Born of a passion for Japanese culture, the unique “Origin of the Sun” watch created by Lionel Ladoire took over 300 hours to complete and takes its name from “Nihon” (Nippon), which is the word for Japan in Japanese and means the “sun’s origin”. The kanji ideograms that denote Nippon, 日本, the first denoting “sun” or “day” and the second denoting “origin” or “root” are engraved on the side of the titanium case.

The Origin of the Sun timepiece features a platinum hand-cut display showing Japan’s imperial flag and will be presented officially in May 2012, before being sent to auction, from which 30 per cent of the proceeds will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross to support victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

It is powered by the Ladoire Calvet/01/RGT calibre self-winding manufacture movement, which has a 48-hour power reserve and special matte white and red satin-finish paint on the shaped main plate and a raised, two-part micro rotor at 6 o’clock. The time is displayed by off-centre discs for the hours and minutes, with a special profiled hand used as a GMT indicator.

The striking design of the movement and display are enclosed in a titanium case that measures 56mm x 45mm and has a bezel and case back in white gold with a black PVD coating. It is water resistant to 50 metres and comes with a full-grain, hand-stitched calfskin strap and a white-gold and titanium black PVD buckle.