Luhokhod Prime movement by Konstantin Chaykin

A Quick Orientation

• The Lunokhod Prime is built around a large spherical moon-phase indicator that forms the visual centrepiece of the entire movement.
• The lunar sphere remains fixed; a moving shadow travels around it to simulate the current phase of the Moon.
• A sector aperture replaces the conventional central time display, reading hours on a 24-hour scale.
• A miniature sun marks daytime hours; a crescent marks night-time hours on the same scale.
• Minutes are indicated by a retrograde hand positioned at 6 o’clock.

A Movement That Refuses Conventional Architecture

The manufacture calibre of the Lunokhod Prime sets aside the standard premise that a movement is something to be concealed. Rather than hiding the mechanical architecture beneath a dial, KONSTANTIN CHAYKIN exposes the construction entirely, making it an integral part of the watch’s visual language. The calibre does not simply wear its mechanics openly as a stylistic gesture; the layout itself is genuinely unconventional, departing from the circular gear-train arrangements that characterise most traditional movements. This positions the Lunokhod Prime within a small group of watches, alongside independent makers such as MB&F, where the movement’s topology is as much a design decision as the case or dial treatment.

Moscow-based KONSTANTIN CHAYKIN has established a distinct position in independent watchmaking through complications that are conceived from scratch rather than adapted from established ebauches. The Lunokhod Prime calibre reflects that approach: its architecture is organised around the moon-phase sphere rather than around a conventional time-display hub, which forces every other indication to find a new spatial logic within the movement. For collectors in Dubai, Riyadh, and Doha who follow the independent watchmaking circuit, this kind of ground-up mechanical thinking is precisely what distinguishes a manufacture piece from a commercially assembled watch.

The Spherical Moon-Phase Mechanism

At the centre of the Lunokhod Prime’s construction sits a large spherical moon-phase indicator, and the mechanism behind it differs fundamentally from the conventional disc-based approach used in most complications of this type. The sphere itself remains stationary at all times. What moves is a shadow element that travels around the sphere’s surface, progressively covering or uncovering it in correspondence with the actual lunar cycle. The effect is a three-dimensional representation of the Moon’s phases rather than a flat painted disc glimpsed through a small aperture.

This inversion of the standard mechanism, where typically the indicator moves and the dial remains fixed, required KONSTANTIN CHAYKIN to reorganise the entire spatial logic of the calibre. Because the sphere occupies the position that a conventional movement would reserve for the gear train and central time display, the hours and minutes had to be redistributed entirely. The sphere therefore does not merely add a complication to an existing layout; it dictates the layout. Up close, this produces a movement that reads as a single coherent object rather than a time display with complications attached around its perimeter.

Time Display: The 24-Hour Sector and Retrograde Minutes

With the spherical moon-phase fixed at the centre of the movement, KONSTANTIN CHAYKIN introduces a sector aperture to display the hours. The scale runs on a 24-hour basis rather than the conventional 12-hour circuit, and two distinct markers define the cycle: a miniature sun indicates the daytime portion of the scale, while a crescent marks the night-time portion. The result is a time display that communicates not only the hour but also, at a glance, whether that hour falls in daylight or darkness, a reading that carries a natural correspondence with the moon-phase mechanism alongside it.

The minutes are handled by a retrograde hand at 6 o’clock. Retrograde indications return the hand to its starting position once it reaches the end of its arc, avoiding the full rotation of a conventional minute hand. Positioned at the lower register of the movement, the retrograde minute hand completes the time display without competing visually with the lunar sphere above it. The three elements, the 24-hour sector, the spherical moon-phase, and the retrograde hand, are arranged so that each occupies a distinct zone of the movement, giving the calibre a legibility that its unconventional architecture might not immediately suggest. You can examine the construction in detail in the official Lunokhod Prime movement film released by KONSTANTIN CHAYKIN, or visit the KONSTANTIN CHAYKIN official website for the full catalogue context.

Why It Matters

The Lunokhod Prime manufacture calibre represents a genuinely structural departure from conventional movement design, making it a serious point of reference for collectors who prioritise mechanical originality over brand legacy alone. For the GCC market, where interest in independent watchmaking has grown steadily alongside the established maisons, a piece that rebuilds the movement around its primary complication rather than attaching complications to a standard layout occupies a distinct and intellectually compelling position.

Stay ahead of the latest releases. Subscribe to our newsletter for editor-curated coverage of luxury timepieces and jewellery across the GCC.