Chronoswiss doubles down on light and depth with Space Timer Gravity and Lunar Chronograph Aurora
Jason Lee- Chronoswiss unveils the Space Timer Gravity and Lunar Chronograph Aurora, two horological love letters to our moon.
- The Space Timer Gravity pushes Chronoswiss’ regulator grammar into explicitly cosmic territory, while the Lunar Chronograph Aurora refreshes a long-running model with an aurora-inspired surface treatment.
- Both lean on colour‑shifting CVD finishes, both keep the moon in the story, and both are unmistakably Chronoswiss at a glance.
Chronoswiss is one of those independents whose origin story still explains its output. Founded in 1983 in Munich by master watchmaker Gerd‑Rüdiger Lang, it set out to treat mechanical watchmaking as something worth building forward, not merely preserving. The brand’s language quickly became tactile and recognisable — the onion crown and coin‑edge/knurled details aren’t add‑ons so much as part of a wider idea that a watch should feel engineered, not anonymous.
The turning point was the Régulateur. Launched in 1987 and widely credited as the first serially produced wristwatch to popularise the regulator-style separation of hours, minutes, and seconds, it borrowed the logic of workshop regulator clocks, where the minutes take pride of place. From there, Chronoswiss built a reputation for display architecture — unusual layouts, openworking, and dials that feel assembled in layers — a line of thinking that continues in its Lucerne era under Oliver Ebstein.
That context makes the brand’s latest pair of releases feel coherent: traditional mechanics, expressed through depth and light. The Space Timer Gravity pushes Chronoswiss’ regulator grammar into explicitly cosmic territory; the Lunar Chronograph Aurora refreshes a long-running model with an aurora-inspired surface treatment. Both lean on colour‑shifting CVD finishes, both keep the moon in the story, and both are unmistakably Chronoswiss at a glance.
Space Timer Gravity: a regulator dial built like a landscape
Chronoswiss positions the Space Timer Gravity as the newest chapter in its Space Timer line, and the message is clear: this is “space as construction”, not space as illustration. The theme is gravity — the invisible force shaping everything — and it works as a frame because the watch’s main trick is physical depth: layered surfaces, suspended indications, and the workings of the watch treated as part of the scene rather than hidden away.
The dial combines a partial hand‑guilloché with a colour‑changing CVD coating that shifts between deep green and oceanic blue depending on the light. On the left side, a moon landscape (based on an original NASA photograph, according to Chronoswiss), which is rendered using a laser process, aiming for a subtle three‑dimensional crater texture rather than a flat print. The moonphase display itself sits at 6 o’clock, while the rest of the dial plays with contrasting “terrain”: a darker, cratered side against brighter, wave‑like guilloché.
The display is pure Chronoswiss. Off‑centre hours sit at 12 with an “open gear” mechanism, while minutes and seconds are central. Hours and date are carried on transparent rings made from ITR2, a composite the brand describes as lightweight and resilient, and those rings are designed to feel like they’re floating above the dial — orbiting it rather than sitting on it. Underneath, the exposed gear train is framed by a baby‑blue bridge that also matches the sweeping seconds hand, giving the dial a clear accent colour.
The watch features a 63‑part dial construction; the date is indicated via tiny 0.6mm stainless‑steel balls mounted in the ITR2 structure; the minute markers are luminous cylinders made from a Super‑LumiNova/ceramic mix; and the moon and stars are specified as a thermally coloured titanium hemisphere filled with lume. It’s a lot of materials for one dial — but that’s also the point.
It’s housed in a 44mm stainless steel case finished in matte grey, with a height of 15.2mm. The case boasts a 17‑piece case construction, partial knurling, a curved sapphire crystal with double anti‑reflective coating, and a screw‑down sapphire caseback. Water resistance is rated to 100 metres, and the watch comes on a grey nubuck strap to keep the exterior deliberately subdued.
Powering it is the automatic Chronoswiss Calibre C.308, which is effectively an extensively modified ETA 2895, running at 4Hz with an approximate 42‑hour power reserve. Finishing notes include perlage and a skeletonised rotor with côtes de Genève. The Space Timer Gravity is listed as a limited edition of 50 pieces.
Chronoswiss Space Timer Gravity pricing and availability
The Space Timer Gravity is available now directly from Chonoswiss and its retailers worldwide. Price: Not stated
| Brand | Chronoswiss |
| Model | Space Timer Gravity |
| Reference Number | CH-9343M.2-MOPA |
| Case Dimensions | 44mm (D) x 15.2mm (T) |
| Case Material | Stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 100 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Open with guilloché and laser-ablated elements |
| Strap | Nubuck grey leather strap |
| Movement | Chronoswiss C.308, ETA 2895 base, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 42 hours |
| Functions | Small hours, minutes, seconds, moonphase |
| Availability | Limited edition of 50 pieces |
| Price | Not stated |
Lunar Chronograph Aurora: familiar architecture, new atmosphere
If the Space Timer is Chronoswiss at its most experimental, the Lunar Chronograph is the model that shows how the brand does “classic” without disappearing into the crowd. Chronoswiss frames it as a defining line since its debut in 1999, built around a rare combination of complications — chronograph, date and moonphase — arranged in a way that reads layered but structured.
The Aurora update starts with the dial. Fully CVD‑coated, it shifts from deep green to vivid blue depending on the light, explicitly tied to the aurora borealis, with a guilloché‑decorated base underneath so the colour isn’t doing all the work. Chronoswiss also calls out the white hands as a deliberate contrast move; they’re a mix of Breguet and lozenge styles, made from steel and lacquered white, which should help legibility when the dial swings toward its darker tones.
Functionally, it’s a classic chronograph layout done the Chronoswiss way. A central chronograph seconds hand works with a 30‑minute counter and a 12‑hour counter, while the moonphase sits at 3 o’clock. Small seconds live at 9 o’clock, and the date is shown via a central analogue pointer that traces a 1–31 scale around the edge of the dial, keeping the dial symmetrical and avoiding a cut‑out window.
The case is 41mm in stainless steel with a thickness of 15mm. The case features a 23‑part case with satin finishing and a polished bezel, plus partial knurling, a curved sapphire crystal and a screw‑down sapphire back. Chronoswiss’ signatures are all present — onion crown and screwed lugs — and water resistance is listed at 100 metres. A dark grey nubuck strap keeps the package modern without leaning too sporty.
Inside is the automatic ETA 7750-derived Chronoswiss Calibre C.755, running at 4Hz with an approximate 46‑hour power reserve. The movement features a Glucydur three‑legged balance, Nivarox 1 hairspring, fine adjustment via Excenter and Incabloc shock protection, along with perlage and a skeletonised rotor visible through the sapphire caseback.
Chronoswiss Lunar Chronograph Aurora pricing and availability
The Lunar Chronograph Aurora is available now directly from Chonoswiss and its retailers worldwide. Price: Not stated
| Brand | Chronoswiss |
| Model | Lunar Chronograph Aurora |
| Reference Number | CH-7543L-DGR |
| Case Dimensions | 41mm (D) x 15mm (T) |
| Case Material | Stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 100 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Deep green to vivid blue |
| Strap | Nubuck dark grey leather strap |
| Movement | Chronoswiss C.755, ETA Valjoux 7750 base, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 46 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, moonphase, chronograph |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | Not stated |
Closing thoughts
Put together, these two releases show where Chronoswiss is aiming: traditional complications presented through modern surfaces and obvious construction, while keeping the tactile case codes that make the brand recognisable. Both sit in the same green‑to‑blue spectrum, both stick with practical 100 metres of water resistance, and both use the moon as something more than decoration.
The difference is the delivery. The Space Timer Gravity is about mechanical theatre: regulator layout, suspended transparent rings, and an exposed gear train that’s part of the dial’s “gravity” narrative. The Lunar Chronograph Aurora is the more straightforward daily proposition: a familiar chronograph with an atmospheric dial update and a legibility‑first hand set. It’s also worth noting that neither is slim — 15mm‑plus thickness is part of the package — so these are watches that want to be worn as objects, not slipped under a cuff unnoticed.