The brand owner behind this watch has spent 20 years finding each necessary “piece,” meticulously gathered from Asia, Africa, and South America.
Les Ateliers Louis Moinet of Switzerland is renowned as one of the watch brands that is not influenced by trends, always charting its own course and maintaining artistic quality in each product.
Meteorite watch.
Over the years, they have held a certain position in the market thanks to their unique and intriguing timepieces. Jean-Marie Schaller, the owner and creative director of Louis Moinet, has successfully infused his passions into the products.
Jean-Marie Schaller is passionate about fossils, gemstones, and especially meteorites. Previously, Louis Moinet had incorporated meteorite fragments into their watches, but now, they have introduced a new timepiece that exceeds all expectations.
Cosmopolis watch face.
This is the Cosmopolis, currently on display at the Musée d’Histoire des Sciences in Geneva, Switzerland. This tourbillon watch has set a Guinness World Record for the title of “Watch with the Most Meteorite Material”, featuring 12 pieces from 12 different meteorites on the dial. These meteorites originated from comets and asteroids beyond our atmosphere before reaching the Earth’s surface.
“More than just a masterpiece of watchmaking, Cosmopolis is a journey of history and science, a miniature model of the macrocosm,” Jean-Marie Schaller stated.
Regarding the meteorite fragments embedded in the watch, Schaller dedicated 20 years to collecting them and decided to create an unprecedented watch to showcase the beauty of these celestial rocks. Each of the 12 meteorites carries its own story. Some of them are even “older” than Earth itself.
Image: Quillandpad.
The most captivating space stone is the black Chondrite, carefully placed behind the tourbillon cage. The other meteorite pieces are arranged in 10 circles, forming markers around the dial. Notably, there is the Jbilet Winselman meteorite found in Morocco, west of the Sahara Desert.
The Erg Chech meteorite is the oldest known magma rock and comes from a now-extinct asteroid. It traveled for over 4 billion years before arriving on Earth. Erg Chech boasts a striking appearance with a mix of green and brown colors and a surface shaped by lava flow.
Other impressive meteorites include the Allende meteorite, which fell during a meteor shower in Mexico in 1969. It is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old and is one of the rare primitive meteorites left from the early formation of the planet. Researchers believe this meteorite likely originated from a small planet located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Close-up of 12 rare meteorite samples on the Cosmopolis.
At the heart of the watch is the Dhofar 461 – an extremely rare lunar meteorite characterized by its internal white spots. Currently, only 300 lunar meteorites are recorded, all of which were ejected from the Moon over the past 20 million years. These factors contribute to the custom-made watch’s price of $245,000 (approximately 5.9 billion VND).
The trend of seeking luxury watches has surged in recent years, according to Alexandre Ghotbi, head of the watch department responsible for the European and Middle Eastern regions at Phillips auction house.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II with a meteorite dial.
Hermès Arceau L’Heure de la Lune.
Several other brands have also incorporated meteorite pieces into their designs, but none have matched the price and quantity of meteorites as in Louis Moinet’s Cosmopolis. Other notable models include the DB28XP Meteorite by De Bethune (approximately 3.3 billion VND), Hermès Arceau L’Heure de la Lune (around 1.7 billion VND), and Rolex Cosmograph Daytona (approximately 830 million VND),…
