Master watchmaker PimKoeslag has acquired a majority stake in the luxury watch atelier Christiaan van der Klaauw Astronomical Watches. Koeslag will join the existing management team as Technical Director, along with DaniëlReintjes (CEO/CreativeDirector) and Maria Reintjes (Marketing Director) who will retain a share in the company.
In 1974 Christiaan Van der Klaauw started his own business and presented his first clock, with astronomical complications. It was the start of an exceptional story that made him one of the best clockmakers in the world, saw him receive (in 1989) an honorable membership of the Swiss Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI), whose members include watchmaking greats such as Vincent Calabrese, George Daniels, François-Paul Journe and Franck Muller. In 1992, he won the award for the most innovative movement design for his Pendule Variable in Basel, Switzerland.
Two years later he started with his first wrist watch, the CVDK Satellite du Monde – with astronomical complications, of course. The watch showed the time, day and date, as well as the moon phase, day and night indicator and the place on earth where it is exactly noon at the time you are looking at your watch. It remains an amazing and elegant watch even today. In 1999 he presented the masterpiece CVDK Planetarium, equipped with the smallest mechanical planetarium in the world. Making wrist watches was the start of a new phase in the life of the Netherlands’ most important watch maker.
With immense pride, Christiaan van der Klaauw Astronomical Watches unveils its inaugural in-house developed Manufacture Movement. The development of our manufacture movement started in 2017 and is now revealed in 2024, celebrating our 50 years of Astronomical Complications anniversary.
In 2009, a new era began. Christiaan van der Klaauw had reached his retirement age and sold the company to the designer couple Daniël and Maria Reintjeswith whom he had established a business relationship for ten years. Daniël and Maria immediately started repositioning the brand. The new directors decided to focus exclusively on astronomical watches, and ‘Astronomical Watches’ was added to the name.
In 2009, a new era also began for Christiaan van der Klaauw. He was succeeded by the Dutch designer Daniël Reintjes. Daniël Reintjes had known Christiaan for many years, ever since he had asked him to produce watches for his own designer label ‘Dark Rush’. He got on extremely well with the watchmaker he respected so highly and brought designer Maria Reintjes van Laar into the project as fellow shareholder and together started repositioning the brand.
The new directors decided to focus exclusively on astronomical watches; the phrase ‘astronomical watches’ was added to the brand name and models with new, beautiful astronomical complications were added. This new direction was immediately awarded by winning the ‘Watch of the Year Award’ in 2011, and the European Watch of the Year Award in 2012, 2014 and 2016. But the astronomical new direction and creations were not about to stop here – ultimately creating the Haute Horlogerie recognition by the Fondation Haute Horlogerie (FHH) and winning the most prestigious watch prize in the the world, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG) – in the future ahead.
A new collection and beautiful astronomical complications ensued – including the Real Moon Joure with the most accurate 3D moon phase in the world. In addition, two special Planetarium masterpieces were developed exclusively for the high jewelry Maison Van Cleef& Arpels. In 13 years, they transformed the CVDK company into a niche atelier, becoming the only watch atelier in the world that is wholly devoted to the design and the production of exclusive, hand-made astronomical watches.
In 2016, CVDK was recognised as an Haute Horlogerie atelier by the Fondation Haute Horlogerie (FHH). Last year, Daniël and Maria received the ultimate acknowledgement in watchmaking and were awarded the prestigious Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize for the CVDK Planetarium EiseEisinga at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).
This exquisite masterpiece boasts a power reserve of 60 hours and uni-directional automatic winding, embodying the pinnacle of precision and reliability. At the heart of this stunning timepiece lies a variable-inertia balance wheel, meticulously designed to enhance accuracy and dependability. The new movement features a free-sprung hair spring, with Star-shaped bridges meticulously circular finished by hand. The rest of the movement is adorned in frosted star with rhodium plating, complemented by perlage with rhodium plating on the main plate. The striking rotor, crafted in the shape of the CVDK logo, is skeletonized and plated in rose gold a testament to both form and function.
Christiaan van der Klaauw won the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG) in 2021. Known as the most prestigious Watch Award in the world, the ‘Oscars’ of watchmaking. The Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize was awarded to the Christiaan van der Klaauw CVDK Planetarium Eise Eisinga. This Haute Horlogerie masterpiece contains the smallest mechanical Planetarium in the world, showing real time the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn around the Sun.
Astronomy, time in its purest form is the source of inspiration for the most famous watch atelier in the Netherlands. Christiaan van der Klaauw, an honorary member of the prestigious AHCI, founded the company – Christiaan van der Klaauw Astronomical Watches – in 1974. Christiaan van der Klaauw Astronomical Watches is the only atelier in the world that is completely devoted to the design and the production of exclusive, hand-made astronomical watches. In 2023 we celebrated the fact that Christiaan van der Klaauw presented his first astronomical clock 49 years ago; 27 years ago he produced his first wristwatch with astronomical complications. It is a celebration in its purest form, with a balanced collection of unique astronomical watches.
PIM KOESLAG, THE NEW MAJORITY SHAREHOLDER
With the arrival of master watchmaker PimKoeslag, continuity is guaranteed for the future of Christiaan van der Klaauw Astronomical Watches. Besides maintaining the existing business, more developments are planned, including a first in-house movement.
PimKoeslag was born in 1981 in Almelo, The Netherlands. At the age of 18, he attended atchmaking school in Amsterdam, where he won the prize for the best watchmaker at school. This success gave him the opportunity to do an extensive training at Patek Philippe in Geneva. After his training he started working at Frederique Constant as Technical Director. During this 20-year period as Technical Director, he developed no fewer than 30 calibres, among them a tourbillon, a minute repeater and achronograph. Koeslag was also responsible for starting the luxury brand Ateliers deMonaco where he held the position of CEO.
After living and working in Geneva for over 20 years, it was time for a new phase in his life and the Koeslag family returned to the Netherlands. Right at the same time when Daniël and Maria Reintjes were looking to reinforce the company to prepare for the next phase for Christiaan van der Klaauw Astronomical Watches. This solid newmanagement team will guarantee continuity of the company in the future with many more astronomical masterpieces ahead!
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