The planet Mars on your wrist!
The Limited Edition, Scottish Watches and legendary Russian watch manufacturer Raketa have come together to create a very special and exclusive timepiece which celebrates the pioneering legacy of the Soviet Space Programme, and in particular the fiftieth anniversary of its first steps towards the exploration of the red planet, Mars.
The main source of inspiration for this watch is the image that was taken and sent by the Soviet lander – Mars 3 – on 2 December 1971. During one of the largest dust storms ever observed on Mars, the Soviet module Mars-3 made the very first successful landing on Mars. It also sent the very first image of the martian landscape from the planet Mars itself.
However, the quality of the image was damaged because of the storm and, believing that the image was of no scientific value, the Soviet authorities put it away for more than 10 years until it was uncovered and shown to the public in the 80s.
The Raketa Watch Factory, The Limited Edition and Scottish Watches decided to reveal this forgotten story and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first step of the Martian colonisation: they are releasing a limited edition of 50 pieces inspired by these incredible achievements.
This image of Mars was reproduced by deep laser engraving on a brass dial. The dial was then given its rusty/copper colour through a very delicate hand operated etching process.
The Raketa “Mars” has a 24-hour automatic movement which is necessary to distinguish day from night while you travel in space towards the planet Mars.
The stainless steel case has a rotating bezel indicating the martian time. Martian day is called “sol” and is 2,7% longer than the Earth day. The difference seems quite indiscernible (the martian hour is only 1 minute 30 seconds longer), however, by the end of the day it turns into approximately 40 minutes! The bezel scale incorporates this difference.
The bezel rotates so as to enable you to set the Martian time to any specific time zone on Mars (like on Earth, Mars has different time zones).
The hands of the watch show time on Earth (on the dial) and on Mars (on the bezel) at the same time. With this watch you can live two lives – the Martian and the Earth one!
Russian
English
French