Wristwatches are far more than just baubles that track our movement through the fourth dimension—they’re statements about who we are, and where our aesthetic tastes lie. These Vantablack watches, for example, say that their wearers are insanely wealthy, and also super into the color black. And while the watches are prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of us, they’d still probably be perfect for Batman. Or maybe a very well-off version of Daria.
The New York Times reported on the Vantablack watches, which are being sold by Swiss luxury watch producer, H. Moser & Cie. H. Moser & Cie is, for those who haven’t already guessed, a ridiculously upscale watch company; it’s so prestigious, in fact, that it tailors to the likes of “Russian princes and members of the Russian Imperial Court.” For reference, many of the ultra-upscale watches offered by the company cost tens of thousands of dollars, and are made out of materials like hand-stitched alligator leather, 18-carat gold, and brilliant-cut diamonds.
Quite possibly the darkest Tourbillon ever made: Introducing the Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Vantablack, marking the first time that a tourbillon has been paired with the blackest material known to man. Limited to 50 pieces in white gold. pic.twitter.com/I5oXzklhqs
— H. Moser & Cie (@HMoserCie) December 9, 2019
The company’s Vantablack series of watches consists of four different models as of right now: the $35,000 Endeavour Perpetual Moon Concept; the $27,600 Venturer Concept Vantablack; the $54,000 version of the Venturer containing 313 diamonds, and this brand new $75,000 Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Vantablack. (The Moon Concept is definitely the most dazzling, but it was a limited-edition and sold out quickly. Not that that matters for most of us anyway.)
For those unfamiliar with Vantablack, it’s a patented material—only available from the UK-based company, Surrey NanoSystems—that’s able to absorb 99.96 percent of the visible light that interacts with it. The material is able to pull off this black hole trompe l’oeil by trapping photons in a tiny “forest” of carbon nanotubes, and subsequently turning them into heat before they can be reflected back out. This occurs because the photons enter the forest of (relatively) tall nanotubes, and simply bounce around before dissipating as heat.
A video showcasing H. Moser & Cie’s $75,000 Endeavour Tourbillon Concept Vantablack watch.
Despite the astronomical price tag on these watches, all hope is not lost for we normies who want to paint things blacker than black. The Times says that “H. Moser & Cie. has no plans to introduce more ‘black hole’ watches anytime soon,” but Surrey Nanosystems is apparently champing at the bit to spray its trademark color on tons of other objects. According to the company’s Wiki, Vantablack can be used to aid telescopes in space and on the ground, improve the performance of solar panels, and even provide “thermal camouflage” for military personnel. Which seems like an important application, although obviously not one H. Moser & Cie customers care about. Anybody who’s going to spend $75,000 on a watch probably wants everything but a small part of their wrist to be seen by literally everyone they come across.
What do you think about these Vantablack watches? Are the designs attractive, or do you prefer materials that reflect back more than .04 percent of the light they interact with? And would you ever drop $75,000 on a watch if you had the means? Give us your deepest, darkest thoughts in the comments!
Images: H Moser & Cie