Christiaan van der Klaauw’s Planetarium ‘Julie’ is a stellar celebration of family, artistry, and the wonders of the solar system, housed in a watch unlike any other.
In October 2025, the revered Dutch watchmaker Christiaan van der Klaauw unveiled a truly singular creation in haute horlogerie: the Planetarium ‘Julie’. Born from the intimate wishes of a close friend and enthusiast of the brand, this watch is a loving homage to the collector’s young daughter, Julie.
Guided by CEO and Master Watchmaker Pim Koeslag, the project transformed a heartfelt vision into one of the most extraordinary astronomical timepieces ever made by the atelier.
At the heart of this unique piece lies the smallest mechanical planetarium in the world, a miniature marvel displaying real-time orbits of six planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This celestial choreography is housed within a fully skeletonised Planetarium module, painstakingly redesigned to integrate the iconic CVDK logo, a sun with twelve claws.
Every bridge was skeletonised, each boasting over 70 inward-angled hand-finished bevels, a testament to the highest craftsmanship.
The dial itself is a transparent sapphire crystal, showcasing hand-applied Hindu-Arabic numerals that allow a clear view of the intricate inner workings. The case, crafted from titanium, presents a bezel made of solid meteorite—material forged over 4.6 billion years in the cosmos, older than the Earth itself. Its unique Widmanstätten pattern, formed through millions of years of cosmic cooling, makes every watch a cosmic fingerprint, utterly one of a kind.
Adding a deeply personal touch, the image of Julie’s profile is hand-engraved by master engraver Kees Engelbarts on the rotating barrel. As the barrel turns, Julie appears twice as a mirrored image, ensuring her presence is always visible.
Beneath this artistry beats the CKM-01 manufacture movement, a masterpiece itself: a unidirectional automatic winding system with a 60-hour reserve, 32 jewels, a free-sprung hairspring, variable inertia balance wheel, and a Swiss lever escapement.
The movement’s bridges are star-shaped, hand-skeletonized, frosted, sandblasted, and rhodium plated—exemplifying meticulous finishing. The rotor, skeletonised in rose gold-plated brass, proudly bears the CVDK logo with a rhodium-plated tungsten weight for optimal winding efficiency.
The Planetarium ‘Julie’ is not just a watch. It is a deeply personal, singular collector’s item, one born of collaboration and refinement between a passionate collector and the dedicated Christiaan van der Klaauw team.
It sits within the brand’s “Collection of the Atelier,” which offers bespoke astronomical watches crafted to each patron’s precise wishes—dreams realised in exceptional craftsmanship.
Christiaan van der Klaauw, founded in 1974, remains a celebrated name for combining astronomical complexity with artistry and Swiss precision in the Netherlands. The Planetarium ‘Julie’ is perhaps their most heartfelt statement yet, a timekeeper that honours both the cosmos and love.
For those who dream of owning a truly unique astronomical watch, this creation marks a new pinnacle of personalisation and celestial elegance.
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