LOUIS MOINET – Last on the Moon MOON RACE Tourbillon Space Chronometr - Unique Concept 2021
MOON RACE
A journey through space
« Moon Race » is perhaps the most exciting epic of modern times.
This space race is staged through four key episodes in the conquest of the Moon. It combines the finest craftsmanship with lunar meteorite and the most spectacular natural stones. These four creations all feature an authentic fragment of the spacecraft tha t shaped history.
Each of them has travelled more than a million kilometres in interplanetary space before being presented in the Louis Moinet travel trunk, which invites you on a journey through space.
A unique concept
FIRST ON THE MOON | 1966
Luna 9 was the Soviet space probe that made the first successful lunar soft landing. It was a real feat at the time, following a long series of failures. Soviet astronautics lost 26 space probes between 1962 and 1965 without a sing le success.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Launched on January 31st 1966 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Luna 9 landed in the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum) on February 3rd 1966, giving the world the first panoramic images of the lunar surface.
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FIRST ON THE MOON | 1966
The dial depicts the soft landing of Luna 9. The spacecraft is hand - engraved and then entirely painted. It includes an original piece of woven fibre from Luna 24. This piece made the journey from the Earth to the Moon and back – over a million kilometres through int erplanetary space – aboard Luna 24.
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The Moon is entirely hand - engraved, then blackened in the old - fashioned way to give it an enigmatic appearance.
The sky is made of black astralite, also known as aventurine glass. This material has been preserved for more than
50 years to be used for a major artistic work. The countless sparkles of its particles resemble gold spangles, stars shining against the pure backdrop of the sky. The Earth is depicted in a highly detailed artistic miniature painting, standing out against the sky thanks to the volume of its applique.
Hand engravings on the bezelThey represent
Luna 9, as well as the lunar landing capsule. Ejected just before the lunar impact, it then separated from the rest of the spacecraft. The
100 - kilogram capsule hit the lunar surface at a speed of 4 to
7 metres per second, protected by an airbag. The first images of the Moon were taken by this capsule and sent back to Earth via its antennae.
Mechanism – Calibre LM 3560 - second tourbillon movement, awarded the Gold Medal at the last International Chronometry Competition.
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MAN ON THE MOON | 1969
While the Russians were attempting to send a crew to the Moon, the U.S. orchestrated a
succession of Apollo space missions, drawing ever closer to this goal.
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It was Apollo 11 that enabled humankind to set foot on the Moon for the first time.The giant Saturn V rocket left the Kennedy Space Center on July 16th 1969, and the crew landed
on the night star on July 21st 1969.
The first steps on the Moon were filmed by a video camera and broadcast live, an event watched
by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
MAN ON THE MOON | 1969"Man on the Moon" represents the modern-day Christopher Columbus, the first man to walk on
the Moon! His astronaut's suit is hand-engraved and coloured using a miniature painting
technique. His visor is an authentic fragment of the polyimide film that protected his spacecraft
across a wide temperature range (-250°C to 400°C). This material was used to travel from the
Earth to the Moon and back – more than a million kilometres in interplanetary space – on
Apollo 11.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The miniature painting on this visor represents the reflection of the lunar module. In order to
achieve the finest details, the painter trims the hairs of their brush one by one, using only the last
one to create the finest decorations.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTOThe Moon is represented by a real lunar meteorite, named Dar Al Gani
400.
This lunar anorthosite is a rock found on Earth in
1998 and ejected from the Moon following the
impact of a celestial object.
The curved Earth is embodied by that "azure stone" used for
7,000 years by the greatest
civilisations: lapis lazuli. It floats in a sky of exceptional quality crafted from black aventurine.
Hand engravings on the bezel They represent the Saturn V rocket, the famous space launcher developed in the 1960s for the
Apollo moon programme. This huge rocket was over 100 metres high, weighed 3,000 tonnes, had
11 engines and could launch a 45-tonne payload to the Moon.
The engravings in the centre depict man's first step on the Moon, while those at the bottom show
the foot pads of the Apollo lunar module as it lands.
Mechanism – Calibre LM 35
60-second tourbillon movement, awarded the Gold Medal at the last International Chronometry
Competition.
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AROUND THE MOON | 1970
Apollo 13 is the third mission in the space programme to take a crew to the Moon.
When landing at the Fra Mauro crater, a site heavily impacted by asteroids, a serious accident
damaged the spacecraft. The mission was abandoned, and the return journey required going
around the Moon before returning to Earth.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
So was Apollo 13 a success or a failure? The objective was of course not achieved, yet this highly
dangerous mission can be considered as one of the most spectacular rescues ever carried out.
The return to Earth was due to the unfailing will and tenacity of human beings, from the crew to
the control centre in Houston.AROUND THE MOON | | 1970
"Around the Moon" depicts the spectacular rescue of
Apollo 13, which managed to reach Earth
with a badly damaged spacecraft.
The spacecraft is hand-engraved and then enhanced with a fragment of the polyimide film that
protected it on its return journey, particularly during its atmospheric re-entry.
This material travelled from the Earth to the orbit of the Moon and then back to Earth. In total, it
travelled more than a million kilometres through interplanetary space aboard Apollo 13.
The spacecraft can be seen heading towards Earth, having circled the Moon. Onyx, a variety of
agate used since antiquity for its deep black colour, embodies the mysterious face of the night
star. It is set against granite from the Bernese Oberland, found by Daniel Haas at an altitude of
over 2,000 metres.
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The blue Pietersite from Namibia was chosen to evoke the beauty of the Earth. Its shimmering effect is due to the many multicoloured fibre inclusions that give it bluish tones with an incomparable silky appearance.
Black astralite completes the picture. This material has a history, since its origins date back to
Murano at the beginning of the 17th century. It is the result of a lucky mistake – when a glassmaker
dropped copper filings into molten glass that was slowly cooled – and its name comes from the
Italian word "all'avventura". That is why astralite is also known as aventurine, or even river gold.
The astralite adorning the Moon Race watch was acquired and carefully preserved by the father
of Daniel Haas, our partner in the field of exceptional stones. The Haas family has been a pioneer
in the sourcing and cutting of natural stone dials for two generations.
Hand engravings on the bezel
They represent the Odyssey service and command module, the only one capable of returning the
crew to Earth with its heat shield.
In the centre, a view of the Moon shows a distant Earth, the ultimate quest of the imperilled mission.
Finally, we see the command module that landed in the Pacific Ocean.
Mechanism – Calibre LM 35Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
60-second tourbillon movement, awarded the Gold Medal at the last International Chronometry
Competition.
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LAST ON THE MOON | 1976
Luna 24 is the last probe of the Luna programme to land on the Moon, in the unexplored region
of Mare Crisium. It brought back 170 grams of lunar soil samples (regolith). The analysis of these
samples proved to be valuable, proving the existence of water on the lunar regolith.
After landing on the Moon on August 18th 1976, Luna 24 returned to Earth (Siberia) on August
22nd 1976, thus concluding the Luna programme, which began with Luna 1 in 1959, as well as
the Moon Race launched in 1961.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
It was not until 32 years later that a new probe landed on the Moon (Moon Impact Probe, India).
China also landed a probe (Chang'e 3), but in a controlled manner (soft landing) in 2013,
subsequently bringing back samples from the Moon in 2020 (Chang'e 5).
LAST ON TH E MOON | 1976"Last on the Moon" is the final episode of the
"Moon Race". One of the results of
Luna 24 was the
proof of the existence of water on the Moon.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Luna 24 is depicted on its journey back to Earth. Its prodigious design is hand-engraved, and a
real piece of
Luna 24 (resin-coated braided fibre) adorns its side. This material has travelled over
a million kilometres through interplanetary space from the Earth to the Moon and back, aboard
Luna 24.Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTOThe Moon is shown here in high contrast, with copper etching to highlight its craters.
Another of Nature's mysteries, azurite has been transformed into malachite by a phenomenon
known as pseudomorphosis. This metamorphosis allows it to retain part of its appearance while
morphing into malachite. The result is a very special mineral: azurite-malachite, which perfectly
embodies the Earth.
It is complemented by a yellow Pietersite sun, which fully deserves its nickname of "storm stone".
It lights up the sky with black aventurine of exceptional quality.
Hand engravings on the bezelThey represent the Proton rocket, a Russian heavy launcher capable of placing a
22-tonne
payload into low earth orbit. It was used on many Soviet space missions, including
Luna 24.
Developed in the early
1960s, this rocket remains Russia's main launcher, with over 400 Protons
launched to date.
The centre is decorated with lunar engravings, while the base of the bezel features the incredible
design of the
Luna 24 space probe.
Mechanism – Calibre LM 3560-second tourbillon movement, awarded the Gold Medal at the last International Chronometry
Competition.
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