Steampunk fans rejoice. This artistic item of display is the new Louis Moinet Vernoscope. Meant to celebrate the popularity of the Louis Moinet Jules Verne Instrument watch collection. I think the watches were a bit of a surprise hit, but they are really cool. And by the way, I have an in-depth review of a Louis Moinet Jules Verne Instrument watch coming up soon. The Vernoscope was recently unveiled at the Maison d’Ailleurs (House of Elsewhere), a Swiss sci-fi museum. They have some interesting Jules Verne items there, and Louis Moinet has donated the first prototype Vernoscope to the museum. It is based on the the works of Jules Verne and made by artist Jean-Yves Kervévan (who Louis Moinet has worked with in the past). This is the next such interesting piece meant to be a watch container and an item of art from Louis Moinet – you can read about their previous item, the Meteoris here.

I am not sure how many Vernoscopes will be made, but I promise you they will be part of a pretty limited set. The point of them is to highlight a set of four special Louis Moinet Jules Verne Instrument watches. I first discussed the Jules Verne Instrument watches here. The Vernoscope will come with watches that have a blue, Havana (brown), silver, and black dial. Each will have a specially decorated automatic rotor that has the appearance of craters on the moon surface. Here is a basic list of the included watches:

1. JULES VERNE Instrument I, Havana dial & hand-engraved “crater” rotor
Self-winding chronograph with dual time-zone display, Edition Number 1

2. JULES VERNE Instrument II, midnight blue dial & hand-engraved “crater” rotor
Self-winding Split-second chronograph, Edition Number 1

3. JULES VERNE Instrument I, black dial & hand-engraved “crater” rotor
Self-winding chronograph with dual time-zone display, Edition Number 1

4. JULES VERNE Instrument II, silvered dial & hand-engraved “crater” rotor
Self-winding Split-second chronograph, Edition Number 1

In this article you can see images of the cool brown and blue watches. The blue versions are going to be limited to 60 pieces, while the brown dial watches will be limited to just 12 pieces. The Vernoscope will have places for all four watches to be stored. What does the Vernoscope do? Not totally sure, but it looks like a prop from Get Smart. The artistic steampunk sculpture will have doors that open to reveal secret areas and moon related images or items. On the Vernoscope will be a piece of the moon, just like in the watches. I quote from Louis Moinet, “[the Vernoscope] features no less than four apertures, doors and portholes revealing the surprises and mysteries of JULES VERNE and LOUIS MOINET. These include the MOON, a work by artist Jean-Yves Kervévan, hand-modeled and adorned with moon meteorite particles. The VERNOSCOPE also serves as a presentation box for four original Number 1 watches.” I hope that you get a direct line to the moon when picking up that phone receiver.

For a full discussion of the watches themselves you can wait for the upcoming review or go to the link above – to my previous article. In a nutshell, here are some of the main draws of the Louis Moinet Jules Verne Instrument watches. They come in two versions (Instrument 1 and 2). Each has a module over a Valjoux 7750 automatic movement, one with split-second chronograph, and the other with a GMT function. The modules also add an upgraded date setting function. The watches are over 46mm wide made out of steel, titanium, and rose gold. The pretty dials are very hard to engrave, and the style of the watch is inspired by the works of Jules Verne. The chronograph pushers have neat fold out levers. Inside the watch is a slice of actual moon rock that is displayed through a small porthole in the left side of the case. Not sure about prices or total quantities for the Vernoscope and the even more limited “crater rotor” versions of the watches. I will add updates when and if I get that information. Until then, I will save a nice spot in the “Nautilus room” of my fantasy steampunk house for the Vernoscope.