From 1993 to 2008 Accurist enjoyed a unique association with the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, starting with the provision of an atomic clock that recorded the time for the world. In 1997, Accurist supplied the official Millennium Countdown clock and now Accurist has released this Limited Edition Celestial timepiece which has been inspired by more than 300 years of astronomical heritage at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
The Celestial Timepiece is a precisely designed analogue quartz watch that displays the correct positions of the constellations as they move across the sky. It is beautifully constructed out of stainless steel, with a scratch resistant sapphire glass and has all the high quality hallmarks you would expect from the master watchmakers Accurist.
Each watch has a specially engraved case back and is individually numbered and limited to just 2000 pieces worldwide .It comes in a beautiful wooden presentation box together with a magnifying glass so you can read the incredible information contained on the watch face in perfect detail.
In addition to displaying the time, date and month, the Celestial watch shows the (azimuth) bearing and altitude of the major fixed stars and displays local sidereal (star) time and stellar spectral type. It also assists in the calculation of the position of the sun, the time of sunrise and sunset, and thus the hours of darkness when astronomical observations may be made. (Maximum magnitude values are indicated for variable stars).
Uniquely, the precision of the watch allows the display of the current time together with the correct positions of the constellations as they move across the sky, the constellation display shows the entire sky at 50° north latitude and includes the positions of 1056 fixed stars with a brightness of the 4.8th magnitude or brighter, 169 major nebulae, galaxies and star clusters, constellation boundaries and the ecliptic and the celestial equator.
The constellation dial not only automatically displays the present positions of constellations but can also be used as a planisphere dial in which the constellations dial is independently rotated.
The solar position display shows the position of the sun along the ecliptic path (the sun’s apparent path on the celestial sphere during the year), times for sunrise and sunset as well as the number of daylight hours, which are determined by looking on the horizon line on the transparent dial.
The local sidereal time display lets you easily determine the location of the constellations. (Local sidereal time can be read off the right ascension graduation on the constellation dial opposite the correct date on the date scale that correspond to the meridian on the transparent dial).
These unique constellation display functions include:
• Planisphere dial function
• Displaying of solar position
• Displaying of altitude and azimuth
• Displaying of local sidereal time
• Twilight identification function
• Displaying of pole star angle
