Louis Moinet has added a new piece to their double tourbillon ASTRONEF collection, this time with a less traditional type of dial.
A collaboration between CEO Jean-Marie Schaller and Concepto’s Fabrice Gonet, the ASTRONEF collection was launched in 2021, with a movement featuring two tourbillons whose cages rotated in opposite directions. As we wrote at the time, the two satellite flying tourbillons that rotate in opposite directions took three years of R&D. The launch model came in two limited editions of eight pieces each in gold and titanium.
Last year, Louis Moinet’s contribution to the was the pièce unique Art-Tech Tourbillon, featuring an iridescent silicon wafer dial.
Now, we have another pièce unique with a silicon wafer dial, in the form of the ASTRONET TECHNO, which pairs it with the double tourbillon. The silicon dial is engraved with circuits.
The ASTRONEF TECHNO’s two one minute tourbillons and their counterweights rotate around the silicon wafer dial in opposite directions and at different rates, one in ten minutes and the other in five. around the dial. On different levels and driven by a differential in the middle of the movement, they cross paths 18 times per hour. Each tourbillon cage weighs 0.25g and there are 471 components in the movement.
As may be familiar to you from the original ASTRONEF, the crown is different from your usual one – instead of pulling it out there is a selector, integrated into the case back, for the user to select if they wish to set the time or wind the watch.
The ASTONEF TECHNO has the same case construction as the 2021 model – the 43.5mm case consists of a sapphire ‘container’ (consisting of the band, flange and top dome) mounted on a grade 5 titanium frame, with open-worked lugs and case middle. There is no traditional external bezel, and the inner bezel ring is welded. The use of this large sapphire upper part is to allow for less obstruction when looking at the double tourbillon.
Powering this is the in-house manually-wound LM105 which has two mainspring barrels, beats at 21,600 VPH, and has a power reserve of 48 hours.
The Louis Moinet ASTRONEF TECHNO comes on an alligator strap with a folding clasp. Its 01/01 status is indicated by an engraving on the case back, and it is priced at CHF 330,000 (which is cheaper than the launch models were).
[Photo credit: Louis Moinet]
Categories: Limited Editions, Louis Moinet, Watch Profile, watches, Women's watches
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