What Is a Minute Repeater, And What Does It Do?

Chiming watches have been around for centuries. Daniel Quare patented the repeating watch in 1687, but it was only in the 19th century that wire gongs were invented by the Swiss. Ranging from hour strikers (where a strike is executed every hour) to Westminster chime grande sonneries (which chime the Westminster Quarters and strike the hours and quarters accordingly), they vary in complexity and performance. But their purpose during the 17th to 19th centuries was the same: To offer a way of telling the time at night, or for the visually challenged to be able to know the time, back when candles were expensive and electricity and light bulbs had not been invented.

It may surprise many to know that the operation of the repeater watch remains largely unchanged from its original rack-and-snail mechanism, invented by Reverend Edward Stockten in 1676. The “all-or-nothing” mechanism invented by Breguet ensured the complication was fully powered to chime all of its sequence. More innovations in chiming complications have emerged since. As we celebrate 350 years of the minute repeater in 2026, here are some of the best minute repeaters available today.

Contemporary Beats

What Is a Minute Repeater, And What Does It Do? - Cortina Watch Thailand — The H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Blue Enamel in stainless steel with Aqua Blue fumé Grand Feu enamel dial. (Credit: H. Moser & Cie.)

The minute repeater is one of the most challenging complications to produce, in part because it involves more than just mechanical operation. The quality and cadence of the watch’s chime require careful adjustments by a watchmaker. As a result, most minute repeaters are housed in precious metals, and due to the operation of the “all-or-nothing” sliding activator as well as chime volume, they are rarely sealed against water penetration. H. Moser & Cie.’s Streamliner Concept Minute Repeater Tourbillon Blue Enamel differs from the norm – it is housed in steel and protected against water for up to 50 metres of pressure. Furthermore, it also presents the hammer and gongs on the dial side, providing visual and aural delight to its wearer.

Many of H. Moser & Cie.’s minute repeaters are housed in stainless steel, because it is harder than gold or platinum, providing better resonance for the chimes while maintaining a rich warm tone thanks to its density. It highlights the watchmaker’s insistence on performance and quality, while remaining authentic to its identity as the enfant terrible of high watchmaking. As the HMC 905 is fitted to the Streamliner’s cushion case, the gongs are attached to the case and designed to ensure the case functions well as an acoustic sound chamber, increasing volume without impacting pitch and tone. The movement is stunningly finished with mirror-finish hammers and gongs that contrast against the satin-finished surfaces of the case and bracelet, and complement the polished caseband and chamfers. A tourbillon regulator is visible through a cut-out dial, powered by two barrels that hold up to 90 hours of power.

The dial is a work of art that equals the sophistication of the minute repeater. Painted by hand on a white gold disc with a grainy texture, it graduates from a light aqua blue to black along the edge, as if peering into a cenote from above. The enamel artist carefully blends blue and black pigments to create this fumé effect, before firing it in a kiln at above 800°C or Grand Feu. The glazing of the vitreous enamel ensures the dial will retain its vivid colour even when exposed to the elements. The blend of high watchmaking and artistry makes the steel timepiece even more intriguing, elevating a commonly used metal to the realm of high luxury.

Futuristic Mix

When it comes to sound resonance, the volume of a watch case is important. Generally speaking, a bigger case volume delivers greater volume and longer chimes. Yet Bvlgari’s ultra-thin Octo Finissimo case produces a room-filling sound with the BVL 362 minute repeater movement. The watch has a cut-out dial for the small seconds counter and hour indexes, allowing each chime to fully fill the titanium case and increasing its volume. Using a light, hard material like titanium also allows sound to be transmitted better, and the 2022 edition of the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater comes in a cool matte blue dial with a matching rubber strap with a fabric pattern. The gongs and hammers of the watchmaker fit into a remarkably slim watch measuring just 6.85mm thick.

While the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater isn’t a new development (in fact, it celebrates 10 years in 2026), Bvlgari is still discovering new ways of innovating with the watch. In 2018, the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon was presented with a full carbon case and bracelet. This was refreshed last year with a carbon thin ply version that maintains the lightness of the original, and enhances its hardness further which improves sound transmission. In the pursuit of ultra-thin chiming watches, materials are the game-changing factor for performance.

Modern Tempo

Chopard has rounded up its celebration of the 30th anniversary of its Fleurier manufacture with an incredible chiming watch, the L.U.C Grand Strike. One-upping the minute repeater, the Grand Strike is a grande sonnerie watch, which chimes the hours and quarters as they pass. The automatic chiming function can also be adjusted to a petit sonnerie, which chimes just the hours, or silenced and activated manually using the sliding selector just above the crown. The watch is the result of over 11,000 hours of development and holds five innovations patented for this timepiece, while drawing on five existing patents the watchmaker holds. The sapphire crystal gongs and hammers are presented on the dial side, and the gongs are machined in a monobloc construction with the dial to deliver a pure, dynamic chime.

Precision timekeeping is essential in a grande sonnerie, since the sonnerie function strikes the hours and quarters at each quarter (grande) or the hours only each hour (petit). As with all Chopard in-house movements, the Grand Strike’s calibre L.U.C 08.03-L bears the Geneva Seal and COSC chronometer certification, with the latter standards met even when the petit sonnerie is activated. The petit sonnerie consumes the greatest power of all three states as it requires braking to prevent the hour strike from taking place each quarter. The timekeeping and sonnerie functions are separately powered to prevent the latter from impacting energy transmission and precision in turn. The 4Hz movement has a power reserve of up to 70 hours for timekeeping and 12 hours for the grande sonnerie.

The monocrystalline sapphire crystal gongs are just one of the many innovations going into the Grand Strike’s chiming functions. Three new patents include a deactivation mechanism if there is insufficient power in the sonnerie mainspring, a new clutch mechanism to increase the power reserve of the sonnerie barrel, and an improved geometry for the striking hammers to prevent damage if the watch is dropped while chiming takes place. Other inventions include the minute repeater’s chiming cadence and deadtime reduction, which skips the hours, quarters or minutes when there is none to strike. The Grand Strike is a feather-capping achievement for Chopard, which has developed over 22 patented and innovative solutions across all levels of fine and high watchmaking in 30 years. For the Fleurier watchmaker, the future sounds delightful.

Classical Performance

Each year, Parmigiani celebrates its founder Michel Parmigiani’s birth month with a special creation that celebrates his outsized presence in the industry and his oeuvre. Last year, the minute repeater (which is his favourite complication) was presented in a striking timepiece, the L’Armoriale Répétition Mystérieuse, which has an enamelled and hand-guilloched dial cover that hides a mysterious display of time on the case back. The concept of making the minute repeater the primary time-telling function came just as digital exhaustion and present-mindedness dominated global culture. This year, the minute repeater is once again the star of the Objet d’Art series, but the La Ravenale has a more conventional display of time that’s based on Parmigiani’s highly popular Tonda PF line.

Within the beautifully hand-engraved case and lying behind the dial is a work of art – a minute repeater pocket watch movement from the 1920s, that has been restored and further elaborated by artisans from Parmigiani’s workshops in Fleurier. Originally produced by Koehn A Genève, the movement features a Swiss anchor escapement with split bimetallic balance and steel hairspring, with a minute repeater function on two gongs and hammers. The bridges are bevelled and hand-engraved with a palm leaf and Maltese cross motif, inspired by the stopwork on the hanging barrel of the original movement. The motif is also applied in the decoration on the case and the gemset pocket watch cover.

Gemsetting in the form of marquetry work is presented on the cover, using the same repeating Maltese cross and palm leaf motifs and bringing them to life with two different stone types: opal and jade. Green and white jade (a.k.a. nephrite) are used in alternating layers, with the same for dark and light blue opal. The serenity of the soft mint green jade contrasts against the iridescence of the opal stones. Each element is cut, polished and set by a master jeweller, and the stone’s fragility are an additional challenge given the thinness of each piece.

The pocket watch is a contrast with the L’Armoriale, which has a classical identity, but holds a contemporary movement. Instead, La Ravenale celebrates the era of Michel Parmigiani’s craft in restorative watchmaking, by translating a movement from a century ago into a work of art today.

What Is a Minute Repeater, And What Does It Do?

Contemporary Beats

Futuristic Mix

Modern Tempo

Classical Performance

Taking Centrestage: Franck Muller Grand Central Tourbillon