Audemars Piguet- Jules Audemars Grande Sonnerie Dynamograph

The Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Grande Sonnerie Dynamograph watch is an extraordinary achievement of horological mastery as well as superb traditional watchmaking knowledge and craftsmanship. A testament to the expertise of Audemars Piguet in the realm of great watchmaking complications, this extraordinary timepiece takes the celebrated complication of the repeater to its ultimate level. The manually wound movement, constructed by Audemars Piguet and their famed movement specialist Renaud et Papi, contains well over 400 individually hand-finished pieces.

This phenomenal mousetrap of wheels, pinions, racks, snails, and springs offers first of all, a minute repeater, which can be activated on request to chime the hours, quarter hours, and individual minutes; unlike most repeaters however, which indicate quarter hours with a two-gong high/low chime, the Sonnerie movement has a three-gong carillon chime, which offers both additional complexity, as well as a remarkably beautiful and distinctive quarter-hour chime. In addition to the minute repeater, the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Grande Sonnerie watch offers both big and little strike ("Grande et Petite Sonnerie") modes. This remarkable complication allows the watch to be set in such a way that hours and quarter hours are struck off automatically throughout each hour, (Grand mode), or to strike only the hours in passing (Petite mode). Since this complication demands so much energy to operate, the movement of this Audemars Piguet Grande Sonnerie watch features mainspring barrels dedicated to both the movement, and the strike works.

Functions of the watch.

• Great tone mode, it automatically rings the hours and quarters.
• Small Ring mode, it automatically rings the hours
• Silence: no ring feature is active. It is essential to set the time on the clock when it is muted.
• When the button is pressed the Repeat: the hours, quarters and minutes on demand.

To ensure that this remarkable complication is not damaged should it be operated when too little power is available to the strike work, Audemars Piguet has developed both an indicator which shows the power-reserve remaining in the mainspring for the strike work, as well as a second indicator--called a Dynamograph---which indicates the curve of optimum torque which is ideal for the strike modes to be engaged for optimal performance. A small selector piece at the upper right hand corner also allows the watch to be set to "Silence" should the owner not desire the Sonnerie to sound. The craftsmanship which Audemars Piguet lavishes upon the movement of the Jules Audemars Grande Sonnerie Dynamograph watch is breathtaking, representing the finest in traditional haute de gamme techniques. Steel parts are individually drawn with a file, while bridges feature perlage on their bottom side, Cotes de Geneve on their topside, and anglage polishing on the edges. Screw and jewel settings are all countersunk and polished, while certain parts, such as the hammers of the striking mechanism display the luxurious specular polish. Purely functional components such as wheels and pinions are given no less careful scrutiny, resulting in a watch that is a true work of art in every respect.

Extremely limited in production, with only a few pieces produced each year, the Audemars Piguet Jules Audemars Grande Sonnerie Dynamograph watch presents its noble horlogical quality in an 18K white gold case. This graceful round case, a hallmark of all watches within the Jules Audemars Collection, features a sophisticated brushed finish, with highly polished elements on the bezel, and caselugs. The beautiful dial is a fine compliment to this classic, yet extremely complex timepiece, featuring a central section decorated with a Cotes de Geneve finish. A luxurious, remborded crocodile strap, complete with a white gold AP folding clasp completes this exceptional Audemars Piguet watch.

Daniel Roth- Grande Sonnerie Moon Phase

Since time immemorial, man has sought to symbolize time from sunrise to sunset by sounds, guiding the members of a community in their daily social and private activities.

As technology has evolved, this particular rhythum, harmonized by the sound of time, has taken on a more intimate character and made its entry into the private sphere.  At a time when electricity and luminous numerals did not yet exist, sound was the only way to tell time in the dark, on demand or automatically.  In fact, few manufacturers are able to produce striking watches and this know-how reflects the perfection of the Master watchmakers art.  Daniel Roth is one of these capable to manufacture every single component of the striking movement, and has being doing so for many years.

The Grande Sonnerie Moon phase representing a genuine masterpiece of horological complication housed within a wristwatch that is unique on the market, this Grande Sonnerie in the Daniel Roth collection is powered by a self-winding tourbillon movement with four-hammer Westminster Chime grand strike and moon-phase display.  Entirely decorated, crafted and assembled in the Manufacture, this model has benefited from the particular care devoted to the quality of the sound and to its many security systems.

A miniature marvel in terms of its construction, it is equally magnificient in terms of the exceptional finishing lavished on all parts of the movement: polishing, straight-graining of the flanks and bevelling of the parts and the mainplate; bridges decorated with Cotes de Geneve and fully guilloche oscillating weight.  This extraordinary watch is to be issued in a limited edition of 10.

Luxus

Roger Dubuis- Excalibur Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar

Excalibur collection from ROGER DUBUIS has replenished with rare enough combination of complications: minute repetir, tourbillon, an eternal calendar and time indicator in the second time zone – such is the short description of model behind modest index EX45 0829 0 N9C.71R (Excalibur – 9, Place Vendome).

Heart of the novelty is automatic movement RD 0829 on 42 ruby stones, with a stock of a course of 50 hours – consisting of 662 parts, the general thickness is almost 9 mm. Under statements of developers the special design of the repetir mechanism excludes extraneous noise and friction doing a signalling device sound especially clean. It is necessary to note a reasonable arrangement of windows of an eternal calendar – abreast habitual to an eye.

In-house mechanical  self-winding movement with perpetual calendar-Calibre RD 1429-Case 45mm in white gold-Black dial-Alligator strap with white gold folding clasp-Limited Edition 28.Bearing the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark.
Functions :
Instantaneous perpetual calendar with in-line apertures, dual time zone, day of the week indication through a window at 10 o'clock, large date display at 12 o'clock, month indication through a window at 2 o'clock, day/night display at 8 o'clock, leap-year window at 4 o'clock, moon phases at 6 o'clock, pointer-type dual time-zone display at 6 o'clock, hours and minutes.

Vacheron Constantin- Cabinotiers Openworked Minute Repeater

Harking back directly to the origins which have guided Vacheron Constantin since its foundation in 1755, the Cabinotiers time-pieces embody the watchmaker’s art at its best and raising the creative talents of Vacheron Constantin to new heights.

Les Cabinotiers is the special section inside the manufacture where Vacheron Constantin’s master watchmakers work on the highest complications. This timepiece exemplifies exceptional technical superiority with a hand-wound movement and caliber 1755 SQ. The openworked case is 37 mm and is made of platinum. The grand complication, the minute repeater, is on-demand strike of hours, quarters, and minutes.

Les Cabinotiers Openworked Minute Repeater is the world’s slimmest-ever openworked minute repeater watch.

IWC- Grande Complication

The IWC Specialities watch collection brings to the world one of the supreme wonders of haute horlogerie---the Grande Complication watch. Housed within the massive 42.2mm 18K gold or platinum case of the IWC Grande Complication watch, an exceptional and complex selfwinding movement with 659 individual parts performs an incredible symphony of functions, including a perpetual calendar which indicates day, date, month, century and moonphase, a chronograph, and a minute repeater. Due to the considerable demands placed upon the skills of the master IWC watchmakers in constructing the Grande Complication watch, only 50 are produced each year,guaranteeing the continued mystique of this most incredible of timepieces.

Audemars Piguet- Jumping Hour Minute Repeater

The hours sing out once more on the new Jules Audemars watch from Audemars Piguet. They also dance across the dial with its jumping display and elegant blued Arabic numerals. Combining two in-house specialities – the Minute Repeater and Jumping Hours – this marvel of precision and harmony perpetuates Audemars Piguet’s supreme expertise in the field of complicated watches. With its case and dial featuring a new take on classical styling, it gives a fresh boost to the Jules Audemars collection. This delightful new model will be music to the ears of connoisseurs the world over.

The Audemars Piguet Calibre 2907 driving the new Jules Audemars Jumping Hour Minute Repeater is clearly inspired by the movement of the historical 1992 model, whereas the architecture has been entirely redesigned to match the new case dimensions. Audemars Piguet has implemented innovative solutions to accommodate the relatively large movement and the complex striking mechanism within a diameter of just 43 mm. Blending traditional expertise and cutting-edge technologies, the Manufacture has also endowed the audible mechanism with all the fine-tuned technical details that distinguish its latest generation of Minute Repeaters. In particular, the movement has been equipped with a device that does eliminate any audible gap when the watch does not need to strike a quarter (e.g. 9:13); the sequence of 9 hours and 13 minutes is thus struck smoothly and without any interruption. Minute Repeater watches generally preclude any manual time-setting when the striking mechanism is in operation, since this might damage the movement. To remedy this problem, Audemars Piguet has developed a system that disengages the time-setting system while the watch is striking. This set of breakthrough developments thereby enhances the reliability, the security and the user-friendliness of Minute Repeater watches, while remaining true to the aesthetic appearance of the vintage models. The jumping hour mechanism has also been optimised. So as to enlarge the numerals while making sure the disc was not too large for the movement, watchmakers had to rethink the positioning of the disc and shift it towards the centre of the calibre.

20 pieces total will be made.
Case is 43mm and thickness 12mm.
Flame-blued "Poire Paris" minute hand.

Girard Perregaux- Opera Two

The Girard Perregaux Opera Two is a minute repeater with Westminster Chime, tourbillon, perpetual calendar wristwatch in oversized, massive solid platinum case. The dial features cutaways which highlight the tourbillon and repeating apparatus. The Girard Perregaux "Opera" series watches are the highest of high grade watches, from Switzerland's oldest continuously operating watch manufacturer.
The dial is silver with dauphine hands. This watch is a perpetual calendar, and the uppermost subdial displays month and leap year cycle. Date is displayed in the 3 o'clock subdial. Day is displayed in the 9 o'clock subdial. Tourbillon is visible working in the 6 o'clock dial cut away.

Movement is the extremely elite manual winding Girard Perregaux Caliber GP 9897 with 37 jewels, beating at 21,600 vibrations per hour and with 75 hour power reserve. The real story with this caliber is, of course, the complications: Westminster Chime Minutes Repetition, Tourbillon and Perpetual Calendar.
Technical Data:

Material : Pink gold Dimensions / Diameter : 42.00 mm Height : 14.54 mm Case-back : Sapphire crystal, secured by 6 screws Water resistance : 3 ATM (100 feet) Movement : GPME0980, manual Calibre : 12 1/2 ''' Frequency : 21,600 Vib/h (3 Hz) Jewels : 37 Power reserve : min. 75 hours Functions : Tourbillon, hour, minute, minute repeater on four gongs (hours, quarters and minutes - Westminster chime), perpetual calendar, small second on the Tourbillon