SpotlightRock And Jazz Concerts On The Wrist: The Chronoswiss Q-Repeater And Other Novelties

At Watches & Wonders this year, Chronoswiss unveil the new families of watches that will join their existing collections. The first displays what has been described as one of the most ‘heavenly’ complications—the minute repeater. Unlike other watches with the minute repeater complication, the Chronoswiss Q-Repeater features a quarter repeater that belts out rock or jazz music at the push of a button. With a calibre taken from the archives and updated to fit the maison’s ‘modern mechanical’ tag, the Q-Repeater is the bridge between the brand’s past and future. The second collection—distinctly different from anything the brand have done before—displays central hours and minutes, with a small seconds sub-dial. In their smallest case size yet, the Chronoswiss Small Second collection moves beyond the brand’s regulator style layouts.

Chronoswiss Q-Repeater: When Chimes Perform At A Concert

Two iterations of the Chronoswiss Q-Repeater are the psychedelic ‘Scream’ and the stately ‘Blue Note’. A guilloche pattern in paraiba green (Scream) or blue (Blue Note) sits at the base of the multi-layered dial. On the Q-Repeater Scream, CVD-coated bridges in purple, orange and electric blue support the non-coaxial central minutes, and hours and seconds sub-dials. On the Blue Note, these bridges are electric blue with silver rings around the sub-dials.

A grade 5 titanium case measuring 42mm features Chronoswiss signatures like the oversized onion crown at three and double knurling on the case profile. At 10 o’clock on the case is a pusher that activates the chiming of the quarter repeater. This is made possible by the legacy movement housed within the case. First used in the 1990s, the C.126 automatic calibre has been restored and readapted for contemporary use. With a repeater on two gongs, the complication can be seen clearly at one o’clock on the dial. Little hammers strike the gongs to produce a ‘mechanical rock concert’ for the Q-Repeater Scream watch, or a symphony of jazz and blues for the Q-Repeater Blue Note timepiece.

On the Chronoswiss Q-Repeater Scream, CVD-coated bridges in purple, orange and electric blue support the non-coaxial central minutes, and hours and seconds sub-dials

On the Q-Repeater Blue Note bridges are in an electric blue hue. At one o'clock on the dial, hammers can be seen striking the gongs to produce a symphony of jazz notes

At 10 o’clock on the case of the Chronoswiss Q-Repeater is a pusher that activates the chiming of the quarter repeater

A grade 5 titanium case measuring 42mm features Chronoswiss signatures like double knurling on the case profile

First used in the 1990s, the C.126 automatic calibre has been restored and readapted for contemporary use

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Chronoswiss Small Second: A Traditional Study In Contrast

Despite being a departure from the brand’s traditional regulator style layouts, the new Small Second collection features design codes that are distinctly Chronoswiss. The 40mm steel cases with a height of only 11.5mm, make the Small Second collection the smallest ever Chronoswiss watches. The sapphire glass window on the caseback reveals the manufacture movement C.6000, with a power reserve of 55 hours.

On the dials, the brand have displayed their prowess with either guilloche patterns or nano printing. The Small Second Blue Orbit watch features a CVD coated dial with a guilloche pattern with an azurage sub-dial at nine. On the other hand, the Small Second Desert displays a laser and 10-layer nano-printed dial that evokes the rugged sandy appeal of a desert, with a contrasting guilloche sub-dial for the small seconds.

Both collections, while distinct, stand out in their own way, paving the way for a future where the brand are not defined by any one complication or layout.