Custom-Made Gold Watch with Minute Repeater Function
This project was completed back in 2012. We crafted a gold watch based on the minute repeater movement made by the famous Swiss Touchon & Co company. The case we created is 44 mm in diameter, a pretty comfortable size to wear.
An unusual case with dog’s-head lugs, and a hand painted hot enamel dial.
This high-grade movement was made by the old Swiss watchmakers Touchon & Co. They were a satellite company of Audemars Piguet, based in Les Brassus, Switzerland.
Check out this video:
This gold case was designed to provide some extra space for gong resonation. It makes the repeater sound loud and clear, which is probably the most important feature to consider when creating a repeater watch case.
The above video was taken when the case lugs were still unfinished, which is why it still has a yellowish colour after soldering. We couldn’t polish these lugs, because the polishing would have removed the lug’s beautiful relief. Treatment with a grinding disc brush helped to take off the yellow layer, leaving an untouched cast relief.
The left and right dogs are different and mirrored. In their teeth they hold the spring-bar for the watch strap.
The lugs were made by a wax 3D printer and cast in gold. The model and high-resolution casting created the details of the folds, teeth, and fur. The serious eyes are of dark sapphire.
A detailed cast shows the smallest nuances.
Originally, these dogs were made to represent a hunting scene of the face, but the customer decided on a marine themed dial with a flagship instead.
Q & A About the Project:
1. What dial technique was used?
The technique is hot enamel, the same as the works of ancient dial makers, painted on a metal base with a counter-enamel back. The ship is hand painted inside the enamel layer and has multiple firings in the kiln.
2. How/where can I buy this watch?
It was commissioned by the customer as an investment. Feel free to email us for the contact if you wish to purchase it from the current owner.
3. Can you make a similar watch, but with a different theme?
Yes, of course. We can make a watch with a theme of your choice, with etching and a special hand-painted enamel dial. Moreover, we could also produce a series of such watches with modern movements, which would probably be more beneficial than doing just a single project.
4. What glass is in the watch?
For this project we used sapphire crystal. We can make both mineral and sapphire type glass.
5. Is it possible to make the same case with lugs from silver or stainless-steel?
It’s not possible to make these kinds of lugs out of steel, as it is much harder to solder or cast, and machining a piece of metal to make them is very difficult.
It is possible to make them with silver. Again, a series would be better than a single creation.
Feel free to send orders and questions about the Watch Atelier to horological.underground@gmail.com.
