Duomètre Sphérotourbillon White Gold

In Context

At 44 mm it is a large watch — well above this catalogue’s 40 mm median, and enough to dominate a narrow wrist. At 15 mm it is a tall case, and it will catch on a cuff. The case back is open, so the movement is visible without taking the watch apart, and the sapphire crystal will resist everything short of deliberate abuse. 50 m covers rain and hand-washing comfortably; it is not a watch to swim in.

The movement is hand-wound, so winding it becomes part of the day rather than something the watch does for you. 50 hours of reserve is enough to set it down on Friday evening and find it still running on Monday. At 28,800 vph the seconds hand advances 8 times a second.

6033420 stands on its own in this catalogue — no other reference here shares its base number. It pairs a silver dial with a white gold case.

Mechanical manual winding movement, approx. 1400 parts, 28,800 vibrations per hour, 2 barrels: 50-hour power-reserve for hours, minutes and the perpetual calendar, 10 hours for the striking mechanism in Grande Sonnerie (grand striking) mode. Functions: hour, minute, Westminster chime, the longest melody ever chimed in the world, 4 striking modes: Grande Sonnerie, Petite Sonnerie, Minute-repeater mode (with activation system on the crown push-piece), Silence. Flying tourbillon: balance with regulating screws, 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz). Perpetual calendar, retrograde day, month and date indications, leap year display. The perpetual calendar mechanism features retrograde hands for all functions from date, month and weekday. A small leap year indication rounds off the calendar function. The instant mechanism is programmed until the year 2100, and in any case can be adjusted via push pieces hidden in the case between the lugs at 12 o’clock. The flying tourbillon is cantilevered and thus held only at the underside. The whole mechanism, which consists of 73 parts, measures 12.42 millimetres in diameter and 3.85 in height. The lightweight titanium cage, placed on a lubricant-free ceramic ball bearing, is reduced to its bare essence and the 10-millimeter diameter balance wheel is fitted with four regulating screws, ten weight screws and a balance spring with Breguet over coil beating at 4 Hertz. First used in the Master Minute Repeater of 2007, the patented ‘crystal gong’ features gongs attached to a layer of metallic foil coated onto the watch’s crystal to deliver the best possible sound. Made of a special, secret alloy, they are manufactured completely in one piece from the gong foot through to the whole wire; their cross section being square and not round in order to provide a larger contact point for the hammer which in turn can strike more forcefully. The crystal glass is then pressed into the case made of white gold – a case-material with one of the highest