BY MICHAEL THOMPSON
LOUIS MOINET IN JUNE UNVEILED ULTRAVOX, THE
INDEPENDENT WATCHMAKER’S FIRST PURE HOUR-STRIKE
WATCH, A TIMEPIECE WITH A MECHANISM THAT CHIMES
EACH PASSING HOUR ON THE HOUR WITH THE
APPROPRIATE NUMBER OF CHIMES.
Debuted to coincide with the 250th birthday of company namesake Louis
Moinet, the Louis Moinet Ultravox shows off its complex chiming mechanism
by placing it in plain sight directly on the dial.
The result is a 46.5mm rose-gold-cased watch that allows the wearer to enjoy
the chiming mechanism’s hourly dance. The wearer can watch as the central
independent seconds hand (the flirt, in watchmaking parlance) triggers a system
arming the hammer at twelve o’clock to then strike out the hours on a gong
circling the movement. A silencer mechanism allows the wearer to disengage
the chime if desired.
Louis Moinet enlisted the talents of the Gaïa Prize-winning watchmaker Eric
Coudray to design the Ultravox. Coudray’s team had to design a special plate with
more than fifty jewels to engage the chime mechanism’s various components,
FALL 2018 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 81