What Is a Minute Repeater?

The minute repeater is widely considered to be one of horology’s most prestigious complications, and the watches that feature this highly intricate mechanism are frequently accompanied by astronomical prices. While the vast majority of complications provide some type of additional visual display, a minute repeater appeals to a different one of the four human senses, and it offers users a sonic representation of the time, which it chimes out on a tiny set of mechanical gongs. With that in mind, the minute repeater is just one variant of the repeater complication, and below we are going to break down everything you need to know about minute repeater watches.

In watchmaking, a repeater is a specific type of complication that chimes the time on-demand using a tiny mechanical system of hammers and gongs. There are many different types of repeater mechanisms, although the minute repeater is easily the most popular, and a traditional minute repeater watch will chime two distinct sounds to play three different notes, with each one representing either the hours, quarter hours, or minutes. The approach and complexity of the chiming mechanism determines the type of repeater, and while basic styles such as quarter repeaters can only chime the hours and quarter hours, there are also a highly elaborate repeater mechanisms such as the Westminster Chimes (also known as Westminster Quarters), which plays four different notes in the key of E major to create an entire melody. Read more