L.LEROY - MINUTE REPEATER FLYING TOURBILLON
Founded in Paris in 1785 under Charles Leroy, himself the son of watchmaker, L.Leroy has written some of the finest chapters in the history of French watchmaking and chronometry, developing a wealth of technical and inventive treasures for over two centuries.
This human, artistic and industrial adventure is marked by illustrious names including Marie Antoinette, Proust, Matisse, Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Roosevelt, Chopin, Nobel, Bugatti, to mention but a few owners of a watch signed Leroy.
Faithful to its extraordinary and inimitable watchmaking heritage, L.Leroy has created the stunning unique piece “Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon” inspired by a rare ancient pendant tact watch made by Leroy around 1810 for the Prince Emil Maximilian Leopold August of Hesse and which is now part of the prestigious collection of the Patek Philippe Museum.
At that period, when electricity was unknown and luminous hands were not yet invented, this type of watch allowed the time to be read, even in the dark, by touching the hand that moved in the direction of the twelve diamonds on the periphery of the case, acting as indices.
In the 21st century, L.Leroy reinterprets this exquisite timepiece. A challenge that sees the Maison blend, in perfect harmony, its rich historical legacy with the demands of the contemporary era.
Today, the “L.Leroy Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon”, a striking and sophisticated wristwatch which appeals to eyes and ears, enriches the watchmaking selection of Cellini in New York, one of the world’s leading stores that devotes great attention to exclusive high-end watch brands.
A unique design and a superlative mechanics
A watch with a very complex construction, both in terms of style and mechanics, which required the highly qualified skills of watchmaking technicians for the development and assembly of its manual winding movement, comprising a flying tourbillon and the minute repeater mechanism. Not forgetting the master engraver and the specialists in top-level finishing.
The case
The case, measuring 43 mm in diameter, is crafted from two metals. The case body, lugs, case back, repeater slide and crown are made of grade 5 titanium while the bezel and cover on the case back are made of PD210 18K palladium white gold.
Completely hand-engraved with a precious floral motif, an operation far from easy on titanium parts given its hardness, it took no less than 120 hours of work by highly skilled master engravers. This delicate art allows these superlative decorations to stand out against the metal, playing with the light.
The transparent case back is protected by the 18K white gold cover which boasts a magnificent engraving that evokes another horological masterpiece from the Maison L.Leroy: the “Leroy 01”.
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, exceptional decorations and engravings. It was considered the most complicated watch in the world until 1989.
The “L.Leroy Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon” is complemented by an integrated aquamarine strap in soft calfskin. It fastens to the wrist with a round folding clasp in 18K white gold, bearing the brand’s interlaced double “L” logo. In perfect harmony with the case, it is also engraved by hand.
An eye-catching dial and a stunning calibre
The “L.Leroy Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon” features a unique and out-of-the-ordinary time display for a model from the 2000s, but legitimised by the historical piece from which it takes its inspiration. It has a rotating dial boasting a superlative flinqué soleil decoration with a translucent aquamarine varnish finish. This pattern emanates near a perimeter point, where the rhodium-plated, arrow-shaped, hand-engraved hour hand is fixed and extends its rays around the circumference of the display.
When the dial rotates, the arrow-shaped hand points towards the diamond markers set on the precious hand-engraved white gold bezel and indicates the hour. There are 24 diamonds totalling 1.35 carats, the larger ones mark the hours while the smaller ones indicate the half-hour.
To know the precise time, the minute repeater comes into action. This sophisticated mechanism, reputed to be the queen of complications, is developed on a hand-wound movement, which is also equipped with a flying tourbillon that improves its chronometric performance.
Once the repeater slide, positioned between 8:30 and 9:30, is activated, the time will be audible acoustically thanks to the finely tuned chiming mechanism. The design of the case has been meticulously studied and developed to amplify the different tones of the sound indicating the hours, quarters and minutes emitted by the two gongs struck by the two hammers, visible on the case back.
The powerful “engine” which drives this work of art is a hand-wound in-house calibre, consisting of 321 components, beating at a frequency of 3Hz/ 21.600 vibrations per hour. It comprises the minute repeater mechanism on two gongs, a single barrel guaranteeing 90-hour power reserve and the flying tourbillon which performs a complete rotation in one minute.
Lovers of fine watchmaking mechanics will be able to admire this amazing movement with its single bridge, finely hand-engraved with hand-bevelled edges, by opening the 18K white gold cover on the case back using the discreet push-button at 4 o’clock.
The “L.Leroy Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon” once again testifies to the brand’s technical expertise and its mastery of the art of decoration. A true joy for the lucky collector who, will enrich his collection with a unique and exclusive masterpiece of time.