The Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium Julie, a Unique Edition of the World’s Smallest Mechanical Planetarium

Any watch from Christiaan van der Klaauw that carries a planetarium is, by definition, special. Since the mid-1990s, this rare and spectacular complication has been the brand’s signature feature, conceived and calculated by Mister van der Klaauw himself. Recently, the brand, now under the guidance of Pim Koeslag, presented the fantastic Grand Planetarium Eccentric, the first of its kind to display all 8 planets of our solar system. But let’s not forget the classic Planetarium, the world’s smallest mechanical planetarium. This watch has been rendered even more special recently with the creation of a unique piece with a fully skeletonised dial, the one-off Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium Julie. 

Christiaan van der Klaauw is one of the most famous watchmakers in the Netherlands and probably worldwide when it comes to hand-made, astronomical complications. Probably the most impressive achievement of his career was the development in the 1990s of the planetarium wristwatch, which became the world’s smallest mechanical planetarium. A planetarium is a device that tries to illustrate accurately the motion of the solar system and its planets revolving around the sun. With the recent Grand Planetarium Eccentric, CVDK presented the first of its kind to be fitted on a wristwatch and capable of displaying the 8 planets of our solar system. But there’s another important watch, built in 1995, that started it all: the CVDK Kepler’s Planetarium Clock. If it isn’t as complete as the recent model, the miniaturisation of the complication is spectacular.

Today, we’re revealing a new version of the Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium, which isn’t here to display new technical achievements, but to show what the brand can do in terms of customisation. “This extraordinary timepiece is crafted based on the very special wishes of a true friend of the Christiaan van der Klaauw brand,” says Koeslag who, after brainstorming with the future owner, had a clear idea of what to do. The concept was to pay tribute to this collector’s young daughter, hence the name Julie for this edition.

Design-wise, we can already see some evolutions, as the 40mm case middle and case back have been made in grade 5 titanium, while retaining the classic design of the model and its onion-shaped crown. Connecting the exterior with the complication it displays, the watch features a unique bezel made of meteorite with its characteristic Widmanstätten pattern in full sight.

What truly sets this edition of the Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium apart is the movement and how it is seen through the dial, which is made of sapphire crystal, with hand-applied Hindu/Arabic indexes. The latter retains the same display as previous versions of this watch, with date and month indications at 12 o’clock and the planetarium at 6 o’clock. Here, considering its particularly small size, it displays the ballet of six of our solar system’s planets revolving around the sun in real time – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are present.

The movement is the highlight of this Julie version. It is indeed entirely skeletonised, with the complete module needing to be redesigned to fit the openworked theme. The bridges and the main plate of the Planetarium module had to be produced in different shapes in order to obtain the shape of CVDK’s logo, the sun with 12 claws. All bridges are opened by hand, and the anglage has no less than 70 inward angles. Another unique touch, the profile of Julie has been hand-engraved by Master Engraver Kees Engelbarts on the barrel.

The back of the movement is no less special, as it’s also been skeletonised and bevelled by hand. Here, CVDK opts for the calibre CKM-01, which is the same base as used in the Grand Planetarium Eccentric, an evolution compared to previous editions of this watch. This manufacture base calibre is conceived together with movement maker UhrTeil AG (founded by Andreas Strehler) and features a rose gold-plated brass rotor, shaped into the CVDK logo.

This new version of the Christiaan van der Klaauw Planetarium Julie is, as you’d expect, already allocated to its owner. However, it is also a demonstration of what the brand is capable of in terms of customisation with its Collection of the Atelier. As indicated by the brand, “your personal wishes are used as a grid for our watchmakers to compose your personal watch: the materials, complications, dials, rotors, and finish may all be selected in accordance with your personal wishes.” For more details, please visit www.klaauw.com.