The Star Wheel

FALL 1655 - ROME, ITALY : As the sun set over the Vatican, church bells echoed across the baroque Apostolic Palace where Pope Alexander VII cast a tired glance at a clock on his table - a stark reminder of the sleepless night that lay ahead!

Disturbed by the loud tick and unable to read the time in the dead of the night, the Pope complained to his faithful Cardinal who approached a clockmaker firm run by Giuseppe and Matteo Campani.

Seeking inspiration from the theory of planetary motion proposed by the astronomer Kepler, the duo worked by candlelight, meticulously crafting the inner workings of their latest creation - an astronomical clock like no other. The resulting "silent escapement" connected a short pendulum to the escapement in a way that allowed it to rotate without interruption or noise.

It was only many years later that Robert Cart, a watchmaker in the Le Locle region had pioneered a variation of this "wandering hours" layout, a patented complication he called jumping hours. Breguet and Vacheron pocket watches in the 1930s also implemented a similar dial layout.

LE BRASSUS, SWITZERLAND: It was then forgotten until decades later when Audemars watchmakers noticed a similar clock in an obscure Swiss journal from the turn of the 20th century. Intrigued by the idea of a 'watch with no hands', they set about designing their own variant of the wandering hours layout.

Launched in 1991, the Audemars Piguet ref. 25720BA "Star Wheel" shows time via three sapphire disks that rotate along the top of the dial. Produced only in precious metals and in extremely limited quantities, the Star Wheel has served as an inspiration to the likes of Urwerk, amongst several other independent watchmakers.

It lives on today as a reminder that the greatest wonders may arrive wrapped in petite packages, spread by the humble hands of those who bring old stars to new skies. Its silence is deafening and an overture across the centuries, testament to the magic created when history and heart beat as one.

Presented here as one of the model's finest examples with a hand-engraved dial making it unique and as a rare full set.