Ulysse Nardin Grande Sonnerie and Petite Sonnerie Minute Repeater Pocket Watch

Inventory Number: PW1911021LC

Circa 1920, 56mm, 18K red gold hunter case. Functions: hours, minutes, small seconds, minute repeater, Grande Sonnerie, and Petite Sonnerie.

On loan from the private collections of Mr. Huo Feile.

Glossary of Watchmaking

Minute repeater requires three different sounds to distinguish hours, quarters and minutes. Low tones indicate hours(dong), a sequence of two tones(ding-dong) represents quarters, and high tones for minutes(ding). 

Grande Sonnerie is a quarter striking mechanism combined with a repeater. It will strike the hours and quarters automatically or at will by means of a push-piece.

Petite Sonnerie, in which the hour and quarter hours are struck automatically, without repetition of the hour on the quarter-hour.