moon-phase display of the Star Twin Moonphase is distinguished by its ability to indicate the phases of the moon in both the northern and southern hemispheres. It is also one of the rare moonphase watches that records the moon s age. The moon-phase display is paired with a date indicator at 2, driven by the Montblanc automatic Caliber MB 29.13, which features a mechanical moon-phase module developed exclusively for Montblanc by Dubois Dépraz. The pattern of the dial s guilloché decoration echoes the form of the famed Montblanc star emblem. $5, montblanc.com BLANCPAIN The Villeret Carrousel Phases de Lune represents the first time Blancpain has combined its two signature complications: a carrousel tourbillon and moon-phase display. It includes a counter that tracks the precise day of the moon cycle, and is carefully calibrated to account for the half-day in the 29-and-a-half-day lunation. The moon phase and date correctors are under the lugs, another Blancpain signature that leaves the caseside clean but allows easy adjustment. It contains automatic Caliber 225L with a one-minute flying carrousel and date index. As part of the Villeret collection, the watch has a grand feu enamel dial, double-stepped case and Roman numerals, all characteristics of a classic dress watch. From $129, , blancpain.com VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Inspired by a mechanical planetarium, the three-dimensional representation of the solar system in the Astronomie Poétique Midnight Planétarium is the result of a three-year collaboration between Van Cleef & Arpels and Christiaan van der Klaauw, a Netherlands-based atelier that specializes in astronomical complications. There is no moon-phase display but rather a real-time rotation of six planets of our solar system. You will want to hold onto this watch for a while to witness its particular charm. It will take Saturn more than 29 years to make a complete circuit of the dial. Jupiter will take almost 12 years; Mars, 687 days; Earth, 365 days; Venus, 224 days; and Mercury, 88 days. Each planet is depicted with a different semiprecious stone, including turquoise, serpentine, chloromelanite, red jasper, blue agate and sugilite. The sun, at the center, is rendered in rose gold. Time is indicated via a shooting star that circles the perimeter of the dial. Price upon request 877.VANCLEEF, vancleefarpels.com OPPOSITE: The back of the De Bethune DB28 Digitale, showing Caliber

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