Something completely different - Vianney Halter's "Deep Space Tourbillon"

[Cru Jones]

"Vianney Halter, wearing his customary faded jeans and tight T-shirt, sprawls on a chair in the disheveled office of his factory in the Swiss village of Sainte-Croix. The 50-year-old Frenchman, with lively blue eyes and an accent as thick as a slab of foie gras, is reliving the creation story of his first new watch in six years: Deep Space Tourbillon.

Over a career of more than 30 years, Mr. Halter rarely took a vacation and frequently slept only three hours a night. By 2010 his life was paperwork and visiting customers, with little time at the workbench. He was becoming nervous and jumpy, often forgetting what he'd done and who he'd spoken to.

In November 2010, some long-repressed survival mechanism kicked in. He started sleeping 15 hours a night. In January 2011, he laid off 17 of his 20 employees. Bereft of ideas and energy, he thought his watchmaking days were over.

[...]

The fictional space station's core is round; Mr. Halter's is a roughly rectangular element he calls a cradle, with three moving axis. One axis moves the cradle around the dial like a hand, but it completes the journey in 30 minutes. On the second axis, the cradle rotates (like a rotisserie chicken) every six minutes. The third axis holds a tourbillon, which rotates every 40 seconds—not the standard 60. Mr. Halter says the elements have no time-keeping function: 'This watch is the explanation of life on earth. I made the three axes move at speeds that have no place on watches in history. The axes are the three dimensions.'

The fourth element, time, is indicated on the outer ring, and surrounds the other three. The notion of all-embracing time is accentuated by a domed crystal, which soars 10 mm above the cradle. (The watch is 19 mm thick and 46 mm in diameter.) 'I wanted to make a very basic device that explains the dimensions on earth to everyone in the universe. The three concrete dimensions in the center with time all around. This was in my dream.

[...]

The Deep Space Tourbillon costs around $190,000 depending on the case metal. Only 100 or so timepieces will be produced.



read more, and watch a video, by clicking here.










and some of his other creations:

The Antiqua (1998)

The Classic (2001)

The Opus 3 (2003)

[wingku]

oh my goodness! Gorgeous piece!

[Bangel]

Wow! The fourth dimension before our eyes!

[mfer]

I think it looks awesome. The second I saw this I thought about Deep Space 9. Resemblance is very much there. Sorry, I'm a Trekkie.

I don't usually like these really out there watches, but one is something else!

[kilyung]

Very cool. Reminds me of axle-less wheels.

[FeelingTheBlues]

I cannot say I'd wear his watches (although the deep space, despite its size, looks quite nice) but those movements would make any enthusiast cry tears of joy! Thank you for sharing those pictures and the story Cru.