The Astrolabium Galileo Galilei is one of the three models which make up the “Trilogy of Time” series by Ulysse Nardin. A remarkable watchmaking project, the Trilogy had as a goal to develop extremely intricate astronomical pieces targeted to a highly educated audience. It was conceived in the early 1980s when Rolf Schnyder - who had bought Ulysse Nardin - was struck with fascination at an early astronomical clock. A meeting with watchmaker Ludwig Oechslin followed, and Oechslin was tasked with shrinking the astronomical clock to wrist size. The result was the first Trilogy of Time wristwatch: the Astrolabium. In fact, this was one of the first line of watches to reinterpret the wristwatch more as a living sculpture and object of design, rather than a tool to tell time. The Astrolabium was launched in 1985, featuring a plethora of astronomical indications such as sunrise/set moonrise/set, moon phases, eclipses (both solar and lunar), the star chart, indeed all information usually found in an astrolabe.
The second watch of the series was the Planetarium Copernicus - launched in 1988 - featuring an heliocentric view of the solar system up to and including Saturn; finally, the Tellurium Johannes Kepler focuses on earth and the position relative to it of sun and moon.