Horological Meandering

30+ years ago, a fairly common consensus was the Rattrapante (until simplification via IWC's 3711), or the tourbillon that's now available via suppliers for many middle-tier brands, or the perpetual calendar (again, simplified by IWC's da vinci) that can ... 

Minute repeater is The complication. We've seen that Tourbillon can be "easily" manufactured, and I'm not even referring to the cheap Chinese turbo, instead of the Tag Heuer. But there is no mass production of minute repeaters, at least AFAIK

During our visit at the JLC Manufacture, they told us... It is surprisingly low...

The best I can do to guess the number of produced minute repeaters is go to that large global watch marketplace and search for the number of minute repeaters for sale worldwide on the secondary market. It appears that there are around 180 mechanical minut... 

Just curious, do you happen to know of any producers of secular perpetual calendars? Andersen is the only one I can think of and his are produced by request these days. I don't know of any producers of a secular perpetual calendar outside of Andersen. It ... 

It addresses the "secular year" that happens once every 100 years for 3 out of every 4 centuries. The backside of his watch actually accounts for it and tracks the next 400 years. Absolutely marvelous. But it does beg the question: Do I need to swap out t...  

As no adjustments are ever needed Amazing that its first 'special trick' will happen when most of us won't be alive to witness it. Spectacular engineering.

I can't find a pic on the web - do you have one you can share? Would love to see it

Contact me via PM and I will send you some photos 😉 Here is a link to an article that explains his invention: www.canalalpha.ch

EDIT: I can't seem to figure out how PM works - if you can PM me I would appreciate it. And thanks for the intro to Julien - I can't wait to see his creation. 10,000 years in a mechanical watch boggles my mind.

Contact me via PM and I will send you some photos 😉 Here is a link to an article that explains his invention: www.canalalpha.ch

Is your reasoning for steel Rolex watches being more expensive than QP's and tourbillions is due to modern manufacturing? "[T] he perpetual calendar (again, simplified by IWC's da vinci) that can now be found on the secondary market for less than most Rol... 

Patek became the masters of mass-producing perpetuals (along with very few select others) until IWC made the complication ubiquitous. For the first few years that the IWC Da Vinci perpetual hit the market, they outsold all other swiss perpetuals combined.... 

Yes, while cheap mostly Valjoux 7750 based rattrapante chronographs were plantiful (thanks mostly to Jaquet), properly executed modern rattrapante are still rare and very expensive. Just think who is making them nowadays: Patek, Lange, Breguet, RM, Czapek... 

There is a difference between a properly executed rattrapante and one that is less refined. And chronographs in general are one of the most complex of complications even if they are ubiquitous. I would say the same difference exists when one considers per...