Protected by two patent applications, the new Louis Moinet Sideralis is structured around two oversized tourbillons, with cages measuring 14.9 mm. The two tourbillons rotate in opposite directions and are positioned above the movement with the two raised cages to reveal balance wheels with beautifully styled screws.According to Louis Moinet, this is the largest assembly of two tourbillons ever created.
This is achieved through the use of two discs, one on top of the other. The top one features a tiny hand-painted picture depicting the universe and its constellations of stars and planets, painted one by one on a dark blue sidereal background. The animation completes one counter-clockwise rotation every 60 seconds.
The inverted double tourbillon powers the Sideralis complication, a time dial at 12 o’clock which displays in sequence Mars, the Moon, Mercury and authentic meteorites.
Louis Moinet’s CEO Jean-Marie Schaller explains: “These three bodies have not been chosen at random. Each of the micro-paintings includes genuine dust from the heavenly body in question: a fragment of Mars, moon dust, and extremely rare fragments of the Rosetta Stone, whose scientific name is Sahara 99555. This stone has travelled across the universe to reach us: it is the oldest known to mankind, believed by the scientific community to have come from Mercury and to be four and half billion years old. Fragments of meteorites from Mars, the Moon and Sahara 99555 also appear on the lower disc, positioned between the planets, floating in the cosmos, or included in a hand-painted shooting star.”
At 12 o’clock on this upper disc there is a circular opening, through which it is possible to see Mars, the Moon and Mercury painted on the lower disc which rotate in the opposite direction at the same speed.
The Sideralis calibre is mounted on a hand-painted aventurine dial that matches the universe depicted on the time disc.
Coming in a 47.4 mm grey gold case, the Louis Moinet Sideralis Inverted Double Tourbillon is a limited edition of just 28 watches.