Telling Time with Minute Repeater watches

Audemars Piguet
Millenary Minute Repeater
Cased in pink gold, the three-dimensional architecture of the watch complements a sophisticated movement featuring Audemars Piguet's own escapement, double balance spring, striking mechanism and gongs. The repeater mechanism's winding system has been purpose-built for this watch, with the sliding trigger at 9 o'clock as usual, but the striking barrel at 2 o'clock. The open-worked dial and the blued gong of the minute repeater are a feast for the eyes as well as ears.
Remember the grandfather clock in your house that chimed monotonically to the hour every hour? Now imagine that only more imaginatively, on your wristwatch. Craftsmanship married to technology is what the minute repeater is all about. And yes of course, an ear to hear the music.Minute repeaters date back to the 18th century when most pocket watches were outfitted with these chiming mechanisms. They were charming but basically scaled down versions of the Big Ben in the pocket. As the years passed, watchmakers ambitiously created minute repeaters to chime not just the hour, but the half hour and even the quarter hour. With competition hotting up, we now have 5 minute repeaters, in different chimes and gongs and even set to music.Of all complications, the minute repeater is one of the most endearing and also rare. For the simple reason that this piece of machinery is one huge complication to assemble. It requires a set of delicate and fragile hammers and gongs, a mechanism that requires intense skill and precision and since it is not an integral part of the watch components, it requires that much more skill to put it together. Collectors all over the world keep their ear to the ground to pick up some of the best minute repeaters created by watchmakers the world over. Notable among these are A. Lange & Sohne's Zeitwerk Striking Time. Or look out for Breguet's Classique La Musicale that plays 'Badinerie' by Bach. Patek Phillipe is known to have created some of the finest minute repeaters, as has Cartier with its Rotonde de Cartier, or Audemars Piguet's Tradition line. Look out also for Vacheron Constantin's presentation of this complication. All of these are like owning a set of rare and precious musical boxes in your own private collection.

Corum
Admirals Cup Legend 46 Minute Repeater Acoustica
A ten-piece limited edition, this timepiece is equipped with four gongs and four hammers. On the Admiral's Cup Legend 46 Minute Repeater Acoustica, the two lowest-pitched gongs – C (do) for the hours and E (mi) for the minutes – have been placed on the back of the movement, while the highest-pitched ones – G (sol) for the hours and C (Do) one octave up from middle C for the minutes – appear on the upper side. The absence of any dial highlights the hand-finished movement featuring bridges The watch comes in a 18-carat red gold case.

Breguet
Classique Grande Complication-Minute Repeater and Perpetual Calendar
This timepiece comes in 18-carat rose gold and is equipped with a hand-wound movement with minute-repeater and perpetual calendar. The minute-repeater mechanism provides an audible indication of time. The dial is silvered 18-carat gold. The watch features the age and phase of the moon at 01:30. The day indicator is at 4 o'clock and date at 6 o'clock. The leap-year indicator in a subdial is at 8 o'clock. The retrograde month indicator is at 10:30. It is powered by 40 hours reserve.

Vacheron Constantin
Patrimony Contemporaine Ultra-Thin Calibre 1731
This watch holds a double record: the thinnest minute repeater movement (3.90 mm) housed inside the slimmest minute repeater watch (8.90 mm). The curve of the 18-carat pink gold case middle has been accentuated so as to trim down the silhouette, while the sapphire crystal case-back has been opened as broadly as possible so as to reveal the hammers, along with a rare glimpse of the gongs. On the dial side are small seconds offset at 8 o'clock. Delivered with the resonator of sound, La Musique du Temps, it enhances the sound and the harmony notes of the Vacheron Constantin minute repeaters.

Jaeger-LeCoultre
Master Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon
This watch comes in a white gold case, has a silvered dial and is equipped with an automatic movement. With a thickness of only 7.9mm it can claim its place as the thinnest of all minute repeater watches. In addition to the minute repeater function, it also features for the first time a flying tourbillon combined with a flying balance and a peripheral self-winding system. The watch comes with an alligator leather strap.