Tags: Review | Men's | Classic | Fashion | Traditional
23.11.2022 | 4 MIN
Wearing a piece of the skies, a piece out of this world, is quite an appealing thought. Dials made from meteorite are rare. Which only makes it more interesting that you can get your hands on a watch made by Czech Prim. Yes. Let us introduce you to the Prim Meteorite Muonionalusta limited edition.
Meteorite is an outer space object which hit the Earth. There had to be many factors involved for it not to burn in our atmosphere, let's name for example its size, speed of travel, and composition.
Watch dials are usually made from the so-called siderites, the composition of which is usually mostly iron and nickel. These are not so common and make up only about 18 % of all meteorites. According to scientists, they come from cores of former planets.
This by itself is super cool, but there is more cool stuff to it – they have unique patterns on them which are created by etching the surface. The patterns are called the Widmanstätten pattern, and they are probably the biggest reason we're so fascinated by meteorite dials.
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Meteorite
Working with a meteorite is not exactly easy, and it requires steady hands. That's also why watches with dials like this are rare and pricy. Big watch-making brands such as Rolex, Omega, Piaget, Jaquet Droz or Cartier took a liking to working with these rocks.
Prim MPM, a Czech watch-making brand from the city of Frýdek Místek, already has some experience working with a meteorite dials. It introduced two limited editions before this one, the last one combined with Tourbillon. It is probably clear that both of these are completely sold out.
A video by Prim briefly going through the main points of this article and showing snapshots of the making:
It was the feedback on these watches that made Prim decide to use such space object yet again in its watches. In the autumn of 2022, a hundred pieces of this Prim Meteorite Muonionalusta limited edition were introduced. If you crave to keep a piece of the universe, now you got your chance.
The name Muonionalusta refers to the origin of the meteorite used. The Muonionalusta meteorite is most likely the oldest known meteorite on this planet. It hit the Earth around a million years ago, somewhere around the borders of Finland with Northern Scandinavia. It was found in 1906 nearby the Muonionalusta village. Pieces of this meteorite were used not only in dials, but also in Rolls-Royce Phantom or BMW limited editions.
Prim uses the part of the meteorite which was found on the 10th of August 2015 by the Czech explorer Vladislav Kellerstein in the region of Lapland. What makes this limited Prim Muonionalusta interesting is not only the material from outer space, but also the price. Compared to its competitors, this Prim watch is one of the most affordable ones with a meteorite dial.
There are currently 4 colour variants available, all of which are highly formal watches – that's more than clear – which should make a great impression and leave enough space to admire the unique structure of the surface.
There are 30 pieces of the blue version, 30 pieces of the natural grey version, 20 pieces in black, and 20 pieces in the black-and-gold variant.
Considering the already-mentioned fact that it is more of a formal watch, I was taken aback by the hands being luminescent. In my opinion, it is unnecessary, just like the numbers. In the end, however, they managed to balance the structure of the meteorite and decorate it with steel indices and hands. This decorative touch makes the watch look elegant and easy to read. It was putting in the indices that was a great challenge, according to Prim, to accurately place them on the stone itself.
The case is made of surgical steel. For two versions of this model, it is coated using the ioning plating method to achieve a darker shade. The diameter of the case is 44 mm / 1.73", which I think is the riskiest point of this whole concept as it is quite a big number for a purely dress watch.
Yes, 42 mm / 1.65", or even 40 mm / 1.57" would appropriately suit the watch much more. On the other hand, with the bigger number, more of the beauty of the material used shines through. Also the lugs are somewhat short and should therefore fit even a slimmer wrist. The watch was designed in the traditional combination of brushed and polished surfaces.
The thickness stopped at a nice 10 mm / 0.39", even though the sapphire glass is slightly domed. It might also be because of the minimalistic approach and no watch complications.
The automatic movement doesn't have the date function, nor any other function. What it does have is a view on the balance through its open heart and a view on the whole movement through the case back. The case back is screwed and carries the information about what number of the limited edition is yours.
When it came to the movement, Prim chose the Swiss STP-5-15. It is basically an alternative to the popular ETA 2824-4. It has the power reserve of around 44 hours, 4Hz frequency, 26 jewels, bi-directional winding, and hacking.
This choice of movement allowed Prim to place the open heart around the 12th hour marker, which is unusual. Let's be honest, it also allowed the more affordable price without leaving the feeling of guilt on Prim's side. Plus, you can also see the nicely decorated movement, and that's something that fans of these kinds of movements will appreciate and only add to the whole impression from the Meteorite model.
Prim also opted for leather straps for all the variants, considering the elegant style of the watch, it definitely is in place. The straps are 22 mm / 0.87" wide (chef's kiss!) with steel folding clasp.
Creating the Prim Meteorite 2022 was a brave thing to do, but I dare to say that this model is destined to achieve great success. It is truly extraordinary on today's market and, compared with its competition, more than affordable. If you've ever wanted a space watch out of this world, you know what to do.
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