Abraham-Louis Breguet and Louis Moinet were close friends and key figures in watchmaking. The former invented the tourbillon, the latter the chronograph. Today, Les Ateliers Louis Moinet draws on a veritable wellspring of modern creativity that has succeeded in integrating these two high complications in a new mantel, one that generates strong emotions.

The idea of combining a chronograph with a tourbillon is not entirely new. What does differentiate this timepiece from previous creations is its original and bold character. The first idea was to make the chronograph mechanism entirely visible on the dial side, a world premiere, in fact. The magic of a tourbillon was then added.

The result is impressive, a remarkable spectacle and a feast for the eyes. A single pusher activates the chronograph hand, which ticks away the seconds and sails over the rotating flying tourbillon, whose off-centre cage does one revolution per minute.

This creation was named IMPULSION, a word that highlights the energy that transfers life to the chronograph and the tourbillon and coalesces the two visual effects to produce a full-fledged “show” as it were.

At the heart of the IMPULSION is the in-house Memoris calibre. It bears the Louis Moinet DNA, with its column wheel, classic horizontal clutch, and a single pusher. So, we made sure these characteristics would be maintained. The movement is made up of 301 parts, many of which had to be completely designed from scratch and manufactured.

Incorporating the tourbillon required significant innovations, for example, in terms of energy creation: To ensure sufficient energy, the automatic winding system had to be replaced by a manual double-barrel winding system. The system is called “volte-face” because the two barrels are arranged upside down in series. They release their energy at the same time, delivering a power reserve of ninety-six hours.
The technical and aesthetic design is unique.

The heart of the case houses and protects the movement. Not surprisingly, it is made of grade 5 titanium, a material with the best strength to weight ratio. Its lightness naturally contributes to the comfort of the wearer. The case core is available in Moinet blue or intense black, which contrasts harmoniously with the frame cut in 18-carat red gold.

The hollowed-out lugs and the case middle are as much a part of the Moinet stylistic vocabulary as the quest for minimal weight.

Category:PersonalYear:2024Designers:Jean-Marie Schaller, Les Ateliers Louis Moinet, St-Blaise, SwitzerlandManufacturer:Les Ateliers Louis Moinet, St-Blaise, Switzerland