Swiss watchmaker’s pricey objet d’art features meteorite from Mars

Swiss luxury watchmaker Louis Moinet unveiled an expensive objet d’art last weekend at the Geneva Time Exhibition. Entitled Meteoris and priced at about 5 million Swiss francs, the elaborate piece of art includes a planetarium and four tourbillon wristwatches. One of the tourbillons contains a meteorite from the planet Mars, “finely inlaid into a hand-engraved dial and adorned with an astrolabe-type appliqué, serving as a reminder of the ties between man and the cosmos.” According to the promotional literature (pdf), the Martian meteorite is Jiddat al Harasis 479, discovered in 2008 by the Sultanate of Oman and authenticated by the Russian Academy of Science.

Pictured: Tourbillon Mars. The case of this unique watch is “crafted from 18-carat white gold set with 56 baguette-cut Top Wesselton VVS diamonds totalling 3.46 carats.”