Ineichen Auctioneers in Zurich will host significant event in the world of independent haute horlogerie

WHITE RABBIT & “A MAD HOROLOGICAL PARTY” 

Ineichen Auctioneers, Zurich — 13 December 2025
Two separate landmark lots: the only White Rabbit wristwatch ever to appear at auction (Lot 6) — a grand-complication masterpiece ranking among the twenty most complicated wristwatches in the history of horology. Lot 5 — the original painting “A Mad Horological Party” 

A Historic Dual-Lot Event at Ineichen

On 13 December 2025, Ineichen Auctioneers in Zurich will host one of the most significant events in the world of independent haute horlogerie and contemporary mechanical art.
All White Rabbit wristwatches were sold out long before completion, with no retail availability.
Thus, Lot 6 offers the only White Rabbit wristwatch ever to appear at auction — a grand-complication masterpiece ranking among the twenty most complicated wristwatches in the entire history of horology.
This is the first and only opportunity worldwide to acquire the model through a public sale.

As Lot 5, Ineichen will offer the original painting “A Mad Horological Party”, created by Konstantin Chaykin specifically for the White Rabbit project.
Although offered separately, the two lots form a rare dual narrative where a grand-complication wristwatch and the artistic universe that inspired it appear side by side.
LOT 5 — “A Mad Horological Party” (The Painting)

Konstantin Chaykin has recently emerged in a parallel artistic role—as a painter whose works explore the emotional and imaginative dimensions of his horological creations.
His art unites two seemingly different disciplines:

— the construction of highly complex, emotionally charged, ultra-thin mechanical timepieces
— and the expression of this imaginative world through fine art

Origins and Concept

The painting A Mad Horological Party was conceived as a metaphor for the development of the White Rabbit wristwatch.
Its title references Chapter Seven of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, a chapter rich with reflections on the nature of time—a thematic foundation of the watch itself.

Chaykin depicts himself at his workbench assembling the White Rabbit, surrounded by imaginative clockwork reinterpretations of Alice, the Hatter, the Dormouse, and the March Hare. None of these characters appear in their classic literary form; instead, they emerge as fantastical mechanical beings conceived entirely by Chaykin.

Art Historical Context

Chaykin’s approach aligns with the lineage of allegorical self-portraiture, reminiscent of:

• Raphael’s self-image in The School of Athens
• Botticelli’s appearance in The Adoration of the Magi
• Caravaggio’s David with the Head of Goliath
• Chagall’s dreamlike self-portraits featuring imagined figures

Like these masters, Chaykin embeds himself into a world half-real, half-imagined—yet uniquely defined by horology.

Preparatory Works & Artistic Continuity

A Mad Tea-Party is part of a wider creative arc linked to the White Rabbit project. Earlier artworks--March Har.1, Week-Maiden, Dormouse, and especially Ahasuerus—served as thematic studies.

Notably, Ahasuerus was inspired by a remarkable detail of the White Rabbit’s perpetual calendar: its main lever resembles the silhouette of a walking man.

LOT 6 — The White Rabbit Pocket Watch

An imaginary immersion into the surreal world of Alice in Wonderland — translated into the language of high complication.

The White Rabbit, unveiled in 2025, is one of the twenty most complicated wristwatches in the history of horology, featuring sixteen complications, including the first wristwatch perpetual calendar ever created in Russian watchmaking.

It is the fifth creation in Chaykin’s series of zodiac-themed wristmons, which began in 2019 with the Unique Pig, followed by the Mouse King (2020), Minotaur (2021), and other culturally layered interpretations of the Chinese zodiac.

Zodiac Origins and Literary Transformation

The White Rabbit was conceived in early 2023, as the Year of the Black Water Rabbit approached.
Following his tradition of blending zodiac themes with wider cultural contexts, Chaykin reinterpreted the zodiac symbol through literature, transforming it into the White Rabbit of Lewis Carroll—a character defined by his obsession with time and his iconic pocket watch.

The First Perpetual Calendar by Konstantin Chaykin

Inspired by Alice’s remark in Chapter Seven about “a watch that shows the day of the month but not the time,” Chaykin developed a fully in-house perpetual calendar, marking:

•  the first perpetual calendar of his career
• the first wristwatch perpetual calendar in Russian horology

The mechanism uses a traditional 48-segment month cam and main switching lever, enhanced with two major innovations:

• unidirectional safety transmission preventing reverse motion
• safe-correction system, allowing adjustments during the “red zone” (00:00–03:00) without risk of damage

A Project That Grew Beyond Itself

What began as a perpetual calendar rapidly expanded.
By early 2023 Chaykin had added:

• sunrise indicator
• sunset indicator
• daylength
• night-length
• moonphase
• dead-beat seconds (evolved from simple seconds)
• instantaneous a.m./p.m. indicator
• zodiac sign

He then introduced the idea of a reversible, transformable case and the poetic Suspended Time function.
The project continued evolving “until a sense of sufficiency emerged,” as Chaykin later wrote.

With sixteen complications, the White Rabbit approaches the complexity of Chaykin’s Stargazer (17 complications) and surpasses it in component count: 691 parts.

Suspended Time — “Time of a Mad Tea-Party”

Pressing the left-side pusher instantly moves both pupil-discs to 6:00, freezing the time and creating a surreal cross-eyed expression—an homage to the Mad Hatter’s eternal tea-party where “it’s always tea-time.”
This mechanically rare poetic complication visually embodies Wonderland’s surrealism.

Reversible, Transformable Case — 169 Components

The titanium case is both reversible and convertible between wristwatch and pocket-watch form.
It incorporates:

• multiple correctors
• the Suspended Time pusher
• dual dials
• reinforced internal architecture

With 169 components, the case alone surpasses the complexity of many complete calibres.

Haute Horlogerie Movement Finishing

Calibre K.34-1 features hand-finished details including:

• hand-polished anglage
• perlage
• circular & straight brushing
• black-polished steel
• rhodium-plated bridges
• gilded wheels
• spherical burnishing of pivots
• polished screw heads and countersinks

The movement comprises five main modules, each visually distinct and artistically arranged.

Complications of the White Rabbit
1. Joker indication (hours/minutes)
2-6. Perpetual calendar (date, day, month, leap-year)
7. Daylength
8. Night-length
9. Dead-beat seconds
10. Moonphase
11–12. Instantaneous a.m./p.m.
13. Sunrise
14. Sunset
15. Zodiac sign
16. Suspended time