Complication · Striking & chiming
Grande Sonnerie
Partially verifiedA striking complication that automatically sounds the full hours and quarters as they pass, in addition to being repeatable on demand — combining the functions of a clock-style striking watch and a minute or quarter repeater.
Definition
A striking complication that automatically sounds the full hours and quarters as they pass, in addition to being repeatable on demand — combining the functions of a clock-style striking watch and a minute or quarter repeater.
Historical origin
Grande sonnerie mechanisms developed from clock-striking traditions applied to watches, becoming an established (though always rare and expensive) grade of complicated watch through the nineteenth century.
How it works
Unlike a simple repeater, which strikes only when the slide is operated, a grande sonnerie watch carries a striking train coupled to the going train so that it automatically strikes the full hour, and then the quarters again at each quarter, without any manual trigger — essentially a miniaturised version of a striking clock's hour-and-quarter train.
Because this automatic striking consumes considerably more power than an on-demand repeater, a grande sonnerie movement needs a larger or additional mainspring barrel dedicated to striking, and is one of the most power-hungry complications in mechanical watchmaking.
A switch typically allows the wearer to silence the automatic striking (converting the watch to 'silence' or to petite sonnerie mode) or to still trigger the mechanism on demand as an ordinary repeater, via the same rack-and-snail reading principle described under minute repeater.
Pocket watch context
Found in the very highest grade of nineteenth-century complicated pocket watches, often as part of a grande complication alongside perpetual calendar and chronograph functions.
Wristwatch context
Extremely rare and among the most expensive complications ever fitted to a wristwatch, owing to the acoustic and power-reserve challenges of automatic hour-and-quarter striking in a small case.
Identification
- Strikes automatically, unprompted, as each hour and quarter passes, distinguishing it from a repeater that only strikes on demand
- Mode selector switch for grande/petite sonnerie/silence is a strong identifying feature
- Noticeably larger case or additional mainspring barrel to support the power demand
Servicing notes
This is among the rarest and most complex mechanisms in watchmaking; servicing must be entrusted only to a small number of specialists experienced with grande sonnerie construction, ideally including the original manufacturer where possible.
General guidance only. Complicated mechanisms should be assessed and serviced by a qualified watchmaker or clockmaker specialist, not adjusted at home.
Related photographs
No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.
Sources & references
- de Carle, D., Watch and Clock Encyclopedia
- Precise origin date of the grande sonnerie watch complication was not independently established from sources consulted.
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.