At its most basic level, a watch is something that enables you to keep track of time as the day progresses. Fancier models include date and month indicators, a compass, or other similar enhancements.
Truly amazing watches exceed these basic considerations and dare to inspire us to dream. To consider possibilities that go beyond space and time. To explore infinite and new possibilities. Maybe even to “boldly go where no [one] has gone before.”
Vianney Halter is considered by many to be one of our generation’s most legendary watchmakers. He began designing unique timepieces in the early 1980s. Though, by the 2010s Halter felt he had begun to run out of ideas and decided to dismiss the majority of the employees who worked at his small factory that was located in the village of Sainte-Croix, Switzerland.
A kind shop keeper then introduced Halter to the DVD collection of the television series Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Halter would watch an episode, then fall to sleep and dream of encountering beings from other worlds. He became inspired again and began work with Jermie Senggen, a talented Swiss designer, to create a new unique watch that came to be called the Deep Space Tourbillon.
The Deep Space Tourbillon was designed to recall the unique, circular space station the characters of Deep Space Nine called home. The inner parts of the watch move in a mesmerizing way, rotating around an axis and spinning at varying increments. Though, each was intentionally configured to move at a rate that does not match the familiar 60 seconds/minute or 60 minutes/hour cycles of most watches. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Halter explained that, “This watch is the explanation of life on earth. I made the three axes move at speeds that have no place on watches in history. The axes are the three dimensions.”
The outer rings of the watch connect with curved metal pieces that serve as the standard hour and minute hands of the timepiece. Again, Halter explained, “I wanted to make a very basic device that explains the dimensions on earth to everyone in the universe. The three concrete dimensions in the center with time all around. This was in my dream.”
The Vianney Halter Deep Space Tourbillon is a breathtaking work of art. Due to the custom design and extremely complex build required for this timepiece only 100 were produced, each retailing for 180,000 Swiss francs (roughly $192,575 US).
Check out the QuillAndPad.com article “Why I Bought It: Vianney Halter Deep Space Tourbillon” to find out what it is like to own this unique timepiece. The article is worth a read and includes many beautiful, high-resolution shots of the watch from every angle imaginable.
