SpaceOne launches £2,500 tellurium timepiece with just a four week sales window

One year on from its birth as a Parisian watchmaking business, SpaceOne has unveiled the Tellurium Act II, a mechanical watch costing just EUR 2,990 (approx. £2,500) that shows the annual cycle of the Earth and Moon travelling around the sun.

Orders will be taken for only four weeks starting on the opening day of Watches and Wonders and ending at the WindUp Watch Fair in San Francisco in early May.

The futuristically-styled watch is the brainchild of Guillaume Laidet — a 37-year-old entrepreneur who has also recently brought Nivada Grenchen and Vulcain out of retirement — French watchmaker Théo Auffret who, at just 27, has already designed two tourbillon watches that were nominated for GPHG awards, and Olivier Gamiette, SpaceOne’s designer, who is responsible for each watch’s look and feel.

Tellerium watches, which accurately depict the movement of planets in our solar system, have been the preserve of the highest of haute horlogerie watchmakers such as Ulysse Nardin, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Bovet, usually with six-figure price tags attached.

The watch designed and engineered by Mr Auffret and Mr Gamiette is stripped back in comparison to some of the most complex timekeepers in the genre, but is every bit as visually interesting thanks to its space age aesthetic.

SpaceOne’s Tellurium Act II is hoping to build on the successful launch of Act I, a 500-piece limited edition Jumping Hour that reportedly sold out in days to generate €1 million in sales for the start-up.

Act II uses a patented modular complication on top of a Soprod P024 movement that was designed and developed in-house and assembled in SpaceOne’s Paris workshop.

Mr Gamiette designed the watch’s 42mm titanium case to resemble a smooth, silver pebble that is curved on both sides and topped by a domed sapphire crystal that symbolizes a protective atmosphere.

Its crown is mounted at the top of the case to maintain a perfect symmetry to its shape.

Its dial, with the sun depicted in the centre and the Earth with its Moon circling it, is made of deep blue aventurine to look like a night sky.

The Earth takes a year to revolve around the Sun while the moon takes 29.5 days to circle the Earth. Stubby hours and minutes hands sit under the sun and a day and month display sits at 6 o’clock on the dial.

SpaceOne says the Tellurium will only be sold for a short period of time this year.

Customers will be able to choose a uniquely numbered watch number, provided it is still available, with the first orders being accepted on April 9 at a presentation during Watches and Wonders at the Beau Rivage hotel.

Orders will then be accepted for a four week period up to May 5, the last day of the WindUp Watch Fair in San Francisco, where SpaceOne will have a stand.