What Makes The Sound Of A Minute Repeater So Magical?

By Martin Green | August 14, 2018

The history of the minute repeater goes back to a time before electric light. As lighting an oil lamp was quite some work, watchmakers build repeating mechanisms in pocket watches so that they could sound the time on demand. The invention of the minute repeater was claimed by both Edward Barlow and Daniel Quare, but it was Quare who obtained a patent for it in 1687. Initially, watches equipped with a repeating mechanism used bells to chime the time, later to be replaced with wire gong, which took up less space. These weren’t minute repeaters, at first, but quarter repeaters, chiming the time to the closest quarter.

Minute Repeaters don't always have to be classical propositions as Hublot proofs with the Classic Fusion Tourbillon Cathedral Minute Repeater Carbon in collaboration with star pianist Lang Lang — Minute Repeaters don’t always have to be classical propositions as Hublot proofs with the Classic Fusion Tourbillon Cathedral Minute Repeater Carbon in collaboration with star pianist Lang Lang

When the transition was made from pocket watches to wrist watches, the repeater mechanism became only sparsely used. The limited space of a wristwatch made it more difficult to create, and the introduction of electric light also made the demand for this complicated, and thus expensive, type of watches nearly completely vanish. It was only after the quartz crisis that a renewed interest emerged for the repeater mechanism. Today many of the top brands have a minute repeater in their collection, sometimes even combined with other complications, not so much for their practical use, but merely as a testimony of how high the micromechanical art of watchmaking can soar.

A. Lange & Söhne mastered the challenge of power management as this version of the Zeitwerk not only has jumping hours and minutes but also a minute repeater

The quality of a minute repeater is judged by the sound that it is making. This is not only the clarity and loudness of the notes but also the speed that it is chiming at. Such a complication takes a great deal of energy, and when it is playing, it can also negatively affect the amplitude of the watch, and therefore its accuracy.

Thinner and lighter: Bulgari shows that the quest to push the boundaries of the minute repeater further and further is still on with the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon

While a minute repeater asks for excellent power management in the movement, also the case itself plays an important role. While the material that it is made of has a great impact on the sound of the gongs, you cannot judge a minute repeater on merely that. It is also the way that the case is shaped, as well as the interaction of the other parts that make up the watch. Many manufacturers create something like a ‘sound chamber’ inside the case so that gongs can perform their task at an optimum and the sound is also (mildly) amplified.

To create a better performing governor Breguet developed one that utilizes magnetism and put it in this stunning Tradition 7078 Minute Repeater Tourbillon. The wire gongs are the two metal wires that start at the three o'clock position and curve around on the front of the watch. — To create a better performing governor Breguet developed one that utilizes magnetism and put it in this stunning Tradition 7078 Minute Repeater Tourbillon. The wire gongs are the two metal wires that start at the three o’clock position and curve around on the front of the watch.

However, to perform at an optimum the gongs also need to have time to sound, and for this the ‘governor‘ is responsible. This part of the watch determines the speed of the strikes and plays, therefore, an important part in the magical experience that is a minute repeater wrist watch!

What Makes The Sound Of A Minute Repeater So Magical?

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