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The Belgian company INTERSTELLAR has announced a fundraiser for the space watch RED 3.721, which was developed in collaboration with the French manufacturer Col & MacArthur and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The project was launched on crowdfunding sites indiegogo and kickstarter. The watch has a space design and is equipped with a transparent chamber, in which there are particles of the soil of the red planet, or rather, a meteorite that flew from it and fell to the ground. But that’s not all…
The watch is dedicated to the Perseverance mission, which started in 2020. On July 30, the Alliance Atlas V rocket, which carries the rover on its board, was launched from the spaceport located in Florida. The rover received the same name with the mission «Perseverance» and successfully flew to the red planet, after which it landed in the Jezero crater. It was a unique landing, because the crater had a very difficult terrain and nothing like this had ever been done before by mankind.
Now let’s break down the name RED 3.721. Why did the clock get it? Well, everything is clear with RED: Mars is called the red planet or simply Red (in English). But the number 3.721 looks mysterious. In fact, this is the gravity of the planet, which was calculated during the mission.
As you can see, the watch has an interesting history, and this increases its value. In addition, each watch will be unique and will receive its serial number, which will be engraved on the case back. And of course, the uniqueness will be certified by a certificate that each owner of the watch will receive.
In addition, there is a unique opportunity to become the owner of a piece of Mars. INTERSTELLAR collaborates with The Meteoritical Society (International Society for the Study of Meteorites and Planetary Science) and you will get the opportunity to wear a piece of a 2.85 kg meteorite that came to us from the red planet. It was discovered in 2021 in northwest Africa and carried out all the necessary research. The meteorite has been named NWA 14269. The full characterization of the meteorite, including laboratory mass spectrometric analysis, can be viewed here. A meteorite certificate of authenticity will be supplied with the watch.
The clock is also interesting for its symbolism. For example, near the window with “dust”, you can see the numbers from 1 to 7. This is a reference to the 7 minutes of horror that all the participants in the mission experienced when they landed on the surface of the planet. It took 7 minutes for the rover to enter the atmosphere, correct the trajectory, open the parachute and land.
By the way, the image of the same parachute can be found on the back of the watch. Let me remind you that the parachute contained a secret message, which was encrypted by systems engineer Ian Clark. With the help of a binary code, he encrypted the inscription «Dare great.» These words adorn the walls of the NASA center.
It is expected that the buyer can choose from several options for body materials. The base gray steel variant has been available from the very beginning of the company, the copper color of the case will become available when $100,000 is raised, and the gold case will be available when $200,000 is raised. €384,746 has been raised so far, so we can safely say that there will be All the mentioned options are available. In addition, you can choose a movement: the Swiss Sellita movement with a golden second hand or the Japanese Miyota movement with a red second hand. Variations with the Sellita movement will be more expensive, because the watch will be assembled in a titanium case + a leather strap or a titanium bracelet to choose from.
As for meteorite particles, this is also an additional option. If you don’t want a meteorite, then the NASA logo will be in its place. I would definitely choose the version with the meteorite, otherwise much of the point of the acquisition is lost.
Well, to completely blow the roof off the buyers, the watch can be sent into space. There are several programs for this. The simplest is called “base flight”, when the clock is raised into near space to a height of 30 km. They actually interact with the environment, the temperature of which is close to -60°C, and the pressure is close to 0. There is also a premium flight, when the watch is raised to a height of 35 km and the whole process, from start to landing, is filmed on camera in mode real time. Nonsense? Perhaps. But it’s nice to wear a watch that has been in such an unusual place for people — a quiet, cold space. By the way, you will also receive a flight certificate with a watch.
It is reported that each copy of the watch will be assembled by hand by Col & MacArthur, which guarantees the quality and absence of defects. The company has existed since 2013 and specializes in the manufacture of unique and commemorative watches.
As for prices, if we discard all sorts of useless flights, for the basic version with the Japanese Miota mechanism and the NASA logo instead of a meteorite, they ask for €399. By adding another €100 you will get meteorite dust, i.e. the watch will cost €499. But if you want a watch in the maximum configuration, that is, in a titanium case and with a Swiss Sellita movement and meteorite dust, then you need to pay an impressive €899. The price is rather high, but even among ordinary “earthly” watches you can find more expensive toys, so it seems like they are asking for space boilers and not too much.
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