On the occasion of its 50th anniversary celebrations at the Château des Monts, the Le Locle Watchmaking Museum has called for the first international chronometry competition of the 21st century to be held on 23 May. Starting from a scientific, technical and cultural approach that highlights the savoir-faire of watchmakers, craftsmen and industrialists united by a passion for perfection, which is at the very origin of the history of watchmaking, we arrive at the ultimate goal, which is to revive the interest of chronometry in contemporary watchmaking. In other words, for maximum precision in the measurement of time. The competition is organised in collaboration with the Contrôle officiel suisse des chronomètres (COSC), the Observatoire de Besançon (France), the Haute Ecole-ARC Ingénierie in Le Locle (Switzerland), with the support of the Société Suisse de Chronométrie and the partnership of the French-speaking watchmaking forum Forumamontres. The jury will be composed of independent personalities to guarantee the scientific validity of the results, and chaired by the astrophysicist from the Geneva Observatory, Michel Mayor. The competitors, so far, are as follows:
Chopard manufacture SA, Fleurier
Modèle L.UC Tourbillon Steel Wings Classic 16/1906
Calibre: Tourbillon 4 T/F
Le petit-fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A., Genève
Modèle Tourbillon 1869, calibre Luc 1.02
De Bethune, L'Auberson
Calibre DB 2005 Mécanique
Doxa SA, Biel
Modèle Doxa Sub, 11 ½ 2892 ETA chronometer
Fabrication de Montres normandes, Brionne
Calibre à remontoir manuel, 37.30 mm de diamètre
Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre, Le Sentier
Modèle Master Tourbillon, calibre 978
Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre, Le Sentier
Reverso Gyrotourbillon, Calibre 174
François-Paul Journe, Genève
Modèle Chronomètre Souverain, calibre 1304
Urban Jürgensen SA, Biel
Modèle P8
Olivier Randin, Vufflens-le-Château
Modèle Serge W et Olivier R,
Nouveau mouvement automatique bidirectionnel CLARO
Swatch Ltd, Biel
Swatch Diaphane, Calibre ETA 2824
Tissot SA, Le Locle
Modèle Tissot Le Locle, Calibre ETA 2824-2
Christian Umscheid & Thomas Gneuss, Autriche
Modèle ME1, Base ETA A07.111
Kari Voutilainen, Môtiers
Calibre 27, rectangle en forme
The competition is open to wristwatches only. Participants are divided into three categories: individuals, schools and brands and movement manufacturers. These must have assembled, adjusted and set mechanical movements themselves in the following countries: Albania, Germany, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Turkey, Ukraine, Vatican City State.
The maximum permitted diameter of the movements is 38.5 millimetres, while the thickness must not exceed 15 millimetres; all movements must comply with ISO 3159 standards. The results will be published at the beginning of 2010 while an exhibition at the Le Locle Watchmaking Museum until 31 August 2010 will show the competing pieces.
A few details are striking. Firstly, the presence of many tourbillons in the competition. This will perhaps be the occasion, therefore, when it will be verified in the field how good this device is for improving the running performance of a watch.
Secondly, the fact that admission to the competition is limited to European watchmakers or watch brands. A decision which excludes a priori a direct comparison with watches made in Asia. A question arises: is it possible that after so many years the Swiss are still afraid of Japanese competition?
For information: www.chronometrie2009.ch.
