The ?Celestial? was introduced at the Basel Fair in 2002. Two years earlier, the ?Star Caliber 2000? had made headlines as one of the most complicated pocket watches ever produced, featuring exact configurations of the nocturnal skies with its star movements, moon position and progressing phases within the lunar cycle.
This watch followed in the footsteps of earlier and famous super-complicated Patek Philippe watches such as the ?Duke of Regla? (1909), the ?Graves Super-Complication? (1933) and the ?Calibre 89? (1989).
In April 2001 Patek Philippe had unveiled the ?Sky Moon Tourbillon?, a ?Grand Complication? wristwatch capable of displaying celestial motions with incredible accuracy. Benefiting from Patek? s great experience in astronomy, mathematics and micro-engineering, the watch incorporated further miniaturized astronomical functions, combining them with a tourbillon regulator and a minute repeater with long circumference ?cathedral? gongs, which utilized a special steel alloy to surpass any other chime in a wristwatch. The ?Sky Moon? was the most complicated Patek Philippe wristwatch.
The ?Celestial? wristwatch displays the night sky of the Northern Hemisphere by utilizing 3 superimposed sapphire disks, which rotate at different speeds in order to show the angular motions of the stars and the moon, as well as the moon phase progressions. The disks are covered by the front sapphire crystal with its inner ellipse, framing the visible portion of the skies above Geneva and other cities sharing the same latitude.
The rotation speed of each disk required a certain transmission ratio in order to assure the greatest accuracy of all astronomical indications. The firm calculated the incredible amount of 25 trillion ratio combinations until the highest degree of accuracy was obtained. As a result the lunar day, sidereal day and the phases of the moon are ultra-precise and the disks move as follows: A counter-clockwise turn of the sky disc equals 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4,09892 seconds (sidereal day) and indicates the meridian passage of Sirius and the star positions. A counter-clockwise revolution of the moon disc equals 24 hours, 50 minutes and 28,328 seconds (lunar day) and indicates the meridian passage and angular motion of the moon. A clockwise half-turn of the moon phase equals 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2,82 seconds, and indicates one full lunation.The rotation speed of each disk required a certain transmission ratio in order to assure the greatest accuracy of all astronomical indications. The firm calculated the incredible amount of 25 trillion ratio combinations until the highest degree of accuracy was obtained. As a result the lunar day, sidereal day and the phases of the moon are ultra-precise and the disks move as follows: A counter-clockwise turn of the sky disc equals 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4,09892 seconds (sidereal day) and indicates the meridian passage of Sirius and the star positions. A counter-clockwise revolution of the moon disc equals 24 hours, 50 minutes and 28,328 seconds (lunar day) and indicates the meridian passage and angular motion of the moon. A clockwise half-turn of the moon phase equals 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2,82 seconds, and indicates one full lunation.
The ?Celestial? movement consists of 301 hand-finished parts; all steel parts are beveled and polished. Production tolerances are extremely small; the teeth of every gear wheel are manually polished with a rotating hardwood disc. This time-consuming treatment not only creates a beautiful and perfectly smooth surface, it also reduces friction at critical points of contact, thus insuring precise indications and extended longevity of the watch.
It takes several months to assemble a ?Celestial? wristwatch and quantities are extremely limited due to the lengthy processes of assemblage and regulation. It is a great pleasure to wear this divinely complicated and precise watch, a sort of miniature cosmos, on one's wrist.