See more @ the watch review site [ Ссылка ]

Konstantin Chaykin presents his new 'mystic watch': a product of two creative and painstaking years.

'If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, 'you wouldn't talk about wasting it.' It would have taken a year or more just to re-create the lost model, but a true master should always strive for moving on rather than holding on. The model design had been worked further on and thus Konstantin Chaykin brought his masterpiece not only back to the world but another step nearer to unachievable but ever craved-for ideal.

The new model by Konstantin Chaykin was named LEVITAS - -- the art of floating without any visible means of support..

When looking at this mystery-clock-style piece, we can't help but feel fascinated. We guess what the trick is and desire to unravel the secret. The only answer we have, though, is a perfect coalescence of tricks and secrets: the art of watchmaking, the science of illusions.

Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin was one of the first and best-known masters of the illusion game. It was he who invented the most unusual clock, which consisted of a sound bronze base and a dial made of absolutely clear and unbelievably see-through crystal with a single hour hand and no visible mechanics inside. That was how the mystery clock story began.

Today, Levitas wristwatch is reckoned among the world's best 'mystery' timepieces. Fair enough.

The Levitas model is full of eponymous mysteries, and its extraordinary dial is the first and utmost one. Although most of the dial is transparent, through the off-centre aperture one can try and see a mystic whirl of time -- and hardly anything else. This is thanks to unconventional technology and exclusive materials, such as sapphire crystal. The crystal-clear sapphire disks hide nothing -- and reveal nothing but two golden hands that appear to hover intriguingly without any means of driving them. Indeed, they seem to move on their own and keep us entranced by steady motion of the shining metal strips while counting the minutes of our being.

The secret of the 'hovering hands' is in the mode of their attachment. The minute hand is on one inner sapphire disk while the other bears the hour hand. Both hand disks are coupled to gears around the perimeter that drive the entire indiscernible movement.

A strong and stout heart of this mechanical masterpiece composed of thousand hand-polished, fine-finished parts is enclosed in a small space surrounding the transparent dial.

It's a gem of an instrument with setting to match, as the watch case is made of solid gold.

For the fast and furious mystery play of Time must go on!

TECHNICAL FEATURES

Calibre KMR 02-0

Dimensions: diameter of 38 mm, thickness of 5.5 mm

Diameter of the dial (the transparent part): 26.5 mm

Materials: brass, steel, bronze, gold

Oscillation frequency of the balance: 18,000 half-oscillations per hour

Number of jewels: 29

Escapement: anchor

Resistance to impacts: shock-absorber in the balance's axis

Power reserve: no less than 33 hours

Accuracy: - 30 / + 45 seconds per 24-hour period

Case

Diameter: 44 mm

Materials: steel, pink gold, white gold

Water-resistance: 3 atm

Special features: transparent case back

Dial

Materials: brass, gold-plated hour-markers

Hands: gold

Crystal: sapphire

About Konstantin Chaykin Watch Manufacture

Konstantin Chaykin Watch Manufacture is a Russian company specializing in high-end watches and clock movements. Manufacture head is a famous Russian watchmaker and inventor who has registered a score of patented inventions and new ingenious watch complications. He is the member of Académie Horlogére Des Createurs Indépendants (AHCI). In-house calibers are used for the manufacture high-end watches producing.

свернуть