Grande sonnerie
Grande sonnerie (French, meaning 'grand strike') is a complication in a mechanical watch or clock which combines a quarter striking mechanism with a repeater. On every quarter-hour it strikes the number of quarter hours audibly on a gong, and then the number of hours since the last hour on a second gong. For instance, in a 3 weight Vienna wall clock, at 6:15 it would strike once on a high pitched gong, then strike six times on a lower pitched gong, at 6:30 it would strike twice on the high pitched gong, then six times on the lower pitched gong, 6:45 three times on the high pitched gong, then six times on the lower pitched gong, and at 7:00 it would strike four times on the high pitched gong, then seven times on the lower pitched gong. You will always know the time at any or every fifteen minutes by just listening to the striking. These types of striking clocks are mostly found as Carriage Clocks, or 3 weight Vienna regulators. In addition it can strike the hours on demand, at the push of a button.[1][2] The term is sometimes used erroneously for a mere quarter striking mechanism.[3]
It is more complex than the petite sonnerie, which merely strikes the hours on the hour and the quarter hours on the quarter, with no repeater function.[4]
Footnotes
- ↑ "Grande Sonnerie". Glossary. Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie. Archived from the original on 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
- ↑ "Striking watches". Encyclopaedia. Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie. Archived from the original on 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
- ↑ Maillard, Pierre (April 13, 2006). "François-Paul Journe, sovereign timekeeping". Europa Star. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
- ↑ "Petite Sonnerie". Glossary. Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie. Retrieved 2008-04-20.