Ever since the first cuckoo clock I ever read about in a book as a child, I have been obsessed with perfectly hand crafted timepieces and the traditional art of clockmaking. And for as long as I have loved clocks I have desired one particular timepiece into existence that showed the position and rotation of our plants around our star. Every few years I’d search online to see if it had come into existence yet, and then today, by sheer luck I finally stumbled onto it without even searching!

The Midnight Planétarium watch By Van Cleef & Arpels not only tells time, but follows the orbit of our solar system’s planets. The Midnight Planétarium which showcased at SIHH2014, follows the celestial orbits of six planets, each represented by a gemstone, orbiting a rose gold sun. It is a feat of design: just as in reality, Mercury makes a full rotation in 3 months, and Saturn in 29.5 years. I am utterly dazzled by its beauty and exquisite craftsmanship!

It’s a good thing I can’t afford to have this timepiece because I would covet it more than the dream of creating my own home some day and would become crazy with obsession over this possession. I don’t know why this is, it just is. I want it so badly…

Behold!

The dial is made of aventurine and the planets of semiprecious stones.
Price: about $245,000