As every fan of Ateliers Louis Moinet knows, the firm loves all things beautiful, unusual and exceptional. On its Mecanograph City watches, it was the first to include fragments of lunar meteorites and other rocks from the far-flung corners of the universe. Meanwhile, the Treasures of the World collection has opened up another creative path: that of dials made from rare, fossilized stones of mineral or plant origin, including petrified exotic wood – a Jurassic Watch.
These two unique approaches have now been combined in the Jurassic Watch, derived from the Mecanograph family, is the first to feature a dial made from Jurassic-era dinosaur bone –between 145 and 200 million years old.
The mechanical heart of the Jurassic Watch is the certified Mecanograph chronometer. This proprietary movement has been exclusively developed by Ateliers Louis Moinet. This unique timepiece comes with a 43.5mm case made from rose gold. Date at 3 o’clock, seconds hand at 9 o’clock on the dial with a concentric Clou de Paris pattern, limited edition of 12 watches.
It boasts not only extraordinary precision, but also a dial made from a genuine fossilized 150-million-year-old dinosaur bone. In another first, the caliber features a date window located at 3 o’clock. It also uses the exclusive Energie Plus process, unveiled by Louis Moinet at Baselworld.
Specific craftsmanship is vital for the production of each dial. It begins with the choice of the right stone; this needs to be sufficiently dense to be worked on, taking into account its final size and texture. The ensuing handiwork takes over a week – and results in a dial thickness of just 0.65mm.
The dinosaur bone in question, discovered in North America, has been authenticated by renowned geologist Dr Andreas Stucki in association with the Aathal Dinosaur Museum in Switzerland. The dinosaur bone is from the family of large herbivores, which also includes the Diplodocus.
Ateliers Louis Moinet was founded in Saint-Blaise, Neuchâtel, in 2004. The fully-independent firm was established to honor the memory of Louis Moinet (1768-1853): master watchmaker, certified inventor of the chronograph (1816), and pioneer in the use of very high frequencies (216,000 vibrations per hour). Louis Moinet was a watchmaker, scholar, painter, sculptor, and teacher at the School of Fine Arts – as well as the author of Traité d’Horlogerie, a watchmaking treatise published in 1848 and a work of reference throughout the rest of the nineteenth century. Ateliers Louis Moinet is perpetuating this legacy.
The firm’s timepieces, produced in limited editions only, have won some of the most coveted awards, including a Red Dot Design Award (Best of the Best category), a prize in the International Chronometry Competition, and a recent UNESCO Award of Merit. Louis Moinet creations often make use of unusual materials, such as fossils and meteorites, in a unique creative approach combined with bespoke fine watchmaking complications. The brand’s core values are creativity, exclusivity, art and design.
