FeatureLittle Ben, Big Melody: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel

One of the sweetest sounds you could ever hear is the chime of an activated minute repeater watch, as it strikes the gongs to tell you the time without your having to look at the dial. It’s what makes the minute repeater possibly the most beautiful complication a fine timepiece can have. Various fine watchmaking maisons have made great innovative strides with this complication. From Ulysse Nardin’s erotic display Voyeur watches, to H. Moser & Cie.’s Swiss Alp minute repeater with no timekeeping hands, we’ve seen some terrific interpretations over time. This year, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s rendition of the minute repeater presents a fascinating replica of the Big Ben’s chime. Developing a minute repeater that sounds like what is arguably the world’s most well-known time-telling chime was obviously no mean feat. And to top that, the Swiss manufacture has included a multi-axis tourbillon and a perpetual calendar in a grand complication watch that is every bit as impressive as it sounds. This is the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel.

As The Big Clock Strikes

The chime of London’s Big Ben—located in the Palace of Westminster, which serves as the Houses of Parliament—is a four-phrase melody composed of four notes that play in different sequences and quantities depending on the quarter of the hour.

This month marked the 160th anniversary of the Big Ben in the Elizabeth Tower of the Palace of Westminster, London, which began striking the hour on July 11, 1859. Currently undergoing restoration, the landmark will be unveiled for full view again in 2021.

In the Westminster Perpétuel watch, this same melody is realised using four sets of gongs and hammers that recreate the splendid clock’s chime through a complex mechanism, which includes a silence-reduction function. This advanced feature optimises the melody cadence, in that even when all four quarters aren’t struck—depending on the time—the strikes for the hours, quarters and minutes stay seamlessly joined. Two of the gongs can be seen on the face of the watch, flanking the off-centred main dial, at five and seven o’clock respectively.

Watch till the end for a demonstration of the Big Ben chime in the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, after all the components come together forming the beautiful complexity of this exquisite timepiece:

A Grand Timepiece

From the minutes and the quarters and the hours, to the days and the months and the years, this grand complication watch also features a perpetual calendar. While the day, month and year apertures can be seen clearly, the analogue jumping date is displayed via a central hand that can be adjusted both ways. All this, indicated on the main dial itself, will need adjustment only in the year 2100.

The blue dial is a perfect example of how finer details, such as this exceptional guilloche enamel work, add nuanced splendour to the overall impact of a watch

This version of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s ‘Gyrotourbillon’—the fifth generation of the manufacture's multi-axis tourbillon—is smaller than its four predecessors

The compact Gyrotourbillon sits at the six o'clock position in a white gold case that is merely 43mm in diameter

Flanking the tourbillon cage are the four gongs of the minute repeater—two on either side

The complex calibre, with all its intricacies and mechanical mastery, is set in a case that is 14.08mm thick

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Below the dial—available in blue guilloche enamel or grained silver—is Jaeger-LeCoultre’s multi-axis ‘Gyrotourbillon’, which is smaller than its four predecessors. This helps the manual-winding mechanical movement—offering a 52-hour power reserve—fit beautifully in a white gold case that is merely 43mm in diameter and water resistant to 30m.

While the day, month and year apertures of the perpetual calendar can be seen clearly, the analogue jumping date is displayed via a central hand that can be adjusted both ways

Powering the perpetual calendar, Gyrotourbillon and the exceptional minute repeater is the Jaeger-LeCoultre manual-winding calibre 184, visible through the caseback

The Big Ben melody is realised in this watch using four sets of gongs and hammers that recreate the splendid clock’s chime through a complex mechanism

The mechanism includes a silence-reduction function that optimises the melody cadence. Even when all four quarters aren’t struck, the strikes stay seamlessly joined.

This absolutely striking grand complication timepiece is such an exclusive master creation that it is only made to order, with a two-year waiting period.