Repeaters

Picture shows the minute rack of the repeat mechanism. Note the 14 teeth of the rack, each representing one minute.

The repeater is a very important complication to the basic timekeeping duties of a watch. Other important complications include the perpetual calendar, the chronograph, the tourbillon, amongst lesser complications like power reserve indication, double barrels, dual train, jumping hours, retrograde indications, date calendars, dual timezones, et al. This article will provide some information on the repeater.

As a result of the extremely complicated nature of the repeat mechanism, these watches are typically very expensive. Miniaturization for a wristwatch makes the mechanism even more complicated, and consequently, repeating wrist watches are much more expensive than their pocket watch variants.

Almost all major manufacturers feature a repeater. Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, IWC, Jaeger LeCoultre, and interestingly the firm of Kelek who makes some of the most cost effective repeaters for wristwatches. All the others have very high end pieces, with equally high price tags.

Some history

Historically, before the advent of the electric light or luminous material, the only way to tell the time at night, was either to light a candle/lamp, which was bothersome, or to wait in anticipation for the clock's striking mechanism.

The idea of incorporating a strike mechanism struck (pun intended) Daniel Quare, an English watchmaker, who was awarded the patent in late 17th century. The initial development was a little slow, because Quare was not an extremely competent watchmaker. Abraham Breguet himself provided the final significant improvement of using wire gongs instead of bells. You must remember, that in Quare's days, watches were fairly large, and could be built to incorporate the strike mechanism, and the bells.

The heyday of repeaters was from the early to mid 19th century, with the art peaking about the time of the first World War. The Swiss made thousands of ebauche style repeaters, and one particular firm worthy of note is Le Phare, famed for its well designed, well made repeaters, often unsigned.

Many of these wonderful timepieces were made even more complicated by the addition of chronographs, either split second or othewise, calendars, perpectual or othewise, and othe complications. By the early 1920s, the electric light was becoming popular, and the young of the day found that the extremely high skills required to make a repeater too demanding.

Broad catagories

The genre belongs to a larger catagory of watches with striking mechanisms. The striking mechanism will allow the watches to tell the owner the time by chiming a series of strikes. Two distinct catagories exist:

1. carillons or clock watches. These are watches which strike either the hour and quarters and minutes on the hour, every hour en-passant, or in passing. The grande sonnerie is a carillon which strikes the hours on the hour, and the hour and quarter at the quarters en passant. For example, at 2 o'clock, the grand sonnerie would put two blows of the hammer. At 2:15, it would strike two blows followed by the high/low alternating strike for 1 quarter past. The petite sonnerie, on the other hand,only the hour on the hour, every hour, but on the quarters only quarters past the hour, and does not repeat the hour at the quarters.
2. repeaters. These are watches which strike the time on demand. The striking is usually activated by a slide at the case of the watch, or a plunger.

Again, two fairly large catagories:

minute repeater is a watch which, on demand, will strike once for every hour past 12, and once for every quarter past the hour, and once for every minute past the quarter. For example, when the time is 12:59, the minute repeater will strike 12 high pitched blows, 3 alternating high/low pitch blows to mark 3 quarters past the hour, and fourteen low pitch blows to mark 14 minutes past the last quarter. Click here to hear an example (307kb). The hissing sound you hear is made by the centrifugal force governer more of this later)which regulates the frequency of the blows. quarter repeater is similar, except that it will only strike to the quarter. In the example above, it will strike 12 high pitched blows, and 3 alternating high/low pitch blows. Other variations exist in the form of half quarter repeater, five minute repeaters. Another variation of the watches with strike mechanisms, are carrilons or clock-watches, which Dumb repeaters are also found, in which the hammers strike a block of metal attached to the case, and allows the owner to feel the strikes. How does it work A repeat mechanism is an extremely complicated series of racks and snails to read the time shown by the hands, a mainspring system wound by pressing a button or a slide on the case to activate the on-demand repetition, a centrifugal force regulator which governs the rate in which the blows strike, the hammer system and typically two wire gongs (one high pitched, and the other low pitched) circumventing the movement. The actual working of the mechanism is beyond the scope of this article, and there are many excellent books on this subject. One recommended reading is Reinhart Meis' "Pocket Watches - From Pendant Watches to the Tourbillon".

The Kelek minute repeater: note the slide at side of case near 9 o'clock. The repeater will strike, on-demand, when the user pushes this slide upwards, winding the repeat mainspring, and releases it.

Here is a picture of a pocket watch repeater, showing the main parts:

Three notes:

1. This particular example also incorporates a chronograph, whose levers are labelled.

2. The plates are nickle plated, with proper anglage, and well polished, indicating a high quality movement. Note also that the movement is jewelled to the hammers.

3. The racks, snail are hidden under the dial, and not visible in this illustration.

How to buy a vintage repeater

As repeaters are extremely complicated devices, one should always buy with caution. Repairs are extremely expensive, if you can find a competent watchmaker. Here are some pointers:

1. if possible, you should take a look at the watch, personally
2. ask the seller to open the case, so that you can inspect the movement
3. note the general condition of the movement. Is it clean? Are there any rust?
4. note the screws. Are they scratched? Are there any marks? If they are scratched, it may indicate that the watch may either have been mistreated by a watchmaker. This is surprisingly common.
5. wind the watch. Feel the winding. It should be smooth. Be wary of any rough winding, or grinding.
6. activate the repeater. Note the sound of the strike. It should be clear, bold, decisive, and preferably loud. Better repeaters have a better voice tone.
7. set the watch to 12:59 and activate the repeat. It should strike all the hour, quarters, or minutes clearly, and with a regular beat. If it doesn't strike correctly, the racks or snails have been damaged. And repairs are very expensive.
8. listen to the watch strike for for every hour, by setting the watch to 1:59, 2:59...etc untill you have heard that the watch can properly strike all the hours. Be very, very wary, if it misses any strike. This may mean that the racks have been over-filed by an inexpreienced watchmaker in its lifetime. This is surprisingly common. Repairs will be very expensive.
9. last piece of advice is always the most important: if you really like the watch, and are satisfied, buy it and enjoy.

I'll leave you with a picture of repeater hammers:

I've been read times.