Making The Jump: A Guide to Jumping Time Displays

On the list of watchmaking complications, at least in mainstream luxury watchmaking, I’d be pretty quick to argue that it’s hard to get more obscure than a jumping time indication. Whether we’re talking about dead beat seconds or jumping hours (or even minutes), the unorthodox means of time display is equal parts uncommon, impractical, and complex to execute in the world of mechanical movement design. In this article, we’re focusing on the latter of the aforementioned time indications—primarily jumping hours, but also jumping minutes displayed digitally—but in the most basic sense, one of the key challenges remains the same throughout.

The struggle with any sort of jump in a mechanical movement comes down to a struggle of power and stability. Remember that a watch movement on average runs at a frequency of between 2.5 and 5hz, which means a clean and smooth flow in the geartrain. Creating a jump anywhere of the movement works against this stability, and also consumes much more power than turning a set of hands. The level of impact on the movement varies based on the amount of loaded force required. A date indication is a great starting point for analysis here. Consider that conventional movements often have a date indication change over the course of roughly 10-15 minutes. Why? Because jumping a date disk, even if only once every 24 hours, draws on the movement’s power reserve. These mechanisms use small springs to build up and store energy, releasing them at a precise point in geartrain movement. If this once-in-24-impact is enough to draw movement makers away from using this type of function, imagine then the additional work required to power a digital jumping hours or minutes indication in contrast.

Now that we’ve skimmed the surface of the how, it’s time to focus in on the who and what. The deeper you dig, the more of these jumping time indications you can find in both current and relatively recent collections. Though this list you’ll find watches from larger and established watchmaking houses, alongside boutique independent firms. It seems one thing is consistent. When a brand really wants to step outside its horological comfort zone, this is where a good jump goes a long way.

IWC Tribute To Pallweber

 We’re starting the conversation with one of the most historically relevant references in this list, as this IWC from 2017 pays tribute to a pocket watch from the brand that had a very brief production run between 1885 and 1887. The piece uses both jumping hours and jumping minutes in its time display, in a dial configuration that remains true to its historical predecessor as well. Measuring 45mm across, it is by no means a small watch, but this is due in part to its complex manual winding caliber 94200. As we noted above, power drain is a big consideration with this type of movement, and yet the Tribute to Pallweber has a power reserve of 60 hours. How, you might ask? The drive for the hours and minutes is separated into two separate geartrains, each with its own large mainspring barrel. These geartrains connect at a trigger mechanism at the center that ensures the indications remain in sync. It’s a clever bit of movement engineering, and a rather handsome finished product.

 De Bethune DB28 Digitale

The DB28 is the brand’s hands-down hero watch, due in equal parts to its floating case, articulating lugs, and spherical moon phase indication. This jumping hour variant known as the Digitale is easily the black sheep of the family, though one that’s often sought after by collectors. In a collection where elegantly finished bridges and an exposed balance wheel create complex visual interplay, the guilloche dial of the Digitale is a complete departure in terms of design. Due to the overall aesthetics this is still by no means a ‘traditional’ watch, and yet it manages to be the dressiest of the collection no less. Flip the piece over and its essential De Bethune elements are front and center—elegant finishing, its silicon balance wheel, and the edges of two large mainspring barrels delivering no less than a 5-day power reserve. It’s a horological masterpiece that is simply too often overlooked.

 Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk

 To some, the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk is the watch you buy after you’ve acquired one of the brand’s more classic ‘staple pieces’—I entirely disagree. The Zeitwerk, with its unique jumping digital hours and minutes time display and prominent bridge that acts as a large element of its dial is the perfect one-and-only Lange watch for those who aren’t drawn to otherwise classically focused watch design. Don’t get me wrong, the Lange 1 and the 1815 are beautiful watches, but they don’t speak to everyone, and they shouldn’t play gatekeepers to a watch that clearly stands on its own. In terms of time indication, the Lange Zeitwerk operates similarly to the Pallweber shown above, yet in the metal and on the wrist it’s quite different. 41.9mm across and 12.6mm thick, its case has the typical clean hard edges rather than the more pebble-like IWC. Flip the watch over, and you’re treated to an exceptionally finished caliber with German Silver mainplates, and a hand-engraved balance cock, as is expected of all fine things from the Glashütte powerhouse.

 F.P. Journe Vagabondage I, II, and III

The Vagabondage series, whose first iteration arrived in 2004, followed by the second in 2010, and the third in 2017, all play with the idea of jumping time displays in different ways. With the first, the focus was the hours, using a revolving disc that managed to indicate both hours and minutes in a single construct. The overlaid ‘frame’ indicated the hours and would jump from one position on the disc to the next at the top of the hour, while the disc itself rotated slowly to indicate minutes. In its second guise, we were treated to a time display similar to the Zeitwerk and Pallweber. In its most recent form, the Vagabondage III, we instead see what was then also a first for the industry. Minutes moved back to a singular hand display, but for the first time we saw jumping seconds. This is quite a challenge to execute, as was reflected by the piece’s modest 38h power reserve (when Journe often does 5-days). That said, it’s an absolutely stunning watch with an open-worked dial that is all too easy to get lost staring into.

 Bvlgari Gerald Genta 50th Anniversary Arena Bi-Retro

The name of this watch as well as its design will be confusing to some—let us explain. The roots of this design go back to the ‘90s, when Gerald Genta had his own brand under his own name where he often experimented with jumping displays as either digital hours or various retrograde indications. The reason for the 50th anniversary is that technically Genta started his little brand in 1969, and this watch was launched in 2019. Bvlgari bought the brand, its name, and all of its trademarks in 2000, and has slowly been building up its revival. Unlike the other pieces that focus on digital jumping time indications, the more entertaining part of the Arena Bi-retro is its use of retrograde hands for both minutes and the date that snap back to zero once they’ve completed their sweeps across the dial.

 Hautlence HLQ08

A similar approach in mechanics, though a far departure in design, we once again see the pairing of retrograde and a jumping display with this Hautlence HLQ08. I’ve always found Hautlence to be an interesting one. A very niche brand, and one that many tend to ignore, yet the value they deliver on the pre-owned market is really wild when you consider how it all comes together. In this case, we have a 44mm titanium case with short lugs, allowing for easy wear even on smaller wrists. The manually wound movement is nicely finished, visible via a sapphire display case back, and its dial has a pair of small openings that allow its wearer to have a glimpse at its inner workings. Its jumping hours display is different in that a disc with a small opening rotates over a portion of the dial, only allowing the current hour to be displayed. On the right, a large retrograde minute display with 5-minute intervals makes checking the time at a glance about as easy as it needs to be.

 Vacheron Constantin Saltarello

 Going back a bit further into the archives, and into something that many enthusiasts have likely forgotten about by now, we have a somewhat dressy entry into the category of jumping time displays—the Vacheron Constantin Saltarello. Packing the combination of jumping hours and a retrograde minute hand into a rectangular white gold case with a silver sunburst guilloche dial, this is the perfect example of how to make a not-so-ordinary way of telling time work in the most traditional packaging. The watch was produced in a very limited 200-piece production run and seems to be quite rare on the open market.

Chronoswiss Flying Regulator Jumping Hours

 Last but not least, Chronoswiss had to make the cut here, considering that variations of a regulator jumping hours watch has been a part of their collection, albeit off and on, since at least the ‘80s. This latest rendition, the Flying Regulator Jumping Hours sticks to the brand’s design codes perfectly. A regulator movement, an onion crown, a coin-edged case, and a lovely engine turned dial are all part of the equation. What’s more, the brand deserves extra credit for its creativity and use of color. In each model range (including this one), collectors can choose from traditional colors like silver or off-white dials, blued hands, and gold cases, or instead go with something completely bold and outlandish like a DLC blued case, with orange accents. They also offer bespoke services for those who don’t see the specific color palette that suits their needs.