Minute Repeater Carillon
The minute repeater carillon is a mechanism of great complexity which strikes on request the hours, the quarters and the minutes. These three indications are obtained by means of three hammer strokes on different gongs: a low pitched one for the hours, a high pitched one for the minutes, plus one of intermediate pitch. Used in conjunction with the others, this last one allows for a carillon effect on the quarter hours. The Lady?s Minute Repeater Carillon is without a doubt the smallest minute repeater on the market today and the smallest carillon repeater watch ever made. Ten years of research and development were necessary to perfect this exceptional mechanism, and to place this first carillon repeater watch within the reach of women attracted by mechanical watches. Of an exceptional density (340 pieces in a space of 22.6mm), its movement has a fitting diameter of 22.6mm and a thickness of 5.00mm. One of the major difficulties confronted by the technicians at Audemars Piguet was to obtain a pure quality of tone which depended on various parameters, including the size of the gong and the type of materials used. To solve this problem, they perfected an artisanal technique permitting construction of the gong in one piece, composed of a small rod whose rounded end is connected to a square base. This eliminated the need for soldering which would have affected sound quality. Protected from vibrations, this one-piece gong permits very high quality resonance. This timepiece is the only small wristwatch of its kind to possess three hammers and three bells. A subtle balance allows the precise calculation of the power of the strike: too strong, it muffles the sound; too weak and the sound becomes inaudible. Finally, great care has been taken in the esthetic details: curved lines matching the bridges, the half-violin shape with its bow, the bishop's cross and mitre. The major challenge, however, was the difficulty of integrating such a delicate movement into a small watch case. This required adapting numerous operating systems of the device, e.g. the return spring of the slide which arms the chime had to be included inside the mechanism rather than being placed on the exterior, as is ordinarily done. With a long tradition in the production of highly complicated repeaters, Audemars Piguet developed the first minute-repeating mechanism for a wristwatch only in 1985. Repeater movements consist of many tiny parts produced to extremely fine tolerances. During the assembly of the movement, the watchmaker has to hand-finish many of these components even further to arrive at the desired result - a tedious and time consuming process that involves constant testing, but necessary for the harmonious and reliable interaction of sometimes hundreds of parts. While mere minute repeaters chime the hours, quarters and minutes on 2 gongs with 2 hammers, the present watch, part of the "Jules Audemars" series will chime the quarters with 3 hammers on 3 gongs, adding a further tone to the "dingdong" enchanted connoisseurs are so familiar with.