Known for astronomical complications in timepieces, Martin Braun’s EOS was launched in 2000. Named for the Greek goddess of dawn, he was the first to feature a dial display of sunrise and sunset indicators on a mechanical watch in the form of two long crossed hands marking each of these on circular scales.

The sunrise and sunset times were set to the owner’s location and adjustable by date via two small cams driving an extra pair of hands at the bottom of the dial. The scale on the left is the sunrise time and the one on the right, sunset.

The cams were machined according to the owner’s latitude and longitude specs, as were the appropriate times on the scales. The date is shown at 12 o’clock.

The owner was issued with a card showing correct settings for sunrise/ sunset times and once set, if you kept the movement wound, the indicators would self-adjust. If you left the watch aside for a bit, you could just manually adjust it via recessed pushers.

The EOS was made in a variety of case materials (stainless steel, rose gold, white gold, platinum) and diamonds even made an appearance on bezels.

Now, it has been revived, in a new polished 42mm stainless steel case (thickness of 12.5mm) with water resistance of 50m and a silvered guilloché dial. The hands are blued titanium in this new model. The sunrise and sunset discs are available in silver, red, blue, grey, yellow/ grey.

Powering it is the automatic Martin Braun Cal. MAB 88.2 which beats at 28,800VPH and has a power reserve of 42 hours. With a rhodium-plated rotor, it features pearlised bridges and Cotes de Genève.

It comes on a cork strap with a steel buckle. Cork shares many positive characteristics, such as high wearing comfort, comparable to leather straps, but does not contain any animal ingredients. Cork is felt that as a natural product, it is much more pleasant, beautiful and convincing in terms of feel and appearance. It is also water-repellent, and at the same time breathable and sufficiently elastic. Due to its natural surface structure, each strap is a unique piece.

In a nod to current times, the strap is not made from leather, but something different – cork. The brand also note that this means that it is water-repellent and breathable, plus the fact that it being a natural material means that each strap will be slightly different.

With an RRP of EUR 5,980, the new Martin Baun EOS is available at this link.

For those who don’t know, although his name is the brand, it’s worth noting that the brand is owned by Franck Muller’s Watchland group and that Martin Braun himself has the brand Antoine Martin.

[Photo credit: Martin Braun]

Categories: Martin Braun, Watch Profile, watches