Bernhard Lederer – The Gagarin Tourbillon Limited Edition
On the morning of 12 April 1961, in Tyuratam in the Kazakhstan desert, now also known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a 27-year-old russian cosmonaut by the name of Yuri Gagarin walked out to the Vostok-1 rocket (a converted ballistic missile) and was strapped into the pressurised capsule on its nose.
At 06:07 UTC (09:07 moscow time) the rocket lifted off and just 10 minutes later, after accelerating the Vostok-1 to approximately 40,000 km/hr (27,000 mph), the final booster rocket burnt out and fell away.
Now floating weightless, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. Just over a hour later, retrorockets fired to slow the capsule down for re-entry into the earth's atmosphere.
On the morning of 12 April 1961, in Tyuratam in the Kazakhstan desert, now also known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a 27-year-old russian cosmonaut by the name of Yuri Gagarin walked out to the Vostok-1 rocket (a converted ballistic missile) and was strapped into the pressurised capsule on its nose.
At 06:07 UTC (09:07 moscow time) the rocket lifted off and just 10 minutes later, after accelerating the Vostok-1 to approximately 40,000 km/hr (27,000 mph), the final booster rocket burnt out and fell away.
Now floating weightless, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. Just over a hour later, retrorockets fired to slow the capsule down for re-entry into the earth's atmosphere.
At an altitude of 7,000 metres (23,000 feet) Gagarin parachuted out of his re-entry module and 10 minutes later landed safely near Engels in the Saratov region of russia. In just 108 minutes after take-off Gagarin had made a full orbit of the earth. For the first time, man had left our planet and returned. History was made.
The Gagarin Tourbillon features a 60 second flying orbital tourbillon that rotates counterclockwise around the dial counter in 108 minutes.
An integrated rotating magnifying glass allows appreciation of details on the dial. Looking through the loupe to the dial is reminiscent of looking out of the Vostok space capsule towards the earth.
The mechanical manual winding movement was entirely developed and produced by Bernhard Lederer in Switzerland.
The Gagarin Tourbillon is a Limited Edition of 50 pieces in platinum.
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The dial of the Gagarin Tourbillon is composed of a central stationary sub-dial with hours and minutes, and an outer rotating ring with the orbiting tourbillon. The inner dial features micro-engraving marking highlights of Gagarin’s flight and a red arc indicating the period Gagarin experienced zero gravity.
The outer ring of the dial features a distinctive sweeping bridge apparently supporting the tourbillon inspired by the famous 25-metre commemorative statue near the Vostok landing site at Engels. The complete outer dial with tourbillon rotates anti-clockwise (east/vostok) in 108 minutes (the duration of the VOSTOK’s orbit).
Micro-engraved around the perimeter are the key statistics, “12 April 1961– Duration 108 mins – Apogee 327 kms”.
The mechanical movement of the Gagarin Tourbillon is manual winding with three mainspring barrels providing a power reserve of approximately 80 hours and the back plate is hand bevelled with Côtes de Genève waves.
The complex movement with 264 components and 35 jewels was entirely designed, developed and manufactured by Berhnard Lederer in Switzerland.
The highlights of the inner dial are:
- “Tyuratam 06:07 UTC” (9 o’clock) - the time and place of the launch (now known as Baikonur Cosmodrome)
- “Bering Sea” (7 o’clock)
- “Attitude Control On” (4 o’clock) - the capsule was fitted with a sun-seeking attitude control system to ensure it was orientated correctly for retrofire
- “Retrofire” (12 o’clock) - at 07:25 UTC retro rockets fired for about 42 seconds approximately 8,000 km (5,000 miles) from the planned landing zone
- “Separation” (11 o’clock) - at 07:35 the re-entry module separated from the capsule
- “Engels 08:05 UTC” (9 o’clock) - Gagarin ejected the re-entry module at 7,000 m (23,000 ft) and landed 26 km (16 miles) southwest of Engels, Saratov region. The module’s parachute opened lower 2,500 m (8,200 ft) and landed 10 minutes earlier (07:55 UCT) - 108 minutes after taking off
Click on the mouse wheel to see the large size ...
The outer ring of the dial features a distinctive sweeping bridge apparently supporting the tourbillon inspired by the famous 25-metre commemorative statue near the Vostok landing site at Engels. The complete outer dial with tourbillon rotates anti-clockwise (east/vostok) in 108 minutes (the duration of the VOSTOK’s orbit).
Micro-engraved around the perimeter are the key statistics, “12 April 1961– Duration 108 mins – Apogee 327 kms”.
The complex movement with 264 components and 35 jewels was entirely designed, developed and manufactured by Berhnard Lederer in Switzerland.
Click on the mouse wheel to see the large size ...
The case of the Gagarin Tourbillon is in high grade 950 Platinum and incorporates an integrated rotating magnifying glass that allows more detailed appreciation of the tourbillon and details on the dial.
The magnifying glass is locked in place by a catch inspired by a hatch on the Vostok capsule.
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www.thegagarintourbillon.com
The magnifying glass is locked in place by a catch inspired by a hatch on the Vostok capsule.
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www.thegagarintourbillon.com
