Martin Braun

SELENE
The Selene is dominated by a photorealistc image of the moon, which has never been realized in the watch industry. This is just one of the main elements that differentiates it from a conventional moon phase display. The other main difference is that this timepiece can be worn for close to three generations before its realistic moon needs to be corrected. Thus, if this watch was to be kept wound for 122 and a half years, its moon phase display would deviate only by one day. The setting of conventional moon phase displays generally takes place incrementally, meaning that the disk is moved in little steps, making an absolutely precise setting only nominally possible. This is not the case with the Selene. Setting is done by a corrector pusher located in the case band at 8 o’clock. The corrector pusher guarantees that the disk that eclipses the large moon on the dial can be moved or rather rotated gently and evenly. This also means that the moon phase display can be set to the exact minute. If, for example, full moon occurs at precisely 10:05 pm, then the disk can be moved via the corrector pusher at exactly 10:05 so that absolutely no eclipsing of the moon is visible and the entire moon beams up at its wearer. The Selene is the first and only watch in the world to make this possible. And since a moon phase display without a date is fairly useless, the date display has been discretely added in form of a ring around the outer circumference of the dial, where it is barely noticeable except when it is needed. Then it can be quickly and easily read with the help of the red-tipped sweep hand. Martin Braun also decided to incorporate this type of date display since the moon phase disks, which are quite large and visible in a barely-there cutaway at 9 o’clock, take up most of the room available right underneath the dial. Dial Variations Selene B Selene B is outfitted with a black dial, obviously strong and striking in “face” and hands. The hands are made up of backwards sunrays from Martin Braun’s logo. Selene S Selene S is based on the famous “face” of Martin Braun’s first complication, the EOS. On the Selene, the sunray guilloché pattern radiates from a point behind the moon at 9 o’clock rather than 6 o’clock as it would on the EOS. This dial has developed into a true classic and lends the Selene the understatement and elegance of a silvery moonlit night. Selene Meteorite What goes better with a moon phase than authentic meteorite? Only this particular material is blessed with the so-called “Widmanstätten” structure, named after Alois von Beckh-Widmanstätten (1754-1849). Such meteorites are above all found in Africa, especially in the area of Namibia. A meteorite travels for thousands of years through space, petrifying, creating unique structures in its substance. Comprising iron, nickel, kamazite (an iron mineral with a bit of nickel), and taenite (an iron mineral with a lot of nickel) and various other minerals, conditions in space create the unique look of this meteorite disk. That is also the reason why every meteorite dial looks different in its surface structure. The idea for Selene had been going around in my head for quite a while,” Martin Braun remembers. “For one, because a moon phase was missing in my line of astronomical complications, and for another because I missed a certain originality in the moon phase models already on the market today. It is also a fact that existing designs have one main error in them due to their systems. The mistake is found at new moon. In reality, the moon is always visible in the sky, even if only slightly, illuminated by scattered light from the earth. “For this reason, I wanted to simply make a moon phase watch that shows the moon as it really appears to us in the sky.” Creating this realistic moon display is something Martin Braun and his team achieved after numerous attempts. To permanently capture a photorealistic moon on a small glass within the dial took many months of research and development. Finally, to achieve this high quality, each image is printed on the small glass with more than 600dpi. A disk with two dark circles revolves underneath this transparent moon and eclipses it. Thus, the shadow of the moon is clearly to be seen, and even at new moon it is there and visible. This design is completely new and replaces the two semi-circular cutaways used in conventional displays. The Moon has a diameter of 3476 Km, 1/4 of the Earth diameter; The closest distance to the Earth is 363.200 km, this point is called Perigaeum; The maximum distance to the Earth is 405.000 km, this point is called Apogaeum; Mass 7,349 * 1022 kg, Comparing to the earth 5,974 * 1024 kg; Equatorial Surface Gravity, 1,62 m/s2. Comparing to the Earth 9,807 m/s2. Things are therefore 6 times lighter than on Earth. The time from Full Moon to Full Moon is: 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2,9 seconds. Out of this difference of the 44 minutes and 2,9 seconds a normal Moonphase indication will have a mistake after a certain time. The special and well calculated gear of the „Selene“ compensates this mistake up to an accuracy of 122 and 1/2 year.

SELENE

The Selene is dominated by a photorealistc image of the moon, which has never been realized in the watch industry. This is just one of the main elements that differentiates it from a conventional moon phase display. The other main difference is that this timepiece can be worn for close to three generations before its realistic moon needs to be corrected. Thus, if this watch was to be kept wound for 122 and a half years, its moon phase display would deviate only by one day.

The setting of conventional moon phase displays generally takes place incrementally, meaning that the disk is moved in little steps, making an absolutely precise setting only nominally possible. This is not the case with the Selene. Setting is done by a corrector pusher located in the case band at 8 o’clock. The corrector pusher guarantees that the disk that eclipses the large moon on the dial can be moved or rather rotated gently and evenly.

This also means that the moon phase display can be set to the exact minute.

If, for example, full moon occurs at precisely 10:05 pm, then the disk can be moved via the corrector pusher at exactly 10:05 so that absolutely no eclipsing of the moon is visible and the entire moon beams up at its wearer.

The Selene is the first and only watch in the world to make this possible. And since a moon phase display without a date is fairly useless, the date display has been discretely added in form of a ring around the outer circumference of the dial, where it is barely noticeable except when it is needed. Then it can be quickly and easily read with the help of the red-tipped sweep hand. Martin Braun also decided to incorporate this type of date display since the moon phase disks, which are quite large and visible in a barely-there cutaway at 9 o’clock, take up most of the room available right underneath the dial.

Dial Variations

Selene B
Selene B is outfitted with a black dial, obviously strong and striking in “face” and hands. The hands are made up of backwards sunrays from Martin Braun’s logo.

Selene S
Selene S is based on the famous “face” of Martin Braun’s first complication, the EOS. On the Selene, the sunray guilloché pattern radiates from a point behind the moon at 9 o’clock rather than 6 o’clock as it would on the EOS. This dial has developed into a true classic and lends the Selene the understatement and elegance of a silvery moonlit night.

Selene Meteorite
What goes better with a moon phase than authentic meteorite? Only this particular material is blessed with the so-called “Widmanstätten” structure, named after Alois von Beckh-Widmanstätten (1754-1849). Such meteorites are above all found in Africa, especially in the area of Namibia.
A meteorite travels for thousands of years through space, petrifying, creating unique structures in its substance. Comprising iron, nickel, kamazite (an iron mineral with a bit of nickel), and taenite (an iron mineral with a lot of nickel) and various other minerals, conditions in space create the unique look of this meteorite disk. That is also the reason why every meteorite dial looks different in its surface structure.

The idea for Selene had been going around in my head for quite a while,” Martin Braun remembers. “For one, because a moon phase was missing in my line of astronomical complications, and for another because I missed a certain originality in the moon phase models already on the market today. It is also a fact that existing designs have one main error in them due to their systems. The mistake is found at new moon. In reality, the moon is always visible in the sky, even if only slightly, illuminated by scattered light from the earth.

“For this reason, I wanted to simply make a moon phase watch that shows the moon as it really appears to us in the sky.”
Creating this realistic moon display is something Martin Braun and his team achieved after numerous attempts. To permanently capture a photorealistic moon on a small glass within the dial took many months of research and development. Finally, to achieve this high quality, each image is printed on the small glass with more than 600dpi. A disk with two dark circles revolves underneath this transparent moon and eclipses it.
Thus, the shadow of the moon is clearly to be seen, and even at new moon it is there and visible.

This design is completely new and replaces the two semi-circular cutaways used in conventional displays.

The Moon has a diameter of 3476 Km, 1/4 of the Earth diameter;
The closest distance to the Earth is 363.200 km, this point is called Perigaeum;
The maximum distance to the Earth is 405.000 km, this point is called Apogaeum;
Mass 7,349 * 1022 kg, Comparing to the earth 5,974 * 1024 kg;
Equatorial Surface Gravity, 1,62 m/s2. Comparing to the Earth 9,807 m/s2. Things are therefore 6 times lighter than on Earth.

The time from Full Moon to Full Moon is: 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2,9 seconds.
Out of this difference of the 44 minutes and 2,9 seconds a normal Moonphase indication will have a mistake after a certain time.
The special and well calculated gear of the „Selene“ compensates this mistake up to an accuracy of 122 and 1/2 year.