Astronomia watch costs $500,000+

[Xipe Totec]

Inside the Astronomia Tourbillon domed sapphire case, a spinning 288-sided diamond represents the moon, which orbits around a hand-painted model of the earth as they both rotate around the centre once every 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, the brains of the watch - a part known as the tourbillon - projects out in another direction, spinning across three axes simultaneously, while a revolving watch face on a fourth arm completes the celestial choreography.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31966690


It's stuff like this that makes me think perhaps it's time to eat the rich.

[pipoman]

1. It's stuff like this that occasionally leads to great things which are actually

needed and useful..

[Xipe Totec]

3. Skip the intermediate step and move straight to the needed and useful...

[pipoman]

13. There isn't enough money to R&D without a deep pocket full of disposable cash...

[Vincardog]

2. I see that and I see art.

[hifiguy]

4. Same here. No beefs about this.

[Xipe Totec]

5. Because without a 288 facet diamond how could it possibly be considered art.

[pipoman]

14. With a 288 facet diamond it isn't art?

[Xipe Totec]

19. No. It's in your face opulence

[pipoman]

24. I have no boundaries...art can have no boundaries

Have you considered the unimaginable skill and talent it takes to make something like this from raw materials? How much time it would take? What is the value of talent like that? To me considering pro sports salaries, actors, musicians, even auto restoration pros, etc. And considering the cost of the raw materials I see not a single thing wrong with the $500k price tag (in the whole scheme of opulence $500k isn't all that much these days) And artistry? It really can't be denied..

[Xipe Totec]

28. Have you considered how many kids can go to college for $500k?

[pipoman]

29. I assure you that kids going to college isn't going to be affected in any way

With or without the existence of this magnificent demonstration of human ingenuity..any more than with this $300 million masterpiece..

[Xipe Totec]

35. I'm pretty sure Paul Gauguin didn't get 300 million bucks for that painting

[pipoman]

43. Why shouldn't he have?

If he had would it no longer be art?

[Xipe Totec]

45. The point is he DIDN'T.

Some other vulture assholes did.

[LittleBlue]

44. Yeah, price tag aside

that is beautiful. Like some magical clockwork device out of a fantasy novel.

[JaneyVee]

6. That is absolutely beautiful.

[jberryhill]

7. That's a work of art, not a retail item

[Xipe Totec]

8. Oh, but it is a retail item. That's the point.

Regardless of the craftsmanship involved in creating it, or the artistry of the watchmakers, the purpose of that object is to be a status symbol on some rich dork's wrist.

[jberryhill]

10. I doubt anyone is going to wear that watch

[Blue_Tires]

16. If I was on a date with Kate Upton or whoever, I'd wear it

[jberryhill]

21. Why? Does she charge by the hour?

[Vincardog]

12. No the purpose is to illustrate and celebrate the finest mechanical arts and craftsmanship.

Whether art is or should be for sale to the highest bidder is a philosophical discussion.

[pipoman]

15. yep

[Xipe Totec]

37. I thought that was the point of the discussion.

[pipoman]

31. What isn't a "retail item"? Ever heard of "starving artists"?

It isn't by choice nor because every work they have done isn't for sale...

[Xipe Totec]

32. Never heard of starving artists selling a watch for $500k

[pipoman]

34. why does it matter?

[Xipe Totec]

36. If it doesn't matter, why are you arguing?

Evidently it matters to you.

[pipoman]

42. I'm not the one arguing that art has boundaries...

I could understand maybe some form of disgust for the opulence, not an inability to appreciate the mastery and beauty..ever seen a Fabergé egg? And what about the value of the maker's talent in the whole scheme of people earning more than their worth? Sports figures, CEOs, musicians, etc?

[on point]

9. Archimedes would have loved it (speculated inventor of the Antikythera mechanism)

[NYC_SKP]

11. The history of timepieces is the history of humankind. I almost passed out at the museum in Geneva.

A little clock museum, the musee de horologie.

As an engineer and prototype maker, looking at the quality of craftsmanship of hundreds of years old timepieces was overwhelming and I had to go outside and catch my breath.

The feeling, the experience, was overwhelming and I've never felt that way before or since, and have seen some remarkable paintings and artifacts.

[pipoman]

20. This is one of my greatest appreciations

That is, the level of human perfection, ingenuity, and ability...no where is it more apparent than in the study of pre 20th century horology...made in a time with no power tools or even clean artificial lighting...incredible...



made, in it's entirety, with no electricity

[NYC_SKP]

26. That's what I'm talking about, and much older, too. I think more than the gears and the parts I saw

More than the sheer perfection of the tiny identical teeth gears smaller than my thumb, was the fact that on spokes or the perimeter of some of the gears were engravings!

Tiny perfect words written in script on the tiny part. OMG.

http://institutions.ville-geneve.ch/fr/mah/collections-publications/collections/domaines/horlogerie/?new_message=1

[OnyxCollie]

17. It's pretty cool.

[derby378]

18. It's gorgeous, insanely intricate, and has no business being strapped to anyone's wrist

It would make a great museum piece, though. I'm enough of a gearhead to appreciate the craftsmanship.

[brooklynite]

22. So, no Apple Watch for you?

[Xipe Totec]

38. Correct.

[jmowreader]

23. Would they do one about 12 times that size?

You KNOW these things are built to order...can you imagine one of these about a foot in diameter, sitting on a marble pedestal in the middle of a science museum?

[Xipe Totec]

41. That would be a sight to behold

As it is, the only glimpse we will ever have of this watch is youtube videos and gif files.

Except for the elite.

[Downwinder]

25. Catching up with the Ancients.

[Fred Sanders]

27. So all it does is repeat the same motions over and over again? Without the diamond it is a watch.

What I find interesting is what goes into making ads to sell stuff only affordable to billionaires?

It is one thing to make ads to sell a Timex, but to make an ad to sell the appropriately named AstronoMEa?

[VScott]

30. Cost, price is immaterial, irrelevant.

That's not the point (well, maybe to you it is).

The fact that there are still people out there that can still produce this level of achievement of engineering
art, design and craftsmanship is amazing.

There are probably a handful of men and women in the world capable of designing and constructing something like that.

It's something that should be encouraged and admired, not admonished.

[Xipe Totec]

33. I'm sure the craftsmen (craftspeople?) who created these works are not getting all the money

Or even most of it.

I daresay they are probably anonymous outside their respective labor pods.

[Liberal_in_LA]

39. gorgeous watch

[Xipe Totec]

40. Yes, true.

[Godhumor]

46. Just a spectacular piece, all around

No qualms about the watch or the price.

[Throd]

47. That would make a cool hood ornament.

[BlueJazz]

48. As an Amateur astronomer, the earth/moon thing is rather silly. It seems to represent something...

...that is just for looks. If the "moon" actually went around the earth with the correct rotation/time, I'd give it more credibility .