Don't Call it a Comeback - The "Milky Way"

From Ludovic Ballouard -

Courtesy of Ludovic Ballouard

Sometimes you can't help but keep your fingers crossed for someone - and for many of us in the 4th and 5th estates of "watch journalism" that has been our feeling about Ludovic Ballouard.  You may recall that Ludovic was working with Harry Winston on a project - lots of money invested from his side, and in the end he got the fuzzy end of the lollipop.  Bad PR for Harry Winston, bad financial circumstances for Ludovic and the people he had employed to help complete the project.  In fact, simply put it was a DICK MOVE by Harry Winston.

But before all of that unhappiness, Ludovic was working quite happily for himself, and produced the "Upside Down".  This is the latest iteration of that wonderful idea - The Milky Way.

Courtesy of Ludovic Ballouard

The mechanism is, without a doubt, the shit that killed Elvis!  And not to make light of it, but in fairness, we already knew that ; )

But the dial is the thing in this latest, greatest version. Crafted from Galalith. Galalith is, essentially, a synthetic plastic material. What is special about it is the amount of hand finishing and work that needs to go into successfully crafting it into its final form.  In this case, a dial and 12 revolving "hour discs".   In addition, the dial is graced with 14 gold stars forming the Ursa Minor and Ursa Major constellations.  

Now I know that there was a TON of technical work, design and adjustment put into the creation of the Upside Down watch mechanism.  But if I am honest, it is the hour display that makes me smile.  All of the hour numbers are, as advertised, upside down.  With the lone exception of the current hour - which is right side up!  At the change of the hour, the previous hour rotates to the "upside down" position like the other 10 numbers, and the new hour flips "right side".

Thank goodness we have passionate people out there creating wonderful things that continue to entertain, and even amaze us!

If you want a diamond encrusted way to tell the time - buy a Harry Winston.  If you want something special - Ludovic Ballouard is your man!