Details 2015
Small-scale fascinations from this year’s horological crop...

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