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New alarm reps ...


xelorrolex

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Hi Folks,

Since a couple of weeks, we could find a new complication on reps : A fully functionnal alarm. As far as i know, it looks to be a russian base movement. The ring is more like a cricket roaring (like the genuine Cricket Vulcain) but it may be interesting.

TTK and Sean can provide this new replica. You can see below a very nice JLC compressor rep with this mecanism.

Does anybody have tried this watch yet ? Any comment ?

Thanks

Xel

post-519-1145607567.jpg

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Ive had several of these - two different Vucains and two different JLC models. They all worked fine but it is more of a buzzing than a 'Grande Sonnerie' !!

I was considering the Jlc model until I looked up the gen for comparisons...

How close are the Vulcains in your opinion ?

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Hey, I found this TZ article about the history of alarm watches.

History of the Memovox.

Nobody knows for sure when the first wrist worn alarm watch was made. The earliest known model is a ladys watch made in 1876. The watch had a gold enameled bracelet and featured a silent alarm. When the alarm went off, a tiny pin pokes out of the case back against the ladys wrist. This watch isnt really credited to the birth of the modern day wrist alarm. That honor goes to Eterna for the alarm watch they launched in 1914. It wouldnt be until the 1940s that the wrist alarm would gain popularity with the Vulcain Cricket. Prior to this, wrist alarms were either too silent, or the mechanisms were too complicated or too inaccurate.

Reacting to the success Vulcain enjoyed with their Cricket Line, Jaeger-LeCoultre developed their own "Wrist Alarm" in 1949. It featured their caliber 489, and debuted at the Basel Fair of 1951. In 1953 Jaeger-LeCoultre patented their "Memovox," which they launched three years later with their caliber 815. This watch was the first self-wound wrist alarm in history. In 1959 Jaeger-LeCoultre launched their caliber 825, which was based on the 815, but featured a date display.

Jaeger-LeCoultre enjoyed ten years of success with their Memovox calibers 815 and 825, but in 1969 the hammer winding mechanism was becoming a thing of the past. So Jaeger-LeCoultre developed their caliber 916, which featured a date display, and a ball-borne rotor that wound the watch in both directions. Caliber 916 enjoyed a production run until 1983.

In 1989 Jaeger-LeCoultre released their caliber 919 for use in their Grand Reveils. Until then, for the most part, Memovoxes had only told the time and date. This new edition of alarm watch not only told the time and date, it also offered a perpetual calendar with a display of the day, year, moon phase, and a 24-hour clock. In 2000 this caliber was replaced by the caliber 909.

In 1994 Jaeger -LeCoultre released their caliber 918 for their Master Reveil watches, and in 1996 caliber 914 debuted in their Memovox watches. In 1962 it seems the term Memovox was applied to hand-wound models, and is still used for them today. At the time of this writing, both the 914 and the 918 calibers are still used.

The noise created by the alarm in Jaeger-LeCoultres alarm watches has changed over time. Their early alarm watches sounded by a hammer striking the case back. This made for a buzzing noise, and a vibration against the owners wrist. The first wrist alarm watch from Jaeger-LeCoultre that made a ringing noise instead of a buzz was their caliber 919. Unlike its predecessors, the Grand Reveil struck against a gong to produce a rich and pleasant sounding alarm. Jaeger-LeCoultre has kept the mixture of metals used for the gong a secret. All we know about it is its made from a bronze alloy that was first mixed in China over 3,500 years ago.

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