Konstantin Chaykin reinvents moon phases
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal
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Anyone passing through the AHCI stand at this year’s Baselworld couldn’t fail to notice Konstantin Chaykin’s latest creation. Particularly as it seemed all the other exhibitors, intent on showing just what the AHCI is capable of, had conspired to direct visitors’ attention to this outstanding timepiece.
A Russian watchmaker based in Saint Petersburg, Konstantin Chaykin came to Basel with his Lunokhod, an allusion to the first Soviet robot moon rovers and an apt name for a new interpretation of a favourite astronomical complication: moon phases.
The moon is represented in three dimensions by a 12mm immobile orb made from wootz, an Indian steel similar to Damascus steel. Once used to make swords, its granular texture suggests the surface of the moon. Moon phases are indicated by a black rhodium-plated silver mask that partially or completely covers this sphere at the centre of the dial.
Time is read on a 24-hour semi-circular scale, with day/night distinction, above the moon phases. Minutes are shown in a subdial at 6 o’clock. The case, also in wootz steel, fits through two striking lugs which double up as horns and attractively contrast with the watch’s spherical design. Entirely conceived and developed by Konstantin Chaykin, the Lunokhod’s moon-phase indication is a world first.
