
Charles Dower
Head of sale, Knightsbridge
Sold for £16,575 inc. premium
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The notion of 24 hours a day was derived through astronomical observations. To pay homage to the three brilliant names in the world of astronomy: Galileo Galilei, Copernicus, and Johannes Kepler, Ulysse Nardin launched a series of three timepieces in collaboration with the genius watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin in 1985, 1988, and 1992. The series is widely known by the enthusiasts as the "Trilogy of Time".
The present watch is an example of Astrolabium Galileo Galilei, which was the first of the trilogy. The dial indicates the position of the Sun, the Moon and the stars as seen from the earth. In addition, the watch also tells sunrise and sunset, moon phases, moonrise and moonset as well as eclipses of sun and moon. Not only does this watch present the most unique and complicated way of telling time, it also exemplifies the brand's commitments to engineering and watchmaking.
The origin of the astrolabe is lost in antiquity, but it was possibly a Greek invention of the 2nd century BC. It was developed by Persian and Arabic astronomers and was widely used by the 9th century AD. The oldest surviving instruments date from the Middle Ages and were made throughout the Renaissance in Europe. The astrolabe remained an important tool of Islamic astronomy well into the 19th century.