In 2021, the Russian master presents the Minotaur Special Chinese New Year 2021, dedicated to the year of the bull.
A new version of the watch mechanism with Joker indication, where instead of a moon phase indicator there would be a different calendar indication. For example, for his Mars tourbillon, in the Martian Tourbillon Only Watch 2021 Piece Unique created for the charity auction Only Watch 2021, Chaykin designed a smiling Martian date indicator. This represents a Martian month, consisting of 28 sols, with the markings of the Martian days – sols – made up of symbols of the Martian system of counting, which was created by the master himself for this watch.
Stitched into the original
As 2020 drew to a close, with just a few months remaining before the start of the Chinese calendar’s Year of the Bull and the time to think about a new watch for the occasion upon him, Konstantin Chaykin noted that the bull, in one form or another, appears in almost all mythologies of the world. Bulls were honoured (while also widely used in ritual sacrifices) in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, ancient Greece, ancient Rome and, of course, in China, where the bull is ranked second in the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle.
Before working on his latest watch, the Russian master had been considering the possibility of developing a new version of his Joker indication for about two years, where instead of a moon phase indicator there would be a different calendar indication. For example, for his Mars tourbillon, in the Martian Tourbillon Only Watch 2021 Piece Unique created for the charity auction Only Watch 2021, Chaykin designed a smiling Martian date indicator. This represents a Martian month, consisting of 28 sols, with the markings of the Martian days – sols – made up of symbols of the Martian system of counting, which was created by the master himself for this watch.
Such a construction has never been in the watchmaking industry before, adding to the long list of Konstantin Chaykin’s inventions.
“Bulls” are moving away from big brands to Konstantin Chaykin
The watch, dedicated to the creatures-symbols from the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle, is a wonderful tradition of modern watchmaking, allowing you to enrich it with plots and meanings from Chinese mythology. A few years ago, Konstantin Chaykin, a Russian inventor, watchmaker and full member of the Academy of Independent Watchmakers, felt that this topic was far from exhausted, and he was able to present his own interpretations of the popular genre. The first work of the master in this genre was the watch”Unique Pig 2019″ (Unique Pig 2019), dedicated to the onset of the year of the pig according to the traditional Chinese calendar. This model Konstantin Chaykin showed that it will not be boring, and that the joker indication invented by him in 2017 allows you to create new spectacular and attractive characters of the collection of “ristmons”, each with its own design and unique character. In early 2020, the Russian master, celebrating the arrival of the year of the rat, proposed a new model of the collection – “Mouse King”. In addition to the impressive design made in silver-gray tones, this “ristmon” had a unique mechanics, in particular, in this watch Chaykin first realized his long-standing idea: to put the crown in the upper part of the case and perform it in the form of a royal crown. In 2021, the Russian master presents the “Minotaur Special Chinese New Year 2021” (Minotaur Special Chinese New Year 2021) , dedicated to the year of the bull.
The Year of the Bull as an Occasion to Create a New “Ristmon”
At the end of 2020, when the year of the bull according to the Chinese calendar is only a few months away and it’s time to think about the next clock created on this occasion, Konstantin Chaykin drew attention to the fact that the bull in one form or another appears in almost all mythologies of the world. Bulls were honored (and at the same time used in ritual sacrifices) in Ancient Egypt, and in the states of Mesopotamia, and in India, in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, and of course, in China, where the bull is the second highest ranking creature of the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle. Until that time, the Russian master for about two years considered the possibility of developing a new version of the clock mechanism with a joker indication, where instead of a moon phase indicator there would be a different calendar pointer. For example, for his Martian tourbillon only Watch 2021 Piece Unique,created for the only Watch 2021 charity auction, Chaykin constructed a smiling Mars date indicator. It represents the Martian month consisting of 28 sols, and the marking of the numbering of Martian days – salts – is made with symbols of the Martian numbering system that the master came up with for these watches.
Konstantin Chaykin perceives watchwork as an artist, for him the technical side of the project seems undoubtedly important, but still subordinate to the creative creative idea. In search of inspiration, he began to collect information about how his chosen theme is reflected in mythology and art, and immediately highlighted the legend known from childhood about the Minotaur, a Cretan monster with a human body and a bull’s head. Constantine has always been amazed at how the ancient Greeks in their myths are incredibly meticultous in numbers. So, in the myths about the Minotaur there is information that the Athenians, paying the tribute appointed to them by King Minos, every year brought seven young men and seven girls to eat the Minotaur. Seven and seven – these figures from the watchmaker instantly awaken associations with the day of the week indicator, and Chaykin immediately had a technical solution how to perform the day of the week indicator, large enough for his idea of a calendar joker indication. The fact is that in the presence of two disk indicators of hours and minutes in the mechanism there was no room for the disk of the day of the week indicator of such a size that would suit Constantine. Two sevens from the legend of the Minotaur led him to the idea of designing a clock with a double, namely a two-disc day of the week, when the first disc will have the first letters of the day of the week, and on the second – the second. Such a design has never before been used in watchkey, and it complements the long list of inventions of Konstantin Chaykin.
So the Minotaur, a character in ancient Greek myths, burst into Chinese mythology in Chaykin’s imagination. Note that the idea of intertwining myths or fairy tales from different cultures is not new to him. In particular, a similar idea inspired him to create the watch “Mouse King”, where the rat from the Chinese myth suddenly also turns out to be a character in Hoffmann’s fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, and in the Carpe Diem watch he combined the ancient Greek myth of Kronos, the progenitor of time, with the genre of allegorical still life, which was incredibly popular in Holland at the beginning of the XVII century. He also took into account that the image of the bull is perceived with great optimism on Wall Street, no wonder there is his 3200-kilogram bronze statue created by sculptor Arturo Di Modica in 1987. The attacking bull from Wall Street (Charging Bull) since then has become one of the most popular attractions in New York. Being in New York and not touching an attacking bull is like not being in the “big apple”. Feeling the life-loving power of an attacking bull on the wrist. , and at the same time to touch the high watchmaking performed by Konstantin Chaykin – that’s what the Minotaur watches were created for.
In the labyrinths of high horological art
In the course of reflection, Konstantin Chaykin gradually created the image of a watch: a bronze case, a dial made in bronze tones, a brutal strap made of buffalo leather, the use of the motif of the Knossos labyrinth in the clock decor, where, according to legend, the Minotaur lived – from the relief pattern on the dial to the engraving on the clasp of the strap and rotor of the automatic winding system. The upper lugs of the strap mount are made in the form of bull horns – without them, the image of the Minotaur would be incomplete, unconvincing.
Two nostrils of the Minotaur, inflated as if in anger, the master decided to use as paired windows invented by him a large index of the day of the week. Perhaps not entirely respectful of the mythical monster, but that’s the essence of watchwork – it puts everything at the service of watch mechanics. To make the indicator even more convenient, Konstantin Chaykin decided to put sapphire lenses in the windows, the same as he had previously developed for the unique day of the week indicator with emoji jokers ofthe Joker Selfiewatch.
Although replacing the moon phase indicator of the original version of the joker display module with a day of the week indicator may seem like a minor modification, Konstantin Chaykin began the development of the new K.08-1 caliber literally from scratch. As a base, he decided to use, as in the watch “Mouse King”, automatic movement Vaucher VMF 3002 Swiss production. Following the legend of the Minotaur, Constantine produces two discs of the day of the week from different metals – bronze as a symbol of the Bronze Age, masculinity, belligerence, and silver as a symbol of the moon, femininity, poetry. These two parts are almost completely hidden under the dial of the watch, however, they, like all other parts of the display module and a number of details of the basic mechanism modified by Chaykin, are produced at the Russian manufactory with extreme meticulousness. Classic techniques are used in the finishing of parts: pearl textured grinding, thin longitudinal and circular grinding, abrasive-jet matte finish, manual removal and polishing of chamfers, engraving, polishing of recesses for screws, pins and stones, spherical polishing of the tips of the axles of the wheels, galvanic coating with rhodium.
Traditionally, for watches with a joker indication of Konstantin Chaykin, the second fixed head of the case is used as a pointer corrector, here – the day of the week indicator: a button-giver is built into it, with its help the pointer is set for the desired day is made conveniently and quickly.
And by the way, Diodorus of Sicily in the I century BC reported that Egyptian women were naked in front of images of the sacred bull Apis …
Konstantin Chaykin Minotaur Special Chinese New Year 2021 Technical Specifications
Limited edition of 8 copies
Functions
- Jocker-indication of time with disk indicators of hours and minutes and a “large” two-disc indicator of the day of the week
Movement
- Caliber K.08-1 with automatic winding
- Indication module of konstantin Chaykin manufactory
- Basic movement Vaucher VMF 3002 Swiss production
- Movement dimensions diameter 31.5 mm, thickness 7.6 mm (with module)
- Anchor descent
- Balance frequency 28,800 vibrations per hour
- Power reserve 50 hours
- Number of stones 36 (basic mechanism – 28 stones, module – 8 stones)
- Number of module parts 67
- Rotor of the automatic factory system with relief décor “labyrinth”, the name of the watch and the logo of the konstantin Chaykin manufactory
Case
- Iron bronze body
- Case dimensionsdiameter 42 mm, thickness 13 mm
- Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, diameter 34.5 mm
- Number of body parts 36
- Titanium case back, with sapphire window
Dial
- Finish relief “guilloche” décor, relief décor “labyrinth”, multi-layer lacquer coating
- Number of dial parts 18
Strap & Clasp
- Exclusive strap made of buffalo leather of cognac shade and “vintage” finish, white stitching, tavro in the form of the logo of the Konstantin Chaykin manufactory was burned personally by Konstantin Chaykin
- Clasp produced by Konstantin Chaykin, standard, titanium, with relief décor “labyrinth”
