Details 2015

Historical Impulse

Maestoso, the latest timepiece from complication specialist Christophe Claret, looks like an ode to watchmaking’s past. The architecture takes cues from 19th-century watches, but the heart of Maestoso ($214,000 in rose gold and titanium) comes from the technology of marine chronometers, in the form of a cylindrical hairspring and a detent escapement. A development of the 18th century, the detent escapement was considered much more accurate than the Swiss anchor escapement inside most mechanical watches today, because its motion provides a direct impulse to the balance wheel with little friction. It is vulnerable to shocks, however, which are of little concern to stationary marine chronometers but a key deficiency in wristwatches. Claret corrects this by incorporating a complex shock absorption system for the whole escapement, as well as an anti-pivot cam and safety finger that keep the escapement wheel and impulse pins properly aligned with the balance. The entire mechanism, including a constant force system, runs on energy provided by two mainspring barrels, each with two superimposed springs, for an 80-hour power reserve. 

Christophe Claret, 954.610.2234, christopheclaret.com