Complication · Striking & chiming
Sonnerie au Passage (Passing Strike)
VerifiedA striking mode in which the watch or clock sounds the hours (and sometimes quarters) automatically as each one passes, without being triggered on demand, distinguishing it from a repeater, which strikes only when activated by the wearer.
Definition
A striking mode in which the watch or clock sounds the hours (and sometimes quarters) automatically as each one passes, without being triggered on demand, distinguishing it from a repeater, which strikes only when activated by the wearer.
Historical origin
Passing strike is among the oldest forms of mechanical striking, predating the repeater's on-demand activation, and remains the standard mode of public tower and domestic clocks; its incorporation into portable watches, rather than a clock movement, is a comparatively specialist undertaking associated with grande and petite sonnerie work.
How it works
A striking train, separate from the going train, is released automatically at each hour (and, in a quarter-sonnerie variant, at each quarter) by a cam or snail on the motion work reaching a trigger point, rather than by the wearer operating a slide or pusher as with a repeater.
Because the strike fires automatically and continuously through the day and night rather than only when requested, a passing-strike watch consumes noticeably more mainspring energy over a given period than an equivalent repeater used only occasionally, which historically constrained how such watches were cased and wound.
Passing strike is the automatic-triggering half of the grande and petite sonnerie complications described elsewhere; a grande sonnerie watch, for instance, combines full passing strike of hours and quarters with an on-demand repeating function in a single movement.
Pocket watch context
Found in the most elaborate nineteenth-century striking pocket watches, generally as part of a grande or petite sonnerie movement rather than as a standalone passing-strike-only complication.
Wristwatch context
An extremely rare modern wristwatch complication given the case volume and energy demands of an automatic striking train, generally offered only by manufacturers already producing grande or petite sonnerie calibres.
Clock context
The standard striking mode of longcase, bracket, carriage and public tower clocks, where automatic hourly (and often quarterly) striking without on-demand activation is the historical norm rather than the exception.
Identification
- Strikes automatically at each hour or quarter without any pusher, slide or button being operated
- In watches, generally found only alongside grande or petite sonnerie labelling, reflecting its combination with repeating work
Servicing notes
The automatic striking train's continuous engagement with the motion work makes correct synchronisation and adequate mainspring reserve especially important; this is specialist work for a watchmaker or clockmaker experienced with striking mechanisms.
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
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.