Innovator: Martin Braun

These innovative complications were entirely new modules developed in-house, and fitted to the base ETA movements - reworked and assembled to fit in an appealing case with display back.

Greek Mythology is a fitting naming scheme for these astrological instruments. None so much more fitting than Selene, goddess of the moon.

Here’s where the ancient world morphs with modern technology - the unique, etched glass lunar disc is laser-inscribed with the realistic relief of the Moon’s geography. The glass lunar disc is transparent. A clear disc with two dark circles rotates underneath the moon creating the “shadow” that waxes and wanes.

The moon phase is accurate to one day in 122 years. That’s where the similarities with other moon phase mechanisms end. Conventional moon phases are advanced incrementally, once a day, at midnight. The Selene’s moon phase advances much more precisely, by the minute. The Selene also allows you to set the full/new moon to within one minute of the observed full/moon at the wearer’s location.

The ‘Selene Meteorite’ has a special dial constructed from authentic extra-terrestrial meteorites found on the plains of Namibia. This material has the signature ‘Widmanstätten structure’ exhibiting a cross-hatched appearance due to the ferrite having formed along certain crystallographic planes. A truly unique touch that intersects the earth, quite literally with the cosmos.

Bold, original, and unique. A truly remarkable collection of distinctive watches that embody cutting edge design, engineering, and artistry. Congratulations - I can’t wait to see what is next from Martin Braun.

Innovator: Martin Braun

6/27/08

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Heliozentric

EOS

Selene

What first impresses you about Martin Braun is his enthusiasm, passion, and youth. With such an accomplished line of complex pieces - you would expect the brand to be much further in its years. Now, in only it’s eighth year - Martin Braun yields more innovations to compliment his seven lines of strikingly robust execution. He is also, simply, a delightful gentleman to speak with.

These are watches which are undeniably linked to the Earth, and our universe. Braun based the Astraios line on the laws of planetary motion first considered by Kepler, where planets were found to move in eccentric, elliptical orbits. This development is a truly original configuration of wheels that precisely calculate revolutions, and the elliptical orbit of the Earth to accurately calculate local sunrise and sunset based on the wearer’s latitude/longitude on the planet. Phenomenal. The “nautilus-shaped” cams with long, crossing hands of blued-steel appear as planetary “scales” that pinpoint this calculation as the Earth “wobbles” throughout the year giving us the seasons.

Astraios

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