Often featured in ladies’ watches, the moon-phase complication reproduces the lunar cycle in a miniature version. It generally appears as a disk or aperture. This function serves to keep track of full moons, new moons as well as when the moon is waxing or waning. A fascinating complication that gives a good reason for having your head in the stars !
Our selection of eight ladies’ moon phase watches :
A. Lange & Söhne – Little Lange 1 Moon Phase
The guilloché silvered gold dial of this model is swept over by hours and minutes hands and enlivened by a power-reserve indicator, a large date with jumping numerals and an astronomical complication composed of two golden moons. CHF 39’300.–
Breguet – Classique Phases de Lune Dame 9088
While the hours and minutes are indicated by open-tipped hands, the small seconds hand at 6 o’clock turns around the moon-phase aperture bearing a smiling moon. CHF 28’000.–
Girard-Perregaux – Cat’s Eye Celestial
Directly connected to the barrel, this extremely precise moon-phase complication immediately draws the gaze to the appealing motherof- pearl and aventurine dial center that lends a supremely elegant touch to this watch displaying the hours and minutes. CHF 44’800.–
Zenith – Elite Lady Moonphase
Michel Parmigiani got his start at watch-making like so a number of the other great independent watch-makers; in watch recovery and repair. He set up his own business in 1976 and over the years earned a reputation among watch collectors and museums, who hunted out his particular expertise for complex restoration tasks. In the 1980s this enviable reputation contributed to him being assigned the task of maintaining the Maurice-Yves Sandoz collection.Eventually he would come to set up a solid working relationship with Pierre Landolt, president of the Sandoz Family Foundation, with both bonding within their shared love for watchmaking. Fast forward another decade or so and Michel Parmigiani, with the financial backing of their Sandoz family, was finally able to obtain the production resources and means to create a brand that would bear his own name.This conveniently brings us back into the Parmigiano Cheese Substitute Toric Chronomètre timepiece we are taking a look at now. As I alluded to briefly in the introduction, this new version, unveiled in SIHH before this season, is based on the initial watch designed by Michel Parmigiani at 1996; the two time-zone Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Memory Time. It is worth making the distinction here that this is a reinterpretation of the first version, not a recreation so while there are many shared layout characteristics, the Toric Chronomètre is very much its own watch.For a start, it is presented in a larger, 40.8mm three-part circumstance, much better suited to the current modern tastes. It is offered in your choice of 18ct white or red gold and has been designed with comfort in mind. It measures only 9.5mm thick and stays snugly on the wrist thanks to the ergonomic layout of the lugs, perfect for an understated dress watch intended to be worn for just about any occasion. Where things get interesting though is in the construction of the case, particularly the distinctive bezel.
This creation with its turquoise lacquered dial features leaf-type hour and minute hands, small seconds at 9 o’clock, along with a moon-phase complication at 6 o’clock composed of a star-studded midnight blue disk. CHF 7’400.–
Parmigiani Fleurier – Tonda Métropolitaine Sélène Galaxy
This entirely hand-decorated watch is equipped with Delta-shaped openworked hands revealing the midnight blue aventurine dial, small seconds at 6 o’clock, a date disk and a pink (April) moon featuring a surface dotted with craters (referred to as “lunar seas”). CHF 16’100.–
Bulgari – Lvcea Moonphase
Playing on the day/night contrast, this timepiece displays the moon phases through an aperture shaped like the arc of a circle and appearing in the upper part of the dial that is swept over by hours and minutes hands. CHF 15’000.–
Jaeger-Lecoultre – Rendez-Vous Moon Medium
This timepiece displaying hours, minutes and seconds has been meticulously crafted by the artisans of the Manufacture who have applied a sandblasted finish to the midnight blue moon disk and a guilloché motif to the dial center, in order to give a realistic touch to this complication. CHF 15’800.–
Bovet – Recital 11 Miss Alexandra
The artisans of the Manufacture have opted for an unconventional design with a fixed moon to indicate the lunar phases, while the hours and minutes hands form a heart every 60 minutes in the 6 o’clock subdial. CHF 43’000.–
To see the pictures of our selection of watches, clic on the link “View the gallery”.
