Louis Moinet debuts Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque watch
Swiss high-end watchmaker Louis Moinet is well-known among horology fans as the creator of high-end timepieces, often featuring exotic materials and innovative technology. All of Louis Moinet’s timepieces are either exclusive limited editions or unique pieces that utilise extremely rare materials, such as tropical fossilised palm wood and dinosaur bone, or wondrous meteorites hailing from the Moon or Mars. The brand’s latest venture is the Islamic Collection that celebrates architectural gems of the Arab world, its famous mosques…
“The Islamic Collection” by Louis Moinet
Louis Moinet has produced a set of five artistic watches, each a unique piece, designed to show off the artistic beauty of the Arab world by depicting its most beautiful Mosques. The “Islamic Collection” features the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Al-Masjid An-Nabawī in Medina, Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Mecca, Al-Masjid Al-Aqṣā in Al-Quds, and Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque
This landmark Grand Mosque in Oman was funded and commissioned by Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, and took over six years to build. It was inaugurated on May 4, 2001 – an emblematic achievement in art and design that is renowned worldwide.
The Grand Mosque is home to the largest single-piece hand-woven carpet in existence. This feat of artistic and artisanal prowess measures 70 by 30 metres, and weighs 21 tonnes. Made from 28 different colours of wool and cotton, the Persian carpet contains 1.7 billion knots; it took 600 weavers four years to make it.
Particular attention was also paid to the Grand Mosque’s lighting; it is lit up by a total of 35 crystal chandeliers. The most spectacular of these, in the centre of the prayer hall, boasts a total of 1,122 bulbs. It is the largest chandelier in the world, 8 metres in diameter and 14 metres high, and weighs 8 tonnes.
“Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque” by Louis Moinet
The tourbillon adds movement to the piece, but it is the dial that really captures the viewer’s attention. The Grand Mosque shines in all its glory – hand-painted on the purest mother-of-pearl. A miniaturist provided her own unique touch to bring her creation to life. Her special technique, calling for long, painstaking hours of work, makes the successive coats of paint appear particularly light; the resulting artistic, artisanal masterpiece is without parallel. To crown it all, special luminous material has been inserted into the Dome and base of the Mosque to light it up at night.
The white gold case has been set with 56 best quality baguette diamonds. The price of this timepiece, redolent with heritage value, has been set at CHF 825,500.00.
