La Promenade, BlogZine di Informazione

Our fleeting, fast-paced and forward-moving lives are replete with numbers. Whether we realise it or not, we all depend on numbers. Everything that surrounds us on a daily basis can be traced back to a number: a date of birth, a ticket, a telephone or tramway number, the number of parking spaces, the pin code of a bank card, etc.
The premise of numerology is that all phenomena in the universe are interrelated by one common numerical pattern. In this system, odd numbers are considered stronger and more masculine, while the more feminine even numbers are considered gentler and more acquiescent. If an odd number is added to an even number, the result is an odd number, demonstrating that male, odd numbers dominate. This is why odd numbers have leading, overwhelmingly male characteristics and even numbers, managerial and intuitive characteristics.
The number 5 is one of the most ancient, for it appeared in primitive society when primitive man had to count objects. The first numbers did not have names and were shown with the help of fingers: one set of five fingers equalled the number 5, two such sets equalled 10, etc.In numerology, numbers with two identical figures, such as 11, 22, 33, 44, 66, and so on, contain strong energy, which has a particular influence on the life of the person with whom they are associated. The number 55 is considered to possess powerful male energy. Priests in Ancient Babylon saw a combination of two energies in this number: the beginning of everything and its destruction. A person associated with the number 55 will destroy all the enemies in his way. In the Chinese Book of Changes, the 55th hexagram symbolises abundance and the start of a very successful, productive and stable period in life.
Konstantin Chaykin has created an astounding clock named Tourbillon 55, equipped with a one-minute tourbillon. Its main feature is its one-minute “whirlwind”, which crowns the design of its gear train. Apart from illustrating the complexity of the movement, the one-minute tourbillon performs an additional function, replacing the seconds hand. The anchor is located inside a mobile platform containing the balance at its centre. It completes a full rotation around its axis in exactly one minute. The movement of the clock is composed of hundreds of miniature parts assembled with the help of a special microscope. This unique movement contains 11 jewels and 6 precision bearings held in place by rings with gilded collets and screw fastenings. Located on the drum of the spring is a device (in the shape of a Maltese cross) that limits the winding torque of the spring to enhance the accuracy of the movement’s operation.
What’s more, this complex movement is only 15 cm tall. The case chosen to show its perfection is made from precious  woods and nickel-plating brass.
Tourbillon 55
Ref. T755SS700300
Movement: TCT 01-0
Frequency: 18,000 vibrations per hour, 11 jewels, anchor escapement, one-minute tourbillion, 10 days power reserve, winding stop device in the shape of Maltese cross
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds
Dial: gilded brass, nickel-plating, steel hands manually blued
Case: steel, brass, nickel-plating, precious woods (wenge), mineral crystal
Dimensions: 165 mm х 232 mm х 129 mm

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Remember the Shabbat and keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Shabbat of the Lord, thy God…’ says one of the Ten Commandments which according to legend Moses received from the Creator on Mount Sinai.
In Judaism, the Shabbat is no ordinary day of the week. It is a time when the world is filled with peace and calm, when families gather round the table to celebrate the miracle of serenity. During the Shabbat, the Torah calls people to distance themselves from the chaotic noise of weekdays to realise that the world has already been created and, for one day, can go without man’s help. Six days a week, people strive to rule the world but on the seventh day, they must strive to master themselves.
39 types of work are forbidden on the Shabbat, including Makeh Be’Patish or the ‘last strike of the hammer’, one of the most widespread. This term denotes any action that serves to prepare an object for operation, including the winding of a timepiece.
Konstantin Chaykin has thus invented a clock that respects the Shabbat. The patented mechanical device either provides the energy lacking to the spring to ensure the timepiece does not stop, or it stops 5-6 hours before the Shabbat begins. The timepiece’s power reserve is shown on a separate display.
When working on this model, Konstantin Chaykin was inspired by the beauty and complexity of the Jewish calendar, which is based on the movement of both celestial bodies. The dates and times at which all holidays begin are calculated using the duration of the lunar month and solar year.
Gilded Hebrew letters are positioned next to the hour-markers on the main dial. The date and month displays are shown on a separate dial. The one-minute tourbillon carriage is shaped like the Star of David. The winding key, which breathes life into this special timekeeping device, is kept in a miniature drawer.
All inscriptions on the clock are in Hebrew. Beneath the dial placed a plate bearing a phrase from the Tanakh (book of Tehillim): ‘So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom’.
Shabbat
Ref. T760SS730100
Movement: TSB 01-1
Frequency: 18,000 vibrations per hour, 17 jewels, 8 miniature bearings, anchor escapement, one-minute tourbillion, 10 days power reserve. Movement is equipped with additional winding patented device (Shabbat function)
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, Jewish calendar (month, day, date), moon phases, power reserve indicator
Dial: gilded brass, nickel-plating, steel hands manually blued
Case: steel, brass, nickel-plating, precious woods (wenge)
Dimensions: 254 mm х 249 mm х 123 mm

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hijra (translated from Arabic) means migration and emigration. The term is used to denote the Islamic era established by the second caliph of the Arab caliphate Omar I in 638 of the Common Era in honour of the migration of the Prophet Mohammad from Mecca to Yasrib (Medina). This event is considered as key to the history of the emergence of Islam. 17 years after the great migration, caliph Omar I made it the foundation of the Islamic calendar, taking Friday, 16 July 622 – the day the Prophet Mohammad left Mecca – as the first day of the new era. It is a lunar calendar, meaning that the periods are calculated according to the changes in the phases of the moon. It thus does not depend on the movement of the sun.
You will not be able to find a timepiece even close to this one at any other Manufacture. The design of this clock contains an invention patented by Konstantin Chaykin (patent no. 2308748): a device that displays the months and dates of the Islamic calendar. The case of the clock is made from precious species of wood and represents a stylised mihrab into which the unique clock movement is placed. Its sides are held together by an openwork lattice with ornate floral decor in the tradition of mosques.
Over 350 manually polished and smoothed parts are assembled in a single movement, thereby demonstrating the unsurpassed quality of manual workmanship. The Maltese cross provides constancy in the winding torque of the spring, thereby enhancing the accuracy of the clock’s operation. Meanwhile, eight precision ball bearings ensure the movement’s axes work for hundreds of years.
The Lunar Hijra contains seven complications: 1. a one-minute tourbillon, completing 18,000 half-oscillations per hour, 2. a moon-phase display, 3. a month display (Gregorian calendar), 4. a date display (Gregorian calendar), 5. a days-of-the-week display in Arabic, 6. a month display (Islamic lunar calendar) with a mechanism to adjust the duration of the lunar month, 7. a date display (Islamic lunar calendar).
The Lunar Hijra collection includes a basic model with a month and date display (Islamic lunar calendar), as well as a modified version of the clock featuring a retrograde month and date display (Islamic lunar calendar).
Hijra
Ref. T760W730400
Movement: THJ 01-2
Frequency: 18,000 vibrations per hour, 13 jewels, anchor escapement, one-minute tourbillion, 10 days power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes, day, moon phases, Muslim calendar patented device (date, month, day in Arabic), Gregorian calendar date, month
Dial: gilded brass, nickel-plating, steel hands manually blued
Case: precious woods (wenge), nickel-plating, traditional ornamental pattern high finishing
Dimensions: 171 mm x 286 mm x 165 mm
Hijra
Ref. T760W730400
Movement: THJ 01-2
Frequency: 18,000 vibrations per hour, 13 jewels, anchor escapement, one-minute tourbillion, 10 days power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes, day, moon phases, Hijra calendar patented device with retrograde display (date, month, day in Arabic), Gregorian calendar
Dial: gilded brass, nickel-plating, steel hands manually blued
Case: precious woods (wenge), nickel-plating,  traditional ornamental pattern high finishing
Dimensions: 171 mm x 286 mm x 165 mm
Hijra
Ref. T760SS730100
Movement: THJ 01-2
Frequency: 18,000 vibrations per hour, 13 jewels, anchor escapement, one-minute tourbillion, 10 days power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes, day, moon phases, Muslim calendar patented device (date, month, day in Arabic), Gregorian calendar date, month
Case: steel, brass, nickel-plating, precious woods (wenge)
Dimensions: 254 mm x 249 mm x 123 mm