150px|thumb|The watch by [[Louis Brandt (1892) was the first wristwatch with a minute repeater. The movement was manufactured by Audemars Piguet. ]]

A repeater is a complication in a mechanical watch or clock that chimes the hours and often minutes at the press of a button. There are many types of repeater, from the simple repeater which merely strikes the number of hours, to the minute repeater which chimes the time down to the minute, using separate tones for hours, quarter hours, and minutes. They originated before widespread artificial illumination, to allow the time to be determined in the dark, and were also used by the visually impaired. Now they are mostly valued as expensive novelties by watch and clock enthusiasts. Repeaters should not be confused with striking clocks or watches, which do not strike on demand, but merely at regular intervals.

History

The repeating clock was invented by the English cleric and inventor, the Reverend Edward Barlow in 1676. His innovation was the rack and snail striking mechanism, which could be made to repeat easily and became the standard mechanism used in both clock and watch repeaters ever since. The best kind of repeating clocks were expensive to make; a separate train of wheels had to be added to the striking mechanism, and to activate it one pulled a cord whereupon it would strike the hours and quarters, or even the hours and five-minute divisions (five minutes repeating). During the nineteenth century such clocks gradually went out of use. Due to cheap imports from France, Germany and America English clockmaking went into decline and with the advent of gas lighting repeating clocks became an unnecessary luxury.

Both Edward Barlow and Daniel Quare claimed the invention of the repeating watch, just before 1700.

The first repeaters had a single bell mounted in the back of the case, on which 2 hammers would strike. This bell was made of "bell metal", a mixture of copper and tin.

Later repeating watches use gongs made of long hardened steel wires that are coiled inside the watch case. Tiny hammers actuated by the repeater mechanism strike them to make the chiming sounds. Some of the complex repeaters, such as the minute repeater, need to produce three different sounds, to distinguish hours, quarter hours, and minutes in the striking sequence. Since it is difficult to fit three bulky wire gongs into a watch movement, virtually all repeaters use two gongs, made from the two ends of a single length of wire supported in the middle, and if a third sound is needed it is made by striking the two gongs rapidly in sequence, first the high tone and then the low: "ding-dong".

The repeaters have a mechanism that allows the pace of the repeater strikes to be changed. The owner of a repeater watch can ask a watchmaker to change the pace, making it faster or slower. According to the book "Etablissage et Repassage des Montres à Répétition" by John Huguenin (page 39 of the original edition), "a minute repeater with an average speed takes about twenty seconds to strike 12 hours, three quarters and fourteen minutes".

Types

Quarter repeater

The quarter repeater strikes the number of hours, and then the number of quarter hours since the last hour. The mechanism uses 2 chimes of different tones. The low tone usually signals the hours, and the high tone the quarter hours. As an example, if the time is 2:45, the quarter repeater sounds 2 low tones and after a short pause 3 high ones: "dong, dong, ding, ding, ding". Alternatively, some use a pair of tones to distinguish the quarter hours: "dong, dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong"

Half-quarter repeater

The half-quarter repeater can sound the time to half a quarter hour, or minutes. It strikes hours and then quarter hours, like the quarter repeater, then it uses a single tone in order to signal if more than half of the current quarter hour has passed. For example, if the time is 3:41 the mechanism will strike 3 low tones ("dong") to represent 3 hours, then 2 sequence tones ("ding-dong") to represent 2 quarter hours, then one high tone ("ding") to indicate that more than half of the third quarter hour has passed.

Five-minute repeater

First made in 1710 by Samuel Watson, In some examples it can strike the hours at the push of a button.

Modern sonnerie watches merge both types of sonnerie, making grande and petite sonnerie selectable modes that the user can choose between, as well as having an optional minute or quarter repeater. These watches will either have a distinctive double barrel setup, one wound by turning the clock clockwise, the other counter clockwise, or will use a single barrel for both timekeeping, and chiming. The number of strikes that a sonnerie can produce on a full wind depends on the striking mechanism and spring.

The sonnerie is implemented differently in clocks. On every quarter-hour it strikes the number of quarter hours audibly on a gong, and then the number of hours since the last hour on a second gong. For instance, in a 3 weight Vienna regulator wall clock, at 6:15 it would strike once on a high pitched gong, then strike six times on a lower pitched gong. At 6:30 it would strike twice on the high pitched gong, then six times on the lower pitched gong. At 6:45 three times on the high pitched gong, then six times on the lower pitched gong, and at 7:00 it would strike four times on the high pitched gong, then seven times on the lower pitched gong. The exact time every fifteen minutes will always be known by listening to the striking. These types of striking clocks are mostly found as French Carriage Clocks, or German three weight Vienna regulators. In addition they can strike the quarters and hours on demand, by activating a repeating mechanism at the push of a button, or the pull of a string. The term is sometimes used erroneously for a mere quarter striking mechanism.

Dumb repeater

Used by the visually impaired and to tell the time quietly in meetings and concerts, 'dumb' repeater watches did not chime audibly, but instead produced vibrations. Instead of a gong, the hammer struck the hours on a solid metal block attached to the case, producing a dull 'thud' that could be felt in the hand.

Ten Minute Repeater

A student of the Ecole Technique de la Vallée de Joux created a mechanical ten minute repeater in the 1930s. <!-- PLEASE NOTE: A repeater is a complication in a mechanical watch or clock that chimes the hours and often minutes at the press of a button -->

Pictures

<gallery class="center">

File:Minute repeater movement 2.jpg|Minute Repeater Ébauche, dial side.

File:Minute Repeater Ebauche back side.jpg|Minute Repeater Ebauche, back side

File:Repeater Gong.jpg|Minute repeater gong, about 2 in. diameter

File:Repeater Gong Detail.jpg|Gong support point, showing hollowing to lower tone.

File:Gallet minute repeater.jpg|Close-up of a minute repeating pocket watch movement showing placement of the gong and hammers, manufactured by the Gallet family in 1905.

File:Closeup Quarter Repeater.jpg|Closeup of a quarter repeater movement, dial side (with dial removed)

</gallery>

See also

  • Repeater (disambiguation)

Footnotes

Bibliography

  • Francois Crespe (1804) Essai sur les montres a répétition, JJ Paschoud, Geneva. Available on Google books at https://books.google.com/books?id=PLU-AAAAcAAJ, also reprinted in 2011 by Origami. English translation: Essay on Repeater Watches, Richard Watkins, Australia.
  • John Huguenin (1897) Etablissage et Repassage des Montres à Répétition, Journal Suisse d'Horlogerie. 48 pages. No drawing. Reprinted 2011 by Origami.
  • Emile James (1899) Traité des Sonneries, Librairie Stapelmohr. 99 pages, 59 drawings. An advertisement for this book appeared on 4 February 1900 issue of the bi-weekly Swiss journal La Fédération Horlogère (page 60). Reprinted 2011 by Origami.
  • C. T. Etchells (1917) Repairing Repeating Watches, Hazlitt & Walker, Chicago. 26 pages, 11 drawings.
  • Ch. Poncet (1938) L'horloger. tome. II., sonneries d'horloges et de montres. 224 pages.
  • Emanuel Seibel and Orville R. Hagans Ed. (1945) Complicated Watches, The Roberts Publishing Co., Denver Colorado.
  • François Lecoultre (1952), A Guide to Complicated Watches (Les Montres Compliquées), A. Simonin, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
  • J. H. Francis Wadsworth (1965) A History of Repeating Watches, Offprint from Antiquarian Horology (originally published in parts from September 1965 to June 1966).
  • Manfred Fritz (1991) IWC Grande Complication, Edition Stemmle. 240 pages. Pages 142-176 and 194-201 are about the minute repeater mechanism of the IWC Grande Complication watch.
  • Roy Ehrhardt (1993) European Repeaters & Clock Watches, Book 1, Heart of America Press. . A compilation of repeaters and clock watches found in auction catalogs over the years. 170 pages. A picture and a description of each watch is given. The watches are sorted by functions and brands. The Book 2 has not been released yet.
  • Audemars Piguet (2002 ?) Les Heures Musicales, Audemars Piguet edition. 70 pages with many repeater watches (pocket and wristwatches) made by Audemars Piguet. This is not a commercial catalog.
  • Curtis D. Thomson (2006) Decimal Points, an article about Kari Voutilainen's minute repeater, International Watch (May 2006): pp.&nbsp;136–140.
  • Ron DeCorte (2007) Exploring the Repeater (DVD and VHS), AWCI editions. Duration : 1 hour 30'.
  • Bob Stuart (2009) The Sound of Minute Repeaters , Vanity Fair (May 2009). 4 Pages. An audiophile comparison between 8 modern minute repeaters.
  • Richard Watkins (2017) The Repeater. 100 Pages. A detailed, technical study of repeaters and grande sonnerie watches.
  • Quarter, Minute and Decimal Repeater Videos
  • Explanation of terminology of repeaters, Sonneries, and clockwatches, as used today.
  • (fr) How Minute-Repeater Watches work
  • (fr) Disassembly, cleaning, repair and reassembly of a quarter repeater
  • Minute-Repeater Watches in detail
  • High quality audio files of 8 modern minute repeaters watches. For each watch, there are 2 recording conditions (repeater on the wrist or on a table), and 2 recording quality (MP3 and Lossless). The watches are Audemars Piguet, Bvlgari, Corum, Franck Muller, IWC, Jaeger LeCoultre, Piaget and Vacheron Constantin. The recordings were made in an anechoic chamber.
  • What is a Minute Repeater?