Jozef Op de Beeck also designs and manufactures special timekeepers. His work can be admired in the museum but it is also for sale in limited editions. All the pieces are numbered and signed.
This wristwatch has an elliptical dial in silver, white gold or lapis lazuli.
The hour indicator is at the top and the minute indicator at the bottom.
“Retrograde” hands spring and start again from zero after each cycle of 12 hours
and 60 minutes respectively. The case is made in 18kt yellow gold. There are two
types of cases: with a hand-carved bas-relief or polished.
The hand wound movement is modified to obtain the decentralizing of the hours and minutes. It has
a 36 hours autonomy .
Here again the movement is modified to obtain the decentralizing of the hours
and minutes. In this case the eyes of the animals serve as hour and minute indicators. The left eye indicates the hours and the right eye the minutes.
The cases are hand cut in precious stone. The owl is made out of petrified mammoth bone or lapis lazuli. The cats are available in black onyx, white agate, blue agate and petrified wood. The eyes are in hand painted rock crystal. The
colors are blue or orange.
The dial is set in the shell made of red or green agate and protected by a faceted rock crystal glass. The head and paws are in yellow gold and the eyes are made up of brilliants. The head of the turtle is the crown to set or wind the watch. An ETA2824/2 automatic movement animates the turtle.
The Krugerrand is a South African gold coin. Since there are four coins of different value, there are also four different types of wristwatches with different sizes. They all have a 18kt yellow gold case with 4 brilliants set on the bezel corresponding to the quarters and 8 screws that shut it at the dial. They have a sapphire glass and a see-through case back closed by 8 screws.
- 1 Krugerrand with skeletoned ETA2890 movement
- ½ Krugerrand with hand wound movement
- ¼ Krugerrand with an ETA 2000 automatic movement
- 1/10 Krugerrand with Jaeger-Le Coultre movement
This wristwatch has a black elliptical dial. The case is in polished 18kt yellow gold. The length of the hands is adjusted to the position on the dial. It has a skeletoned ETA2892 automatic movement.
This skeleton clock is entirely hand made. It runs one week with only 2 wheels in the going train. The weights are filled with mercury. The winding key is made out of lignum vitae which is Latin for live wood.
This clock has a glass dial and two wooden hands turning free on an axe in the middle of the dial. The clock on the picture now indicates 7 minutes to 2 o’clock. The hands each have a separate movement, which forces them into the right position to indicate the right time. Even when you make the hands turn manually, they will automatically come back to the right position.
These are extraordinary hourglasses since they have a very long duration in relation to the amount of sand they use. The sand is perfectly white and runs through a ruby. This improves the precision and prevents wear and tear.
There are 3 standard types in a wooden frame:
- 8 hours
- 12 hours
- 24 hours
Note: all durations shorter then 24 hours are possible.
Special type: Angelus 4 hour sandglass.
This sandglass has 4 balls on one side to indicate the divisions of the hours. Each hour one ball is emptied or filled. The glass is set in a metal frame.
This hourglass is only ½ inch high and runs approximately 6 seconds. It has a solid yellow or white gold frame.
Because of frequent demand for more cost-effective alternatives, we also started to produce hourglasses with globes out of one piece. These hourglasses measure approximately 20 cm.
We have two varieties:
| · | Non calibrated pieces: They have a variable duration that is not controlled and can be regarded as decorative sandglasses. |
| · | Calibrated pieces: They have a controlled duration that ranges between 5 minutes to one hour. (Currently we have in stock: 5, 7 ½, 10, 15, 20, 30, 50 min or 1 hour). |
