Four Chiming Watches Currently Making Noise

Four covetable chiming watches to excite both horology enthusiasts and collectors.

In the mid-18th century, watchmakers devised a way for timepieces to sound the hour. The function was a practical one, so that people could tell time even in the middle of a pitch-black night. Digital devices may have rendered such traditional functions obsolete today, yet the enchanting sound of a chiming watch remains one of the most prized features of high-end horology. Known as minute repeaters, they’re among precision watchmaking’s most challenging and revered complications, resulting in creations that not only display time, but also translate that into sound.

Here are four chiming watches currently making noise among horology enthusiasts and collectors.

JAEGER-LECOULTRE

When its first wristwatch alarm, the Memovox, was introduced in 1959, Jaeger-LeCoultre made its mark in fine watchmaking. Since then, it’s gone through many iterations. Launched in 2020, the Master Control Memovox and Master Control Memovox Timer continue to resonate with aficionados and collectors alike. Both 40mm models with a 45-hour power reserve flaunt a redesigned movement and a sleek new case, although they still emanate the original “school bell” sound when the alarm is set.

The 250-piece limited-edition steel Master Control Memovox Timer from 2020 features an open sapphire case back and a new striking mechanism, so now you can actually see the alarm going off as well as hear it, while the automatic calibre’s pink-gold rotor is skeletonised to reveal as much of the striking action as possible. The alarm function is activated by the triangular marker inside the central disc on the dial. Elegant as ever, the watch features a sloping bezel, dynamically curved lugs and mix of polished and satin-brushed surfaces.