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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Movement record · France / Switzerland

Lépine Calibre (bar movement)

Verified

Jean-Antoine Lépine's abandonment of the full top plate in favour of separate bars and bridges mounted on a single plate, removing the fusee and allowing a dramatically thinner watch.

Technical specifications

Diameter
Varies
Height
Notably thin for its date
Jewels
Variable; often jewelled to the escapement only
Frequency
Typically 14,400–18,000 vph
Power reserve
Approx. 30 hours
Winding
Key wind, later keyless
Setting
Key set, later pendant set
Escapement
Cylinder or lever depending on period
Balance
Flat or Breguet overcoil hairspring by the nineteenth century
Complications
Subsidiary seconds on some examples

Identification features

  • Individual bridges/bars rather than a continuous top plate
  • Going barrel instead of fusee
  • Thin overall height compared with contemporary English work

Known variants

  • Swiss bar movement
  • Three-quarter plate derivatives

Servicing notes

Bars are easily bent; support the train when refitting. Cylinder escapements require correct cylinder-to-tooth depth.

General guidance only. Antique movements should be serviced by a qualified watchmaker.

Historical significance

The structural basis of nearly all later thin watch construction, and the point at which Continental and English practice diverged.

Diagram

top plate or bridgespillar platebalance and cockwheel train between the plates
Schematic: plate and bridge layout. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. Chapuis & Jaquet, The History of the Self-Winding Watch (background)
  2. Musée international d'horlogerie collection notes

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.