Christiaan van der Klaauw Venus Zodiac and Venus Annual Calendar

Christiaan van der Klaauw is a renowned Dutch independent watch brand specialising exclusively in astronomical complications, making it the world’s only atelier dedicated solely to handcrafted timepieces inspired by celestial mechanics. Founded in 1974 by master watchmaker Christiaan van der Klaauw, who retired in 2009, the brand is now in the hands of watchmaker Pim Koeslag. Two new releases, the Venus Zodiac and Venus Annual Calendar, powered by the relatively new CKM-01 movement with a newly developed Venus module, perpetuate the brand’s astronomical legacy.

Compressing the vastness of our universe into the miniature dimensions of a wristwatch, CVDK’s new watches bear the name of Venus, the clearest object in the sky with the same size, mass and composition as Earth. Following in the wake of the incredible Grand Planetarium Eccentric watch, the world’s only mechanical planetarium timepiece displaying all 8 planets, CVDK releases two slightly simpler models tracking the real-time position and orbits of Venus and Earth around the Sun and the Moon’s orbit around Earth in two different interpretations.

Sharing 38mm cases with straight, screwed lugs, onion crowns and practically non-existent bezels, the Venus Zodiac is housed in a rose gold case, while the Venus Annual Calendar comes in a steel case. The dials are a miniature planetarium composed of four separate discs, three of which rotate counterclockwise. The rotating discs carry the celestial bodies of Venus, Earth and the Moon. The Sun is represented in the centre of the dial, on top of the axle of the hour and minute hands.

The Venus Zodiac

The more poetic of the two novelties, the Venus Zodiac represents the night sky in sparkling blue aventurine glass. Depicted on the rounded flange are the twelve signs of the zodiac. A small gold hand in the first rotating disc indicates the sign of the zodiac in which the Sun is currently located. Each marker between the zodiac signs marks the start of a new zodiac, usually around the 21^st of each month. The Moon, which is represented by a small white sphere orbiting the blue rotating Earth, reveals its phases in an innovative manner: if the Moon is exactly between the Sun and the Earth, it is a new Moon; if the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun, it is a full Moon. The golden 12-clawed Sun in the centre of the dial is placed beneath the gold Breguet-style open-tipped hands indicating the time and echoes the shape of the rose gold rotor on the caseback.

The Venus Annual Calendar

A more technical interpretation, the Venus Annual Calendar comes in a stainless steel case with a sunray-finished silver dial. Requiring just one correction every four years, the adjustments can be executed with the crown. The peripheral, static ring displays the months and their corresponding days indicated by the golden hand rotating counterclockwise around the dial.

The discs bearing the Earth, Moon and Venus offer more complex information, such as the 362.5 days it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun and the 224.7 days it takes Venus to complete the same orbit. Other mind-boggling figures, such as Earth’s orbital speed around the Sun at 107,206 km/h and Venus’ even faster orbit at 126,071 km/h, are also displayed on the dial. Without forgetting the phases of the Moon and its orbit time and speed.

Powering these miniature astronomical marvels is a manufacture calibre conceived with movement maker UhrTeil AG (founded by Andreas Strehler). This fine movement, equipped with a free-sprung hairspring, a variable-inertia balance wheel, and boasting a 60-hour power reserve, features original decorative flourishes to match its stellar heritage. The bridges are decorated with embossed star patterns; each major jewel is held by a five-pointed star, and the rose gold-plated rotor features skeletonised claws like the brand’s logo. Price is upon request. More information at klaauw.com.