Andreas Strehler is known as the watchmaker for the few and not without reason. Here is a brand that has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the world’s most precise moon phase timepiece which can be set and read extremely accurately. Moon phase indications deviate from the synodic or mean moon by one day after a couple of hundred years while Andreas Strehler’s phase of the moon deviates only once after two million years. This has won the Sauterelle à lune perpetuelle an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.
All moon phase indications have a common problem – as precise as they may be, they cannot be read very precisely – except at new moon and at full moon, the wearer of the watch has to guess what the exact phase or age of the moon is. Also the exact setting of the moon phase indication is only possible at new moon and full moon. Andreas Strehler has changed this with the first precise phase of the moon indication.
The Lune Exacte can be read and set correct to three hours at any time and not only every fortnight, thanks to its new and patent pending mechanism. This high precision moon age indication gives the age of the moon in days and further increments of three hours. The age of the moon was already of importance for the Mayan civilization and is still observed in many cultures. In China, a conception calendar is still being used today which is based on the age of the moon.
On the dial of the watch, there is a conventional phase of the moon indication and the additional age of the moon indication with its moon Vernier scale at six o’clock. On this high precision moon age scale, a red arrow indicates the age of the moon in days. Two red marks on the scale indicate new moon and full moon.
In addition to the patent pending moon age indication, the Lune exacte also has Andreas Strehler’s patented Remontoir d’égalité, first presented in the Sauterelle. Conventionally, a complication known as force constante (constant force) acts on the escape-wheel. However, this is the point in the whole movement where the least torque is present. For this reason, Andreas Strehler’s Remontoir d’égalité is attached to the seconds wheel or fourth wheel. Every second the visible satellite gear provides exactly the same amount of energy to the second’s wheel and at the same time displays the seconds as dead-beat seconds. The energy is accumulated by a star-shaped satellite through a spring which is re-loaded every second. Then, the satellite wheel is released and transfers its energy to the balance. The satellite wheel then rests again against the palette-stone. This planetary design of the respective wheels is a first in a wristwatch.
