Ulysse Nardin has launched the Hannibal Minute Repeater at Baselworld 2015. The watch combines Ulysse Nardin’s classic use of jaquemarts with a Westminster carillon, a tourbillon, and a distinctive dial material. Let’s take a look.
For those who are wondering, a jaquemart is an automaton used in conjunction with a hammer to strike the time on a bell or gong. Jaquemarts are not exclusive to watch designs, and have been made at least since the heyday of automata in the 18th century. Ulysse Nardin has made a practice of designing jaquemarts for its minute repeaters.
The Hannibal Minute Repeater employs manufacture caliber UN-78. It runs in 36 jewels; its power reserve is approximately 70 hours. This manually wound tourbillon movement is the brand’s go-to caliber for the Minute Repeater Westminster Carillon Tourbillon Jaquemarts collection. Previous models in the family include the Genghis Khan watch and the Alexander the Great watch.
One particularly unusual feature of the Hannibal watch is the substance of its dial. Above the tourbillon at 6 o’clock one finds a three-quarter dial made of polished granite. The rock is sourced from the Alps, because Hannibal Barca led his troops (and his elephants) through the Alps en route to Italy during the Second Punic War, in 218 BC.
The watch is cased in platinum, a particularly resonant metal for use in minute repeaters. The Westminster carillon makes for a very recognizable tune whenever the minute repeater sounds: it plays a sequence of four-note melodies just like those played by Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster. A four-note sequence plays at 15 past the hour, eight notes at half past, and twelve notes at a quarter to. When sounding out the time, the lowest of the four pitches tolls the hours and the highest tolls the minutes.
The Hannibal Minute Repeater is 44 mm in diameter. It comes on a leather strap with a folding buckle. It has a sapphire crystal caseback, affixed with screws, to showcase the movement. The crown screws down for added protection. It is water resistant to 30 meters. For this limited edition, 30 pieces will be produced. The price is set at 725,000 Swiss francs.
We at WatchTime had the opportunity to see and handle the Hannibal Minute Repeater this week at Baselworld 2015. Below is a glimpse of what this work of horological artistry looks like on the wrist.
