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Minute repeater
Only a few decades after Abraham-Louis Perrelet was credited with creating the rotor-driven timepiece,
demand began to increase for the manufacture of pocket watches that chime the hours and minutes,
or minute repeaters. With indoor light at that time provided primarily by the sun or by candle,
the utility of such timepieces was obvious. In the middle of the night, the owner of a minute repeater
could tell the time without lighting a candle. Likewise, the owner could tell time with minimal
fuss while walking in darkened halls or during the evening outdoors.
Today, demand for minute
repeaters remains strong, though not because of its practicality.
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Enthusiasts take great pleasure
in the pure sound that he or she knows is the result of what watchmakers often consider
among the most difficult wristwatch complications to create.
Not shy about showing its prowess,
Perrelet has created a minute repeater, specifically a five-minute repeater.
Again, the firm has demanded of
its maker (Dubois-Depraz) that the movement be unique. And so it is.
Instead of the standard slidewound
minute repeater, whereby the user pushes a slide on the left side of the case to wind the
spring that powers the chime, here the user pushes a button, located at 8 o'clock.
When depressed, it winds the spring, and chimes the time. This feature is designed by Perrelet
for ease of use. An initial low-pitched tone (one stroke for the hour) sounds the hour,
followed by the two tones (one low-pitched and one high-pitched) that sound for every
five-minutes that have passed since the last hour. The watch is water resistant to fifty
meters – another unusual feature for a repeater.
The price of the five-minute repeater, made with a 42mm rose gold case, is $29,900 and
in the same sized platinum case is $67,900. The gold model is available with a silver or black
dial and the platinum model is made with a night-blue dial only.
Contact Perrelet USA at
(888) 596-9483, or send an email to info@perreletusa.com.
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