Horological Meandering

Just decided to post some videos of some chiming watches from various sources.

Please note: the sounds recorded by non-professional camera equipment do not reflect the true sound quality and volume of these watches. The recording equipment and environments vary as well so the comparative sound quality and volume between watches shown cannot be judged by these videos alone.
Enjoy!

 

This message has been edited by Allen on 2010-01-30 17:16:24 This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2010-02-02 16:16:41

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may I ask, do some metals promote a lower chime and some more resonace?  I don't really know what is considered to be the right sound for a sonnerie and I don;t know if it can due to sensory subjectivity but I kinda prefer lower chimes that resonate more and some clearly do.

the PP 5078 which I like best for aesthetics unfortunately does not sound best to me.  One of the rose gold pieces do.  Is this due to the rose gold and platinum case?  the metal for the hammers or the gongs (? the wire like thing the hammers hit.  Sory not sure what the proper name of this part is)

Thank you again Allen.

So again, we cannot directly compare the sound quality of the watches from the videos.
For instance, the Dufour Sonnerie sounds much better in the metal while some others sound much better in the videos.
There are so many variables that decide how good a striking watch sounds that you cannot simply say that one case material is better than another.
In my view, the gongs determine more than half of how a repeater sounds. Tuning the sound of the gongs is an art by itself. What method are the gongs made: machined, extracted, or soldered. How the gong material is heat treated, how it's filed down at the base and ends, how it's attached to the block, where it's attached to the movement. Is it one piece or two piece or even three. Modern gongs that are cnc machined vs traditional hand made ones sound different too.
There are so many variables that even two identical repeaters that have the same case metal and movement will sound different. Just like musical instruments that sound different after tuning.
Some case metals do seem to help with transmitting the sound out of the case with a light weight material such as titanium, but I don't think it makes the sound quality better. As you can see with the skeleton Vacheron repeater, if you hold the watch against a thin material such as a piece of paper, it will amplify the sound. I have heard many say that platinum is the worst case material for repeaters, but I have heard many platinum repeaters that are much louder and clearer than some gold cased repeaters. So in the end, it all depends on the individual watch, hearing them in the metal and deciding if you like it or not.

the envoronment and equipment it was recorded with, I didn;t know there were so many oter variables.

For the gong manufacturing process, 2 or 3 etc, is there any one method and number that is perhaps considered better than others as a general standard?

since there is only less than a handful of people who know how.
The traditional wire type gong is made from one piece of metal. Heat treated and then filed down for tuning. Every single process is very laborious and tricky.
We haven't even gone into details about the regulator/governor, tuning the return springs, snails and racks... they all contribute to the sound quality.
That's why repeaters are the pinnacle of watchmaking! This message has been edited by Allen on 2010-01-31 10:18:16

I've learnt quite a bit from these few posts and I'm starting to understand why repeaters cost what they do.

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are just soooo sweet
Thank you Allen ...this is simply a wonderful treat
*CL

This message has been edited by SteveH on 2010-01-30 19:37:35

That's one of my fav PP. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks.

Vte

This message has been edited by Allen on 2010-01-30 17:17:35

Thanks for the terrific Post Allen.

A lot of fond memories of watches I'm very fond of.

Great sounds..

Thanks for sharing.

JerryW This message has been edited by JerryW on 2010-01-31 09:07:18

A fantastic compilation of repeaters, to be sure -- and many multi-complication pieces to boot!

Even though I know full well that the sound of repeaters varies a lot from piece to piece (witness the hearty sound of at least one relatively tiny Reverso RM...), I still can't get out of my mind the unreal sound of an AP Ti GC that I heard at a show in Carmel a few years ago -- completely blew me away, and this was before anyone told me that Ti was reputed to be an excellent conductor of sound!  Man, that was some watch...

Thanks again for the effort to post all of these!

Best,

Gary

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