Venus: When Renaissance Art Meets Independent Watchmaking

With Venus, Konstantin Chaykin introduces the world’s first wristwatch built around an erotomorphically inspired design. Known for his inventive Wristmons collection, Chaykin here expands his universe by merging mythology, astronomy, and human symbolism into a single figure.

“From the moment this image formed in my imagination,” Chaykin explains, “I knew the watch would have smooth contours of a stylised nude female figure, moon-faced, with flowing hair and a subtle reference to Botticelli’s seashell.”

Venus, the second-brightest celestial body after the Sun and Moon, has long symbolised love, beauty, and sensuality. Chaykin carefully translates these qualities into horological form, establishing strict personal rules to ensure the design remains metaphorical and refined, never vulgar. The result is a watch that speaks not only of erotic allegory, but also of civilisation, time, and human history.

The origins of Venus date back to 2018, shortly after the debut of the Wristmons collection, when Chaykin first imagined an erotomorphic watch. Though initially set aside, the concept resurfaced through his painting Goddess of Time Tempa, auctioned in Geneva in 2024. That artwork became the creative catalyst for this collaboration with GMT Great Masters of Time.

The partnership itself began in 2023, when Jacopo and Mattia Corvo, founders of GMT Great Masters of Time, approached Chaykin with the shared ambition of creating a project rooted in Italian Renaissance culture. After two years of design refinement and prototyping, Venus was born.

Housed in a 40mm steel case, the Venus watch integrates hours, minutes, and a moonphase display directly into the figure’s body. Unlike Botticelli’s Venus, this modern interpretation faces forward, arms open, framed by a radiant halo of guilloché waves.

The dial is executed in GMT’s signature 4N gold tone, richly decorated with hand-crafted guilloché. Adapting Chaykin’s Wristmons module to this unique form required precise rebalancing of the subdials and moonphase disc to maintain both legibility and visual harmony.

Powering the watch is the calibre K.18-25, based on the La Joux-Perret G200, offering a 68-hour power reserve. Chaykin’s bespoke joker-indication module — fully developed in-house — integrates seamlessly with the abstract Venus design. Details such as pad-printed facial features, a dark blue moon shadow, and flowing guilloché “hair” elevate the dial into a miniature work of art. A single crown at three o’clock and a slim, smooth bezel preserve the purity of the feminine composition.

Beyond its artistic and technical significance, Venus carried a profound philanthropic purpose. One of the two prototypes was sold at a live auction on 11 December 2025 at the Cattedrale dell’Immagine in Florence. All proceeds supported the breast cancer initiative of LILT (Lega Italiana per la lotta contro i tumori), funding the acquisition of a medical scanner for breast cancer diagnosis.

“Everything we do at GMT has always been about bringing people together,” said Jacopo and Mattia Corvo. “Venus is the goddess of love and beauty, but she is also associated with victory. It was deeply symbolic for us that this watch contributed, in a small way, to LILT’s fight against cancer.”

They added: “Some people may have seen Venus as provocative or playful. But those who knew its story understood its deeper meaning and what Venus truly represented.

For GMT Great Masters of Time, Venus embodies the timeless values historically associated with the goddess herself: love, beauty, and victory. It is a watch that transcends traditional boundaries, uniting horology, art, and social responsibility in a single object.

The Venus will be available in 2026, exclusively through GMT Great Masters of Time and Konstantin Chaykin — a modern homage to Renaissance inspiration, and a reminder that time, like beauty, can also be a force for good.