Chronoswiss Répétition à quarts Repeater: Experience the Platinum Standard

• Platinum is the master of metals; rare, valuable, pure, and exclusive; you can feel the difference.

• Repeaters are the rarest of grand complication devices; they chime the time on command.

• Diamonds. ’nuff said.

• That’s à quarts, not quartz.

• watchuwant.com is proud to offer this Chronoswiss Répétition à quarts: one of 25.

You’re looking at the ultimate rarity. It’s a minute repeater. It’s platinum. With diamonds. And it’s the only one of its kind the luxury watch “lifers” at our office have ever seen.

The Chronoswiss Répétition à quarts quarter repeater in platinum combines the most valuable watchmaker’s metal with the king of gems and a high horology complication so uncommon that even many sincere watch enthusiasts lack a clear understanding of its function.

One of only 25 units produced, this Chronoswiss Répétition offers the ultimate gateway into the inner sanctums of luxury watch exclusivity.

Platinum watches are extraordinary by themselves. There’s a reason King Louis XV pronounced platinum to be “the only metal fit for a king”: it’s d@## hard to extract and work.

Although known to pre-Columbian populations and utilized in limited capacities by their artisans, Europeans only recognized the material in the 16th century and learned to work with it beyond trace quantities in the 19th century.

While gold watches represent – at best – a 75% pure precious metal alloy (the remainder is filler to harden against scratches), the watch industry standard as featured by Chronoswiss is 95% purity. Platinum is far tougher than gold and requires fewer alloy metals to toughen it for wrist use.

Not only does the Chronoswiss Répétition afford its owner an inherently more valuable metal, it actually ensures that there will be more of that precious metal (95% platinum) in the timepiece than any gold (75%) equivalent can offer.

A luxury watch crafted from platinum represents the ultimate investment in manual labor and lasting value. On the wrist, a platinum watch has gravitas that makes yellow gold look and feel like tin foil. The pull of a platinum mass tugs with 60 percent more force than gold; with this Chronoswiss Répétition à quarts, you’ll never forget that you are wearing something truly special.

Take it off and give your colleagues a chance to feel the difference. Eyes closed, there’s no mistaking this for gold. Yeah, Louis would love it.

Compared to the scope of annual gold production, platinum volumes are a drop in the global commodity bucket; less than 130 tons are mined each year compared to over 1,700 tons of gold.

Want a more compelling demonstration? Search “Rolex” and view 29,500+ hits on Chrono24; now refine the search with the sidebar filter tool to show only the current 380 platinum examples: 1.2%.

And that’s from Rolex, a company that makes one million watches per year! This Répétition stands among seriously elite company for no reason other than its case material. But it gets better.

While standard Chronoswiss practice is to fit its watches – precious metal included – with coined (striated) bezels, this Chronoswiss Répétition à quarts in platinum features a dazzling array of brilliant-cut diamonds. Chronoswiss used the diamonds to accent the watch, and the delicate gem-setting achieves this effect without the lapse of good taste often seen when diamonds gather en masse.

The consonance of these gems with the silver of the dial and luster of the platinum case creates an effect that impresses without crossing the line to ostentation. This is a rich but delicate treat.

Already exceptional, the Répétition à quarts rises to near-unique status with an exclusive quarter repeater movement.

A minute repeater is among the most celebrated and least common of haut-de-gamme watchmaking complications. Rarely seen in watches priced below six figures, it’s uncommon even within that price range.

The owner of a Répétition à quarts will be the only guy at his office wearing a repeater of any kind.

Minute and quarter repeaters trace their origins to pre-electrical time when nocturnal light sources often were dangerous or unavailable.

In order to express the time at any given instant, watchmakers developed the repeater in the late seventeenth century. The complication, which is activated by a plunger or slider on the watch case, expresses the current time with a series of chimes.

The Chronoswiss Répétition à quarts issues a first series of chimes to communicate the current hour (e.g., DING, DING, DING = 3 o’clock) and a series of double chimes in a different tone to relate the number of “quarters” after the hour (e.g., ding-ding, ding-ding, ding-ding = 3/4 or 45 minutes).

While a full minute repeater will add the number of minutes after the nearest quarter, the Chronoswiss repeater mechanism is accurate to within 15 minutes of the present time.

Both minute and quarter repeaters are exceptionally rare and infrequently experienced beyond the cyberscope of YouTube and flagship factory boutiques.

Thanks to the exceptional foresight of Chronoswiss founder, Gerd Rüdiger Lang, who purchased a lifetime supply of Enicar base-movements during the Quartz Crisis liquidation of that watchmaker, the firm is able to develop exceptional complications on a proven platform.

The company’s unique ownership of a base movement allows it to put its money where customers want to see it; fine materials, complications, and value.

watchuwant.com is pleased to offer one of only 25 Chronoswiss Répétition à quarts quarter repeaters believed to exist. Our example retains exceptional condition and a full set of Chronoswiss factory papers, technical manuals, accessories, and box set.

Simply put, the Chronoswiss Répétition à quarts is a stacked deck. Like a full-loaded Rolls Royce Phantom, this one comes with an embarrassment of riches. Platinum. Diamonds. A repeater.

Pause for a moment to take it all in, but don’t admire for too long. We don’t expect to find another one.