Horological Meandering

I came across two completely contrasting approaches to building the Sonnerie/ Minute Repeater from two marquee brands - Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe.

When AP wanted to build their Royal Oak Super Sonnerie, their Acoustic Research Lab collaborated with one of the most reputed technical institutes in Switzerland, "Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne " (EPFL). Over a period of eight (8) years, the research team comprising academics specialising in the study of stringed instruments, together with watchmakers, researchers and engineers worked on the concepts of perceived sound, by humans, the tonal  and sonic quality, the inner working of stringed musical instruments and other aspects such as transmission of the sound from a water-proof watchcase. The end result  of that research was the basis for creating the Minute Repeater, released in 2015 at SIHH;  that was close to perfection in terms of sound purity, pitch, tone and harmony. A near silent regulator ensured that the aural reception for the listener was further kept clean and uncontaminated by the otherwise ever present regulator/governor whirring/buzzing noise. Three patents ensued - for the metallurgy & design of the gongs; for the watch-case itself and finally the near-silent regulator.

Cut to Patek Philippe; Mr.Thierry Stern states in the video available in the Patek website "you do not need to be an expert in anything, but it is just a matter of experience" and  that he determines which Repeater will go out of the manufacture and which would not; as he listens to each piece and determines what the defects are. Link here : www.patek.com 

One seems to rely on scientific and academic research to drive fact-based design ; while another uses a subjective one-man approach based on the experiential knowledge to determine the right sound in a Minute Repeater. The two therefore present an interesting study in contrast. 

Would an AP Sonnerie/ MR provide consistent outcome in every Minute Repeater piece so that the collector gets an "aural-assurance" for the money forked out; or - will each collector rather have their MR with the sounds  that are possibly likely to be unique only to their piece and no two Patek Repeaters will ever be same? A case of "Predictability "versus "Luck-by-Chance"?

Food for thought or shall I say, some interesting discussions?

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