Emile Chouriet is one of those realities that is little known in Italy, but widely known and recognised in other markets. It is a genuine manufacture, founded in 1988, with a proprietary movement launched a few years ago, the EC 5318 calibre, which has also led it to the development of new complications. As in the case of the Challenger Explorer Moonphase, which shows the moon phase display in a very original way. Unlike most watches with this complication, in fact, it does not relegate the moon phases to a small auxiliary dial, but makes them the protagonists in the centre of the main dial.
A large satin-blue disc, on which the Moon is depicted (made of mother-of-pearl), completes one complete revolution of the dial in 29.5 days, the average duration of a lunar month. When the Moon goes through the waxing and waning phases of its cycle, a second fixed blue disc off-centred towards the upper part of the dial obscures part of the Earth's satellite, recreating the different phases observable from Earth during the night. The moon phases can be easily adjusted via the crown, in the same way as one normally sets the date.
With a 40 mm case and steel bracelet, it is water-resistant to 3 atmospheres. The hour/minute hands are coated with SuperLuminova, while the seconds hand has a counterweight in the shape of a wedge of the moon. The caseback is engraved with the silhouette of the Hubble telescope and the star Icarus, the most distant star ever observed from Earth, being a good 9 billion light years away.
The watch is powered by the EC automatic calibre 5378 (27 jewels, 28,800 vib/h, 45-hour power reserve), based on the brand's first proprietary calibre.
Price1,880 Swiss francs (excluding tax).
