Christaan Van Der Klaauw Watches

Christaan van der Klaauw Watches

Christiaan van der Klaauw doesn’t just make watches — he makes mechanical orreries for your wrist.

This is astronomical horology, handcrafted in the Netherlands, and it’s unlike anything else out there. Planets orbit. Suns rise and set. Moons wax and wane

— all powered by gear trains and gears, not screens or sensors.

If you’re into watchmaking as art, science, and philosophy all at once? CVDK is your brand.

A Little History

Founded in 1974 by Dutch master watchmaker Christiaan van der Klaauw, the brand began as a one-man workshop specializing in astronomical clocks — intricate

handmade table clocks that displayed planetary motion, moonphases, and sidereal time.

By the late 1990s, van der Klaauw turned his focus to wristwatches, eventually creating a full line of astronomical timepieces under his own name

— all made in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

Today, under the stewardship of Daniël and Maria Reintjes, the brand has stayed small, focused, and true to its mission: the world’s only atelier dedicated

solely to astronomical complications.

What Collectors Love

Christiaan van der Klaauw watches are some of the most beautiful and intellectually rich watches on the planet. Period.

Standout models include:

  • CVDK Planetarium — the smallest mechanical planetarium in the world. Accurately tracks the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — all on the dial.

  • CVDK Real Moon Joure — features a 3D rotating moonphase with one of the most accurate lunar cycles ever made (1 day deviation every 11,000 years).

  • CVDK Eclipse — tracks lunar eclipses and moonphases with poetic dial layouts.

  • CVDK Hypernova and Ariadne — more sporty or modern takes, still rooted in celestial themes.

Movements are based on high-grade Swiss ébauches (usually ETA or Technotime), then completely transformed with in-house astronomical modules, hand-finished bridges

and signature ornamental sun-engraved rotors.

Why Christiaan van der Klaauw Is a True Independent Great

Because no one else does what he does.

Lots of brands claim to do “poetic complications.” CVDK actually builds micromechanical solar systems — and does it with elegance, precision, and restraint.

The watches are wearable, too — usually 40–44mm, with thin profiles and classical dials that balance readability with wonder. You can wear one every day, or just stare at it

and question your place in the universe. Up to you.

And despite their complexity, these are true independents — built in small numbers, by hand, with artistic and horological integrity.

What’s Out There Now

The current CVDK catalog includes:

  • Planetarium Eise Eisinga

  • Real Moon Joure

  • Orion and Ariadne

  • Hypernova

  • Sirius — a refined, astronomy-first dress watch

You’ll also occasionally find collaborations (e.g. with Van Cleef & Arpels) and early models from the brand’s table clock era or pre-Reintjes wristwatch designs.

Pre-owned examples are rare but not impossible to find — and they tend to hold value well among serious collectors.

Fed’s Take

Christiaan van der Klaauw is what happens when a watchmaker decides that time isn’t enough — he wants to capture the cosmos.

I’ve had a Planetarium on wrist once, and it changed the way I think about complications. It was elegant. It was hypnotic. And somehow, it was still readable.

That’s the magic of CVDK

— it never feels like a gimmick. It feels like a tribute to what watches were always meant to do: connect us to the heavens.

If you’re into indie watchmaking and want a piece of the sky, this is it.

Check Out Our Christiaan van der Klaauw Inventory

Delray Watch is always on the lookout for unique Christiaan van der Klaauw watches — especially Planetarium, Real Moon, and Eclipse models.

If you have a CVDK watch you’re ready to sell or trade – reach out. We’re always buying.

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