The Soprano by Christophe Claret
Tourbillon minute repeater with four
cathedral gongs
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| Courtesy of Christophe Claret |
The Soprano features a
musically accurate 4-note minute repeater striking Westminster Quarters on
patented cathedral gongs, a 60-second tourbillon and Charles X style bridges,
all on a spectacular dial-free view. The Soprano pays homage to the roots of Christophe
Claret’s manufacture, which has innovated in striking complications,
tourbillons and sapphire components since its earliest years. Indeed, in 1997 Christophe Claret
was the first to incorporate sapphire components – comprising
plates and Charles X style bridges − in a wristwatch movement.
The Soprano is a timepiece of contrasts:
traditional haute horlogerie with
state-of-the-art manufacturing; English Parliament with French King; historic
complications with contemporary design; aural indications with visual displays;
noble gold with high-tech titanium, and metal components with sapphire elements.
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| Courtesy of Christophe Claret |
The minute repeater is considered – with good reason − to be one of
the most demanding and difficult horological complications to realize due to the
marriage of technical complexity with artistic musical tonality. A minute
repeater tells the time audibly with two notes created from two small hammers
striking two gongs: one for the hours, one for the minutes and a combination of
the two for the quarter hours. Even more complex is the Clarion repeater with
three notes that can play a simple melody for the quarters.
However, the nec plus ultra of the minute repeater realm is the
Westminster – so called for the distinctive tune played by the Big Ben clock at
the Palace of Westminster, home of the British Parliament. Big Ben strikes a complex
melody for the quarters with four hammers striking four notes on four bells. To
provide an even fuller and richer sound than standard repeaters, the Christophe Claret Soprano features four cathedral gongs, each
circling the perimeter of the movement twice (a normal gong goes around only
once). And to further ensure that the rich sound reaches the listen’s ears, the
central case band is in grade 5 titanium, a metal known for its superior
acoustic properties and used in musical instruments.
A few decades before Big Ben began chiming
Westminster Quarters over London, the French king Charles X was making a
significant impact on art, architecture and horology. One of the defining
characteristics of pocket watches created during this period were stepped
bridges, which became known as Charles X bridges. Having spent much of his
early watchmaking career restoring beautiful timepieces from this epoch,
Christophe Claret incorporated this historic design element into the Soprano.
In 1997, Christophe Claret was the very first to
use sapphire bridges (even then Charles X style) and plates in wristwatch movements,
and the Soprano makes liberal use of sapphire components to allow visual access
into the mechanisms. From the smoked ring circumscribing the movement that
discreetly hides yet subtly reveals the cathedral gongs, to the transparent
mainspring barrel at the top of the open dial, and turning over to the clear
repeater inertia governor cover visible through the sapphire display back.
“When I created Manufacture Claret
over 20 years ago, the very first movement I developed
was a minute repeater so the complication has always been very special to me.”
Christophe Claret
Minute Repeater: The
minute repeater, which strikes the time on demand (usually by activating a
slide on the caseband), is an extremely difficult complication to realize
because:
1. Technically, it is a very complex mechanism.
2. Musically, the notes have to ring clear, loud and harmoniously.
With decades of experience developing striking watches, Christophe
Claret has not just mastered the mysterious art of minute repeaters, but has
brought the genre into the 21st century. Working with a piano tuner,
Claret developed a computer program called Analyser 2000 that records and
analyses the notes for pitch, duration and loudness, and even the length of the
silent pauses between notes. This enables the Christophe Claret manufacture to
consistently create harmonious and musically accurate melodies with strong crystalline
notes.
Each note is determined by the precise length and diameter of the gongs.
The hammer has to strike forcefully for a loud sound, but immediately leave the
gong so as not to deaden the ring.
“The melody chimed by the Soprano is as musically correct as
possible." Christophe Claret
Repeater operation: When the repeater slide is activated, the
chimes sound the number of hours with C (Do), the deepest note; followed by the
Westminster Quarters’ melody for the quarter hours (unless fewer than 15
minutes after the hour); and then the number of minutes after the last quarter
hour.
Patented cathedral gongs: Each cathedral gong circles the
movement twice so that one coil lies just above the other. Because the coils
are so close together, they can touch each other as they vibrate, which can
create a disconcerting buzz. Christophe Claret invented a system that
effectively avoids this problem, which was awarded a patent.
Westminster Quarters: Westminster Quarters, also known
as Westminster Chimes, is a four-note tune originally written in 1793 for the
bells of the St Mary the Great Church in Cambridge, England and was known as
the Cambridge Chimes.
However, in 1859 the melody was chosen for the clock tower at the Palace
of Westminster in London. A clock now more commonly known now as Big Ben,
though the term originally referred to just the large hour bell. So well known
did the four-note chimes become that they came to be called Westminster Chimes.
