ZANNETTI MAGNIFICUM COMPASS ROSE
The Magnificum collection from Zannetti is characterised by a personalized extra-large watch case and an engraved dial, which exhibits a handmade finish. This dazzling piece is the result of the best traditional expertise, since it has been quite entirely hand crafted. It is only due to the mastery of the engraver and the craftsmanship of the enameller that it has been possible to achieve such an important and amazing result. Technique, experience, style, personality and a sprinkle of audacity: all of these features combine to create an absolutely incomparable timepiece, unique among its kind.
The new Compass Rose has a 47 mm wide steel case and a stunning extra large Compass Rose design dial. The compass rose is an old design element found on compasses, maps and even monuments. The “rose” term arises from the fairly ornate figures used with early compasses. The new Compass Rose is available in hand-engraved and hand-painted Mammoth Versions either in green, red or blue or in a hand-engraved and rhodium brass. The case can also come in PVD black version if requested. Available only in Limited Edition or Unique Pieces.
Technical details
Functions
Hours, minutes, seconds
Case
The stainless steel watch case measures 47 mm diameter and has a thickness of 12,5 mm
Watch case finish: shiny and satin finished
Designed lugs featuring external decorations
Stainless steel back, crystal sapphire glass, closed by 6 screws, fully hand-engraved
Dial
Natural mammuth, hand-painted for compass rose
Luminescent Super-Luminova alpha hands
Movement
Mechanical self-winding movement, ETA 2824, Swiss Made
The finishing details are remarkably prestigious, featuring bridges embellished by Côtes de Genève decorations, subsequently engraved and personalized
Strap
Black or brown leather
Steel clasp, Zannetti personalized.
Versions
ZANNETTI – Magnificum Steel
Compass RoseGreen Edition, Automatic movement, Ref. MRV.A2S-F.G.A
Compass RoseBlue Edition, Automatic movement, Ref. MRV.A2S-B.G.A
Compass RoseRed Edition, Automatic movement, Ref. MRV.A2S-R.G.A
Compass RoseSoleil Edition, Automatic movement, Ref. MRV.A2S-O.G.A
ZANNETTI – Magnificum Black PVD
Compass RoseGreen Edition, Automatic movement, Ref. MRV.A2S-F.N.A
Compass RoseBlue Edition, Automatic movement, Ref. MRV.A2S-B.N.A
Compass RoseRed Edition, Automatic movement, Ref. MRV.A2S-R.N.A
Compass RoseSoleil Edition, Automatic movement, Ref. MRV.A2S-O.N.A
COMPASS ROSE
The compass rose is an old design element found on compasses, maps and even monuments (e.g. the Tower of the Winds in Athens, the pavement in Dougga, Tunis) and during Roman times ita was used to show cardinal directions and frequently intermediate direction. The “rose” term arises from the fairly ornate figures used with early compasses. Older sources sometimes use the term “rosa ventorum”, “compass star” or “stella maris” (“star of the sea”), to refer to the compass rose.
Early forms of the compass rose were known as wind roses, since no differentiation was made between a directional point and the wind which emanated from that direction. Today, the term “wind rose” is often reserved for the object used by meteorologists to depict wind frequencies from different directions at a location.
Classical compass rose
The ancient Greeks originally maintained distinct and separate systems of points and winds. The four Greek cardinal points (arctos, anatole, mesembria and dusis) were based on celestial bodies and used for orientation. The four Greek winds (Boreas, Notos, Eurus, and Zephyrus) were confined to meteorology. Nonetheless, both systems were gradually conflated, and wind names came to eventually denote cardinal directions as well. In his meteorological studies, Aristotle identified ten distinct winds: two north-south winds (Aparctias, Notos) and four sets of east-west winds blowing from different latitudes—the Arctic Circle (Meses, Thrascias), the summer solstice horizon (Caecias, Argestes), the equinox (Apeliotes, Zephyrus) and the winter solstice (Eurus, Lips). However, Aristotle’s system was asymmetric.
To restore balance, Timosthenes of Rhodes added two more winds to produce the classical 12-wind rose, and began using the winds to denote geographical direction in navigation. Eratosthenes deducted two winds from Aristotle’s system, to produce the classical 8-wind rose. The Romans (e.g. Seneca, Pliny) adopted the Greek 12-wind system, and replaced its names with Latin equivalents, e.g. Septentrio, Subsolanus, Auster, Favonius, etc. Uniquely, Vitruvius came up with a 24-wind rose.
Mariner’s compass rose
In Europe, the Classical 12-wind system continued to be taught in academic settings during the medieval era, but seafarers in the Mediterranean Sea came up with their own distinct 8-wind system. The mariners used names derived from the Mediterranean lingua franca—the Italian-tinged patois among medieval sailors, composed principally of Ligurian, mixed with Venetian, Sicilian, Provençal, Catalan, Greek and Arabic terms from around the Mediterranean basin.
• (N) Tramontana
• (NE) Greco (or Bora)
• (E) Levante
• (SE) Scirocco (or Exaloc)
• (S) Ostro (or Mezzogiorno)
• (SW) Libeccio (or Garbino)
• (W) Ponente
• (NW) Maestro (or Mistral)
The exact origin of the mariner’s eight-wind rose is obscure. Only two of its point names (Ostro, Libeccio) have Classical etymologies, the rest of the names seem to be autonomously derived. Two Arabic words stand out: Sirocco (SE) from al-Sharq (east) and the variant Garbino (SW), from al-Gharb[disambiguation needed] (west). This suggests the mariner’s rose was probably acquired by southern Italian seafarers not from their classical Roman ancestors, but rather from Norman Sicily in the 11th to 12th centuries.[16] The coasts of the Maghreb and Mashriq are SW and SE of Sicily respectively; the Greco (a NE wind), reflects the position of Byzantine-held Calabria-Apulia to the northeast of Arab Sicily, while the Maestro (a NW wind) is a reference to the Mistral wind that blows from the southern French coast towards northwest Sicily.
