Above: Master watchmaker Eric Coudray (center) and his team.
Below: 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.
many of which are finished in “Moinet blue” to showcase the acoustic mecha-
nism. The rear of the Ultravox reveals a system with darkened, parallel double
rotors. One serves to generate force for the hours and minutes mechanism,
while the second rotor is fully employed to power the chime.
Louis Moinet says it chose the Latin name Ultravox (strong voice) as a nod
both to the sound of the strike mechanism and to the neoclassical influences on
Louis Moinet. Only twenty or so pieces will be made a year with its first limited
edition of twenty-eight rose gold timepieces.
“Louis Moinet was a scientist, a man of precision motivated by fine workman-
ship,“ says Louis Moinet CEO Jean-Marie Schaller.
“In a world first we decided to lay bare all of the mechanics of this grand
complication. It’s a natural extension of the watchmaking style that we
originally implemented for Memoris, our chronograph watch that, for the first
time, revealed all the workings of the chronograph on the dial side,” he adds.
“Ultravox goes much further, unveiling its entire mechanism. It embodies
the Louis Moinet style more than any other timepiece.” Price: 130,000 CHF,
approximately $130,700.
82 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | FALL 2018