Méridienne 39 · Calibre VT-31
Time, kept by hand.
The hands show your local time
Enter the movementInside the Méridienne 39
A journey through the calibre
From the sapphire crystal to the beating balance, five close looks at how the Méridienne 39 is made.
I
The crystal
A dome of sapphire, cut from a single crystal and polished until it almost disappears. Coated on both faces, so the dial is all you see.
9Mohs · Hardness of sapphire
II
The dial
Engraved line by line on a hand-turned rose engine, then lacquered in eleven coats. The pattern catches the light a little differently every time you move.
1,440lines · Engraved by hand
III
The calibre
Turn it over and the VT-31 is on show behind sapphire. Every bridge is striped, bevelled and polished by hand, including the parts nobody will see.
172parts · Finished by hand
IV
The balance
The heart of the watch swings three times a second on a hairspring finer than a hair. Here it is slowed eight times, so you can follow a single beat.
21,600vph · Beats an hour
V
The gear train
From the mainspring barrel to the escape wheel, five wheels share out one wound spring into seconds, minutes and hours, for three days at a time.
72hours · Power reserve
VI
Complications
Three things the Méridienne 39 does beyond the hours and minutes, each a small mechanism of its own.
At six o'clock
Small seconds
Carried directly on the fourth wheel, it turns once a minute in six small steps every second: the true rhythm of the balance, made visible.
- Steps per second
- 6
- Sub-dial
- Snailed, recessed
At nine o'clock
Power reserve
A blued steel hand counts down from seventy-two hours. When it nears the end of the scale, a few turns of the crown wind the mainspring again.
- Full wind
- 72 hours
- Crown turns
- About 40
At three o'clock
Date
A disc of thirty-one numbers moves forward at midnight. Pull the crown to its middle position to set it quickly, in either direction.
- Changes at
- Midnight
- Quick-set
- Crown, middle position
VII
Make it yours
VIII
One watchmaker, from first screw to signed caseback.
Each Méridienne 39 is assembled, adjusted and cased by a single watchmaker, then tested for three weeks in five positions before it leaves the atelier.
- Case diameter
- 39mm
- Power reserve
- 72h
- Parts in the calibre
- 172
- Frequency, 3 Hz
- 21,600vph
Specifications
Calibre VT-31
A hand-wound movement with a large balance and a slow beat, designed to be seen as much as to keep time.
- Movement
- Calibre VT-31, hand-wound
- Functions
- Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, power reserve
- Jewels
- Twenty-one
- Finishing
- Côtes de Genève, perlage, bevelled and polished edges, blued screws
- Case
- Steel or rose gold, 39 mm by 10.5 mm
- Crystals
- Domed sapphire, anti-reflective on both faces
- Water resistance
- 50 metres
- Strap
- Calf leather, steel or gold bracelet, or rubber
IX
A private viewing
See the Méridienne 39 in person, in a quiet room, with a watchmaker to answer your questions. Viewings last about an hour, and there is nothing to buy.
Your configuration · CHF 14,800