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A Magnificent New Dial and Bezel Showcase the Decorative Arts
In a subtle allusion to infinite depths of the night sky, the dial is constructed on multiple levels, amplifying the beauty of the celestial displays while creating a three-dimensional habitat for a pair of magnificent, sculpted gold dragons. Decorated with intricately hand-engraved scales, the dragons clamber around the edge of the raised and domed sky chart disc and draw the eye towards the Cosmotourbillon. The dragons, along with the sky chart, accompany the Cosmotourbillon as it completes a full circuit of the dial in one sidereal day.
Visible around the edge of the celestial map and beneath the tourbillon, the deepest level of the dial – a matt black sandblasted disc – is decorated with tiny stars that echo the celestial map; around its periphery, the names of the months, and the tourbillon seconds are marked in white. The months and date of the zodiacal calendar are indicated by a sun-shaped gold pointer set.
The dial is encircled by three concentric rings that carry the indices for solar time (our everyday civil time), each finished with a different surface decoration to add visual depth. The opaline inner ring indicates 24 hours, the outermost ring, with a silver opaline finish displays minutes, and between them, the 12-hour ring is circular brushed, with applied golden indexes.
The case is a perfect complement to the artistic dial and mechanical sophistication of the Master Hybris Artistica Calibre 945 ‘Dragon’. The bezel, decorated by the artisans in the Métiers RaresTM atelier of the Manufacture in a process that required 50 hours of work, is hand-engraved with scales that match those on the dragons’ bodies and on the small-scale alligator lining of the watch strap.
