L.Leroy Minute Repeater Only Watch Review
As its name implies the L.Leroy Minute Repeater Only Watch is a pièce unique created for the legendary biennial charity auction. Mark McArthur-Christie appraises this exceptional timepiece featuring a minute repeater and flying tourbillon, presented in an intricately engraved Grade 5 titanium case.
Prince Emil of Hesse
Should Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington), Napoléon and Prince Emil of Hesse have found themselves in the same room, I like to think the conversation might have eventually exhausted military tactics. Indeed, after Blücher’s row with Frederick the Great ended and discussions on why Waterloo should have been a draw, I hope discussions gravitated to watches. The three men were, after all, clearly enthusiasts and collectors.
L.Leroy montres à tact
Surely someone would have asked, “So what have you got there then, Emil?” At which point, Prince Emil Maximilian Leopold August of Hesse could have handed round his montre à tact, made for him by that smart chap Charles Le Roy in Paris. His companions would then have done likewise (Wellesley had a couple of Breguets, after all) and it would be a brave man who’d call the outcome of the resulting horological à tact Top Trumps competition, but the House of Hesse must have been in with a good shout.
Montres à tact were just the thing for the go-ahead 19th-century military fellow. There was no need to summon one of your staff to light a candle so you could tell the time in the dark, or give away your position in the field, you’d simply feel where the single hour hand was in relation to the markers on the dial edge. Ideal for unobtrusively making sure those tedious audiences with your subjects didn’t overrun, too.
Single hour hand
The watch Le Roy had made in 1810 for Hesse was a beauty. Where some montres à tact were very much designed for utility, this one was emphatically not. The case was, as was relatively usual, in gold. But after that, things took a rather more flamboyant turn. The dial was guilloché and blue enamelled. The single-hour hand was arrow-shaped (as was the fashion) and diamond-set. The dial edge was pearl and diamond-set too, with a total of 17 carats of stones all-in – enough to make a stroll through any major European capital today a very risky outing. Clearly, the Prince was not the shy and retiring type when it came to his watches.
L.Leroy x Only Watch
Monsieur Le Roy’s successors have now taken the Prince’s watch of 1810 as inspiration for their 2023 Only Watch piece, destined to be auctioned in November in Geneva by Christie’s in support of research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. I have talked extensively about the charity in another article relating to an Only Watch creation should you wish to learn more about its fundraising efforts.
Minute Repeater
Appropriately, even though it draws inspiration from Prince Emil’s pendant tact watch, the new L.Leroy watch is a minute repeater, an alternative way to tell the time in the dark in a pre-lume age. There’s another nod to its montre à tact heritage with the 1.35 ct of diamonds set around the bezel. You don’t use them to tell the time anymore, but it’s always good to have a diamond or two, right?
Engraved Grade 5 titanium case
That’s not the only update. You might think that the 43 mm (nearly 14 mm thick) engraved case is white gold or platinum. In fact, it’s a material that’s far lighter but far harder to work with; Grade 5 titanium. This metal is actually an alloy of titanium, vanadium and aluminium; pretty robust stuff. Although it’s a lot lighter than either precious metal or stainless steel, it’s a great deal stronger for its weight. The fortunate owner of this particular watch is unlikely to be testing its limits, but it’s good to know they could.
That durability and strength are great for the owner, but not so great for the craftsmen who have to engrave it by hand. Grade 5 titanium is hard on tools and is more difficult to engrave with a burin when compared with gold or silver. In this case, you’re looking at 120 hours of work just to engrave the case.
L.Leroy Chronomètre Observatoire
Titanium is a logical choice for the firm’s 2023 Only Watch contribution. It’s keen to do things a little differently, it seems as the company’s last offering in 2015, the L.Leroy Chronomètre Observatoire, had a case cut from aluminium.
L.Leroy Minute Repeater Only Watch gem-set watch
To tell the time – should you wish to do anything so functional with something this intrinsically beautiful – you have a choice. If ‘near enough is good enough’, then a glance at the dial should do the trick. You can read the position of the single, rhodium-plated arrow-shaped hour hand in relation to its nearest diamond marker on the bezel. The whole dial, rather than just the arrow hand, rotates. Just for reference, on the bezel, the larger diamonds mark the hours, smaller stones the half hours. You wouldn’t want to get the wrong rock and be late, would you?
Flinqué Soleil dial
The dial itself uses a flinqué soleil decoration, an enamelling technique. You start by imparting guilloché to the baseplate and then apply a transparent coat of enamel to enhance the metalwork. Here, like the 19th-century watch that inspired this one, the coat of enamel is presented in aquamarine blue.
Awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900
If you’d rather be precise about your timekeeping, L.Leroy has catered for you too. Simply slide the lever on the side of the case and it will activate the minute repeater. Easy enough to do, but behind that lever sits some serious watchmaking. There are two tiny gongs (actually hardened metal wires) that are clamped around the edge of the movement where they’ll resonate best. Two hammers, mounted on pivots, strike them for the hours, quarters and minutes.
To watch all this horological cleverness in action, push the button at 4 on the side of the case. That’ll spring the caseback open, cut from 18K palladium white gold, affording a splendid view of the action. Mind you, things aren’t exactly shabby when the caseback’s closed – it’s engraved with what L.Leroy says is another link to the firm’s past, the Leroy 01. According to L.Leroy, this was “…awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900, it’s an impressive pocket watch with 975 components, 27 precise and functional indications, including 17 relating directly to the measurement of time, superlative decorations and engravings. It was considered the most complicated watch in the world…” Just for the record, the Leroy 01 was finally toppled from its podium by Patek’s Calibre 89 as recently as 1989.
L.Leroy Minute Repeater Only Watch – in-house calibre
The movement behind the caseback doesn’t disappoint. It’s a hand-wound in-house calibre, made from 321 parts, beating at 21,600 vph. If you’re lazy about winding your watches, that’s fine as you won’t have to put in too much effort, too often. Although it’s only a single barrel movement, it’ll run for 90 hours, thanks to the length of the mainspring.
L.Leroy Minute Repeater Only Watch- flying tourbillon
A minute repeater is an exceptional complication on its own, but in this instance, it’s teamed with a flying tourbillon, smaller than a 5p piece, yet composed of 76 parts. It’s all mounted under a single, hand-engraved, rhodium-plated bridge with hand-bevelled edges.
Strap
Keeping the whole lot secured to the wrist is a coordinating aquamarine calf leather strap with a round, open worked folding buckle featuring the L.Leroy double “L” logo in 18K palladium white gold.
L.Leroy Minute Repeater Only Watch – closing thoughts
Back in 2015, the L.Leroy Chronomètre Observatoire sold for almost double its estimate, raising CHF 75,000 for research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Here’s hoping the Minute Repeater does the same.
Further reading
Technical specification
- Model: L.Leroy Minute Repeater Only Watch
- Case: Grade 5 titanium, diameter 43 mm, height 13.95 mm, water resistance 3ATM (30 metres), sapphire crystal to front, hinged covered case back.
- Functions: hours and half-hour indication, minute-repeater on two gongs for audible hour, quarter and minute indication, flying tourbillon
- Movement: Manufacture manual-winding movement, minute repeater, flying tourbillon, frequency 21,600 vph (3Hz), 29 jewels, power reserve 90 hours, 321 components.
- Strap: Aquamarine calf leather strap matching the dial colour with round-shaped open worked folding buckle featuring the brand’s interlaced double “L” logo, hand-engraved.
- Price: to be auctioned at Only Watch (5.11.2023 – Geneva)