Louis Moinet celebrates 200 years of the chronograph

Wednesday, February 15, 2017/ Editor -

Dubai, UAE, February 15, 2017: To celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Louis Moinet inventing the chronograph, and in salute of their founder's indomitably brilliant creative genius, Louis Moinet are proud to present the Memoris, the world's first chronograph timepiece that is clothed in light!

In 1816, Louis Moinet created an artistic and technological masterpiece that created haute horological history. Beating at a rhythm of 216,000 vibrations per hour, designed to observe the orbits of the planets in the heavens the world's first-ever chronograph was a harbinger of finer things to come.

Two hundred years on, in salute to that spirit of sheer creative genius that drove their founder, Louis Moinet lights up the stars by presenting Memoris, the first chronograph-watch, clothed with light. The stunning timepiece clad in a canopy of stars blazing out of the night sky, is the first of a series of Limited Edition creations dedicated to the bicentenary of the invention of the chronograph.

Using an engraving technique that is unprecedented in the history of watchmakingk The “Memoris 200th Anniversary” features a series of individual stars scattered across the night sky, each one worked on indivudually by the craftsman to imbue a natural
sparkle.

The three main differentiation points of the “Memoris 200th Anniversary” are:

A new hour dial – made in enamel for the first time in history of the piece
A new mainplate, painted and decorated with star constellations
A new translucent flange and counter bridge

The starry back consists of a brass plate coated in a translucent blue. The stars have been created using an entirely new fixed graver process. Devised by one of Louis Moinet’scraftsmen, this involves attaching a specially-made lathe to a traditional rose engine (also known as a guillocheuse).

The idea is to combine the power of the rose engine with the precision of a handheld graver. The result differs from that produced by milling or stamping: while it resembles the effect traditionally associated with a guillocheuse inasmuch as material is removed, here this is focused on a tiny area with varying levels of depth – two characteristics that traditional engine turning seeks to avoid at all costs.

What is more, individual stars are all fashioned to feature different angles and depths, so that each and every one captures as much light as possible. Several fixed graver sessions are required per star. The process used is unprecedented in watchmaking – and the outstanding result gives the novel impression that certain stars really are shining.

New, crystalline transparency
For the flange and counter bridge, Ateliers Louis Moinet have used a revolutionary translucent material. Its precise makeup, produced by combining a number of composite materials and high-temperature vacuum moulding, is a closely-guarded secret. It offers a unique advantage that has won over Ateliers Louis Moinet: it is through-coloured – and yet the same time maintains a certain degree of transparency.

Using it in translucent dark blue on the flange of the new Memoris adds an exclusive sense of depth, whereas an opaque flange would have ‘locked down’ the timepiece.

In its natural state, this material is as just as pure and translucent as crystal, but nowhere near as fragile, allowing it to be used for the counter bridge, too; and the latter’s ensuing transparency ensures the wearer can admire the night blue sky – without missing a single star.

Technical data sheet

Features and functions:
Monopusher chronograph with column wheel
Chronograph mechanism visible on dial
Hours and Minutes (at 6 o’clock)
Seconds (at 9 o’clock)
60-second chronograph (central hand)
30-minute chronograph counter (at 3 o’clock)

Dial and hands:
Chronograph hand, “Monogram” design
Hour & Minute “Gouttes de Rosée”® dew-drop hands, blue-tinted with luminous coating
Rounded enamel dial, diamond cut bead
Hand-painted mainplate, engraved with fixed graver technique
Translucent flange and counter bridge

Movement and finish:
Automatic click movement with chronograph function on dial; hours and minutes off-centre at 6 o’clock.
302-component LM54 caliber, designed and manufactured by Louis Moinet

Winding:
Automatic, bi-directional

Oscillations:
28,800 vibrations per hour

Frequency:
4Hz

Balance wheel:
Glucydur, chronometer quality
5 position settings

Lines:
13 ¼

Power reserve:
48 hours

Jewels:
34

Diameter:
30.40 mm

Height:
8.90 mm

Decoration:
Côtes de Genève, diamond-polished facets, diamond-cut chamfers and circular gears with 5N colour finish and straight-line steel.

“Energie Plus” system
Pawlwindingmechanism
Pawl winding system: comprises a baseplate and two jewelled pawls
‘Crab claw’ spring mechanism

Gearing:
automatic wolf-teeth gear