Horological Meandering

PoyFR
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On a popular website by Carlos Perez

The text below is part of a post/reference titled: The Myriad Dialects of Time (October 8, 2001) In Memory of David M. Graifman

Most digital displays used in mechanical clocks and watches work on the same principle, based on rotating discs which are printed or engraved with the numeric information. When viewed though a small aperture only one piece of information is visible at a single time in effect concealing the circle of time while larger apertures can be used to show the context of time's progression. The former is the basis of the common date window which is standard on most of today's wristwatches, and the latter was utilized by Graham for his regulators. His crescent-shaped aperture showed the present hour at center, with the past hour and coming hours visible at the lower corners of the aperture one could watch the hour disc turn slowly. The advent of the jumping digital hours display brought a smaller aperture which only shows the present hour, jumping instantly to the next hour at the precise moment that it begins, using a disc showing 1-12 or 1-24. Jumping-hours pocket watches enjoyed their first brief vogue in the 1820s and 30s, though they continued to be made in small numbers throughout the 19th century. Jumping digital minutes was paired with jumping hours in a small number of pocket watches during the last quarter of that century.

In the Art Deco period jumping-hours watches came into the spotlight once more, both in pocket and wristwatch forms. During the Roaring Twenties jumping-hours wristwatches were produced by eminent names like Cartier and Audemars Piguet, but the fashion declined with the Great Depression, and was definitively ended by World War 2. Preceding the advent of digital quartz, the 1970s introduced all-digital mechanical wristwatches with jumping hours, digital minutes, and digital seconds. The fourth and present revival is a product of the post-quartz renaissance, a natural part of the reintroduction of most past forms of the mechanical watch heritage. It is likely that the revival began in 1989 with the limited edition Breguet Saltarello Souscription (50) and Patek Philippe's tonneau ref. 3969 (500). Since then they have grown ever more popular, produced by elite manufacturers and independent watchmakers, economy grade etablisseurs, and all points in between. We still find new offerings being introduced every year, including a special limited edition from Dubey & Schaldenbrand which was recently announced, and an upcoming design by Vincent Calabrese for Bell & Ross which should appear shortly.