Dark Moons Rising in both Hemispheres on the New Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Doble Luna

The brand that started life in Havana, Cuba, in 1882 and winged its way across the Atlantic to resettle in Capolago, a tiny Swiss village on the shores of Lake Lugano, proposes a double moon phase indication to reveal the cycles of the Moon in both Hemispheres. Staged against an anthracite dial with golden touches, the day, date and month are also featured on the dial. Playing on the brand’s Havana links, the functions are housed inside the brand’s vintage-inspired Historiador case with its prominent lugs and showy black and gilt dial.

This is not the first moon phase and full calendar watch in the Historiador collection. Last year we saw a similar watch, the Luna Negra, with a partially skeletonised dial but limited to moon phases in the Northern Hemisphere. By far the best-stocked collection at Cuervo y Sobrinos, the Historiador has appeared in simple time-and-date, retrograde, GMT, small seconds, moon phase and now, the Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Doble Luna.

Inspired by a vintage watch from 1946, the distinctive angular lugs of the Historiador case capture Havana’s heyday as an island playground and the prominent tailfins of 1950s American cars that are still driven in Cuba today. Despite their size, the tapered and curved profile of the lugs allows them to sit nicely on the wrist. The polished 40mm stainless steel case has a height of 11.25mm, and two recessed pushers flank the crown to adjust the calendar. A double curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating protects the dial, while a sapphire exhibition caseback displays the automatic movement.

Black and Gold

The flamboyance of the dial is achieved with an anthracite Clous de Paris guilloché-style (stamped) background and golden details. Peripheral gilt powder date numerals from 1-31 are indicated by a red-crescent shaped pointer. Adjacent to the date is a second ring with a snailed finishing and white minute/second markings leading to the Clous de Paris chapter ring. Six oversized golden Roman numerals applied at XI, I, III, V, VII and IX extend from the stamped guilloché area to the minute track and are accompanied by stylish faceted spear-shaped golden markers. At noon is the CyS coat of arms with a red interior to match the red-tipped pointer hand. A second satin-brushed ring placed above the stamped pattern on the dial features two apertures at 10 and 2 o’clock for the day of the week and the month picked out in gilt powder to match the brand name also printed on the central disc. All four hands are golden; the hour and minute hands are distinguished by their Breguet-style open tips, while the central seconds has an oblong counterweight and the date hand has a red tip.

A rounded oval-shaped appliqué placed inside the disc, spanning from 5 to 7 o’clock, houses the double moon phase indications. Two round apertures, separated by a gilt line with N and S, reveal the cycles of the Moon in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, with golden moons set against a black starry sky.

CYS 6331

Powering the Historiador Doble Luna is the calibre CYS 6331, an automatic based on the ETA 2892-A2 with a Dubois Dépraz module. It has 31 jewels, beats at 28,800vph (4Hz) with a 42-hour power reserve for the central hours, minutes, seconds, date, day, month and moon phase. Seen from the exhibition caseback, it has a customised black rotor with golden stars and the brand’s coat of arms and plates decorated with perlage.

Price

The Cuervo y Sobrinos Historiador Doble Luna comes with a matte black Louisiana alligator strap and stainless steel folding buckle with the brand’s coat of arms. It is not a limited edition and retails for CHF 5,500.

For more information, please visit the brand’s website at www.cuervoysobrinos.com.