Konstantin Chaykin presents Mouse King, an exclusive timepiece from the Wristmon collection.
With this new “Wristmonster” watch, the award-winning Russian watchmaker bonds the theme of the Chinese zodiac animal with the fairy tale of the Mouse King.
Thanks to the careful finishing of the dial, the mouse nose, decorated with a relief guilloche pattern, unexpectedly began to look as if it were really covered with fur, the linear relief worked just as well in finishing the character’s whiskers. The lugs of the case, made in the form of the mouse ears, are one of the most impressive design details.
This detail is harmoniously combined with the dial, made in the form of the mouse face, and with another unique styling part of this watch – the crown, which, according to Konstantin Chaykin’s idea, was supposed to look like the crown of the Mouse King.
The watch term “crown”, (in French ‘couronne’ and in German ‘Krone’), had given him a long-term desire to create a watch with a crown in the 12-o’clock position. This acts as a reminder of the earlier period of the development of wristwatches, in which some watches positioned a Lépine-type movement as the crown at the top of the dial.
The crown is made of 18-carat gold and adorned with a genuine ruby. The royal crown design also appears in the rotor of the automatic winding system.
Especially for the Mouse King watch, Konstantin Chaykin modified the joker-indication module invented by him and used in the “Wristmon” collection.
The changes have been adopted due to the master’s decision to crown the watch with a gold crown set at the 12 o’clock position. Therefore, the second fixed crown like all the “Wristmons” have, which was intended to install the corrector of the moon phase indicator, had to be abandoned.
In the new Caliber K18-10, the moon phase indicator is adjusted using a corrector installed in the lower part of the case (at the 6 o’clock position). When designing and finishing the module, the Russian master was guided by the principles of haute horlogerie, despite the fact that the module is hidden under a non-transparent dial.
Therefore, Konstantin Chaykin approaches the finishing of every detail of the module with extreme meticulousness, using classic techniques: pearl textured grinding, fine longitudinal and circular grinding, sand blasting matte finishing, manual chamfering and polishing, engraving, polishing of recesses for screws, pins and stones, spherical polishing of wheel axle tips, rhodium electroplating.
There are a total of 8 jewels in the module, intended to reduce friction, the moon phase indicator is made on a basis of a wheel with 59 teeth.
The dial of the Mouse King watch was created and finished according to haute horologerie traditions. Konstantin Chaykin has his own dial production facility. Thanks to this, the Russian master completely controls the entire production process of creating the dial – from design concept and 3D prototyping to the manufacture of parts on CNC milling machines and the final finishing and decoration done exclusively by hand.
Fine longitudinal and circular grinding, chamfering and polishing, abrasive blasting, four types of guilloche, silver and ruthenium plating are used in the finishing of dial parts.
Particular attention is paid to the perfection of the lacquer coating, in particular, an unprecedented painstaking technique of multilayer lacquering is applied – from one hundred to several hundred thinnest layers of varnish are applied to every part of the dial, creating an incredibly impressive play of tones on the details of a complicated volumetric structure.
The Mouse King caliber K18-17 was manufactured on the basis of the Swiss made Vaucher 3002 automatic movement.
The sapphire crystal caseback offers the view of the movement. The base caliber was also modified by Chaykin, in particular, for the Mouse King watch a rotor of the automatic winding system of a unique skeletonized design with a seven-edged crown.
The Mouse King watch is fitted with a high-quality leather strap with an ermine mantle designed by Konstantin Chaykin especially for this watch.
Dressed in a 42mm diameter titanium case, the Konstantin Chaykin Mouse King watch is a limited edition of 7 pieces.
Technical details
Model: Konstantin Chaykin Mouse King
Movement
Caliber K18-10 with automatic winding
Base movement: Swiss-made Vaucher 3002
Module: Produced by Konstantin Chaykin Manufactory
Movement dimensions: Diameter – 31.5mm, thickness – 6.7 mm (with module)
Escapement: Lever escapement
Balance frequency: 28800 semi-oscillations per hour
Power reserve: 50 hours when fully wound
Jewels: 36 (28 jewels for base movement, 8 for module)
Module parts: 67
Functions
Regulator dial for hours and minutes, moon-phase indicator
Case
Titanium
Diameter: 42mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Crystal: Glass Transparent sapphire crystal with anti-reflection coating, diameter 34.5mm
Case parts: 36
Dial
Finish: Silver, multi-colour lacquer coating, Guilloche wave-relief décor
Dial parts: 9
Strap
Black alligator leather with calfskin lining and golden stitching
Standard Titanium buckle by Konstantin Chaykin Manufactory
Edition
Limited edition of 7 pieces
