One of the most difficult watch complications to produce, a minute repeater transforms a discount Cartier replica watches from mere timekeeping device to miniature music box. Below we take a look at 6 minute repeaters — and other, even more sophisticated chiming watches — that are more than just bells and whistles.
The newest version of the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Striking Time has a rose-gold case and hands and a silver dial. Unlike most repeaters and other chiming watches, it has its chiming mechanism integrated into the dial design. The black-polished steel hammers are located on either side of the large small-seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. The hammer on the right strikes the quarter hours and the one on the left, the full hours. The two gongs, embedded in a recess between the dial and the bezel, are also visible from the dial side. Every 15 minutes, the mechanism triggers the striking of one of the gongs — three high-pitched chimes for each quarter hour and one low-pitched chime for the top of every full hour. The watch has a device that can deactivate the chiming mechanism whenever the owner wishes to not be disturbed by it: Simply press the push-piece at 4 o’clock and the hammers raise away from the gongs and hold in place, thus silencing the watch.
The Audemars Piguet Tradition Tourbillon Minute Repeater Chronograph is available in a very limited edition of 10 pieces each for both versions, a rose gold and a titanium model. The titanium version, the company says, is ideally suited for the watch’s highest complication, the minute repeater, which strikes on two gongs. As many may not be aware, the quality of the sound emitted by a repeater fake watches for men is largely dependent on both the case material and the case’s dimensions. Larger cases (the Tradition Tourbillon Minute Repeater Chronograph’s is 47 mm in diameter) and lighter, harder materials (such as titanium) are best suited to maximize the sound volume of the chimes by allowing the acoustic waves to expand inside the case.
At the push of a button (located at 10 o’clock), or when it strikes a pre-set time, the Breguet Ref. 7800 Classique “La Musicale” plays Bach’s “Badinerie.” Its musical mechanism resembles a music box, utilizing a disk with pegs that strike the 15 blades of the “keyboard.” A membrane made of Swatch’s LiquidMetal fitted under the movement amplifies the sound while maintaining water resistance.
The Bulgari Brighella, the first in its series of “Commedia del’ Arte” watches, is equipped with a cathedral-gong minute repeater (operated by a slide at 10 o’clock) with two hammers, along with a jumping hour and retrograde minutes display. When the watch’s chime sounds, the characters on the dial begin moving in choreographed, balletic motions. The case is made of 18k white gold and an alloy called Magsonic, developed to amplify the resonance of the repeater’s chimes.
One of the highlight pieces of SIHH 2014, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon is the eleventh creation in the brand’s Hybris Mechanica collection and the first ultra-thin Grand Complication model. The watch is very slim for a minute repeater, at just 7.9 mm thin. It is also equipped with an original tourbillon, a high-performance new balance spring, a peripheral automatic winding system, a retractable single push-button, and a minute repeater equipped with a silent-timelapse reduction system. The replica watches for sale is equipped with two patented trebuchet hammers that ensure stronger, cleaner striking on the two crystal gongs fixed to the sapphire crystal, which helps to amplify the sound diffusion. Instead of a traditional slide, the minute repeater is activated by a retractable, single push-button, for which Jaeger-LeCoultre has filed a patent, with a discreet locking system at 8 o’clock.
The Jaquet Droz Bird Repeater is inspired by the brand’s namesake, Pierre Jaquet-Droz, known for his automaton creations, which often featured birds. A push-button triggers the minute repeater, which strikes the hours, quarters, and minutes as the birds on the dial come to life. The system uses a cathedral gong whose resonant, mellow tones are generated by two turns around the mechanism.
