Watch GlossaryMinute Repeater
Learn the intricate world of the minute repeater complication. Find what a minute repeater is and how it works
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What Is A Minute Repeater Complication In A Watch?
A complication in mechanical watchmaking that tells the time not by conventional time-telling hands or displays, but by sound, is the minute repeater complication. Telling time by sound has been around for longer than the complication in watches, by way of grandfather and other clocks that chime every hour and every quarter. In watches though, these the time chimes mostly on demand, by the push of a trigger, or some other mechanism.
How Does A Minute Repeater Complication Work?
Like in the clocks, the chimes that tell the time are heard in three steps. The most prominent of the chimes are those of the hours, followed by those of the quarters, and finally of the minutes within the quarter that was indicated. When you count the sets of tones of each, you can tell the time. These chimes are created through a mechanism of hammers and gongs that go into action when the trigger is released.
The minute repeater complication was first created out of necessity, when there was no electricity and even ligh by fire was not easy, and the use of sound to know the time was the obvious alternative to reading the time on a dial. Owing to this, the production of the minute repeater complication saw a decline after 1845, when the matchstick was invented in 1845.
Yet, just like the tourbillon, which technically does not have any practical function today, the minute repeater complication prevails. And developing a minute repeater timepiece is an accomplishment for watch manufacturers today. It is often regarded as a prestigious complication and watches with the minute repeater complication are rarely ever produced in large numbers.
Among the leading brands that have excelled with the minute repeater complication are Jaeger-LeCoultre. They have even created exceptional minute repeater watches such as the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, whose chimes mimic those of the ‘Big Ben’ clock in London. A more recent accomplishment of theirs was the Hybris Mechanica. Independent brand H. Moser & Cie. have particularly excelled with presenting this high complication in watches that still maintain their signature minimalism. A fine example of this is their recent Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon.
