Movements in fine form
They can be square, rectangular or oval, assume the outline of a barrel, a cushion, an egg or a turtle : all watches that aren’t round are known in the trade as “form watches”. But are they all fitted with their corresponding form movements ? There was a time in the last century when this was the norm – a movement was made to fill every nook and cranny of a watchcase. Then, to the disappointment of those who appreciate the finer points of mechanical watchmaking, the form movement became an exception. The conventional round calibre, Jack-of-all-trades, is omnipresent, fitted into any housing by a casing-up ring or similar scaffolding and keeping up appearances in a suit many sizes too big.
While this might not be an issue for most people who buy watches, the more discerning customers are deprived of an undeniable added value, judging from their delight if a proper form watch is discovered. They continue to be sought after by purists, which the manufacturers don’t realise, being absorbed with other matters. When a new calibre is conceived today, a form movement is seldom the main specification.
We were struck by an incident some years back during the deliberations of a jury deciding which watch would get the prize. One juror swung the vote with a decisive argument : “We have a magnificent form movement in a series-produced watch – and that’s rare enough to deserve the honour.”
This matter involves watches meant for industrial production, not to be associated with the true limited series that are in fact prototypes (see WA no 8). A flourish of form movements heralded the “new watchmaking”, many of them quite charming, though some might draw the line at the gasworks style of construction. The successful product invariably involves the designer and constructor working together from the start, like the watchmaker and casemaker in the old days.
It’s all about cost. Aside from fashion, it’s cost that determines the choice of a movement for a watch. Developing a new calibre is expensive, especially if it has non-standard components. And if the customer doesn’t even notice the difference, why make life difficult ? Nevertheless, watchmakers have traditionally enjoyed the subtleties that only their peers can appreciate and impressing the watchmakers who would later open the case to service the movement. Today mechanisms are on public display through the ever-fashionable sapphire-crystal caseback, while the quality of the Côtes de Genève or the hand-filed chamfers are extolled as major sales arguments. Oddly enough, form does not enter the promotional vocabulary, even though it’s an obvious way for a brand to distinguish itself. Logic dictates that it should, since the fashion for period styles and vintage models prevails. Instead, square or tonneau cases, inspired by classic styles, are reproduced without going all the way to equipping them with a form movement.
Of course, form watches occupy a minor sector of the market. The 2011 annual catalogue of a fellow publication, Armbanduhren, lists more than 1,100 models of which 960 are round watches. Among the 165 form watches, we counted 66 square cases, 38 rectangular, 25 tonneaus, 16 cushion shaped and a score of other inspirations.
Shaped by Art Deco. The changes in fashion can be traced back in two books of reference : the two-volume Omega bible by Marco Richon, which references all the movements of the Biel company, and Patrick Linder’s tome with the detailed and illustrated presentation of all the Longines calibres. The wide-ranging production of these two manufacturers ensures a fair representation of the evolving styles. One is reminded that form watches really took off with the Art Deco style to enjoy their golden age from 1930 to 1950.
The period saw a proliferation of rectangular movements of varying proportions. Fashion and the technical requirements of watchmakers agreed : a greater area meant the better performance and reliability of a larger balance, as well as the power reserve of a bigger mainspring barrel. It was the ideal shape for a number of highly rated competition watches.
It was a liberation for women’s watches, and brands even supported the trend that helped them escape the impossible race towards miniaturisation. Jaeger-LeCoultre had laid the ultimate deterrent milestone in 1929 with its micro-calibre 101. Even though its competitors also made tiny movements of all imaginable shapes, everyone was relieved to escape from the pitiless constraints of space.
Among the movements then in general production, Omega’s renowned T17 form movement launched in 1933 could boast 60 hours of power reserve. A total of 168,000 were produced until 1946, four times as many as its predecessor at the end of the 1920s. But there were many others, especially for women, in tonneau and rectangular shapes like the calibre R. 17.8. Its successful start in 1940 lasted until 1961 with 300,600 units produced. The 1.1 million mark was reached with the 240R family of calibres made between 1938 and 1963, while another series, the calibre 480 launched in 1954, came to an end in 1969 after a production of 3,330,000 movements.
Looking back, one is struck by the extraordinary variety and the incredible number of calibres that a manufacturer of the period could offer simultaneously — and that is multiplied by the likes of Longines, Le Coultre, Zenith and all the watchmaking resources along the Jura.
Form watches started their decline after the end of World War II and the number produced fell off sharply from the 1960s. The fresh breeze of renewal from across the Atlantic brought rational solutions based on standardisation and efficiency. But most of all it was the growing popularity of selfwinding movements with rotors that imposed the round movement in whatever form of case, unless of course you resorted to an offset mini-rotor.
Squaring the circle. Some iconic form movements and their derivatives have survived the tides of history. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso model comes to mind. It escaped from an almost fatal negligence in the 1970s to take off 20 years later on the wings of a series of complicated movements. It celebrated its 80th birthday this year in the best of health. Has it always been fitted with a rectangular movement ? Sebastian Vivas, custodian of the company’s heritage of more than 1,000 different calibres, confirms this is generally true. Since it was launched in 1931, the model has been through more than 50 rectangular calibres with rounded or cut-off corners. There are a few exceptions, notably the round Squadra selfwinding movement with the appropriate fittings for a square case. Putting round movements in square cases is common to all brands, especially for chronographs. TAG Heuer’s Monaco model, for instance, has never had a square movement.
Among the models from the past in current collections, Patek Philippe’s Gondolo Art Deco revival watches prompted the Geneva company to develop new form movements for the series. Rolex also has a rectangular exception. The Prince model, launched in 1928, extinguished in the 1940s and resurrected in 2005, still has its form movement.
Cartier’s Santos (1904) and especially its Tank models (1919) have evolved through several transformations. The Jaeger-LeCoultre form movements that used to drive them have given way to the company’s round selfwinding calibre 120 movement. Girard-Perregaux was inspired by a 1945 square model to take both routes in its Vintage collection – form movements for the expensive pieces and proprietary round movements for the more ordinary watches.
Among the brands that emerged in the wake of the mechanical revival, Franck Muller is noteworthy for its successful promotion of form movements in such cases of original design as the Curvex. Daniel Roth took a similar approach, albeit on a smaller scale, as does Parmigiani.
More recently, Chopard has made a mark with its form calibres developed at Fleurier, earning the respect of its peers and the devotion of followers of traditional watch mechanics. In 2008 Eterna amazed the more discerning watch enthusiasts by launching a notable rectangular movement for its Madison tonneau watches.
Respect from those who know. Such efforts never fail to attract the attention or high regard of connoisseurs. The latest is by Audemars Piguet, which presented an oval form movement at the SIHH watch show in 2011 for its collection of Millenary watches. It’s a timely reversion to the tradition, for the Millenary struggled after its launch in the 1990s with round movements in many guises. There was an attempted revival in the new century with a special escapement and complications that made the most of the space and volume afforded by this unusual shape. All the attributes of modern fine watchmaking were present, including the fact that the product was out of reach of the majority of budgets.
The third act has just opened to a roll of drums. The new introduction steps down from the lofty spheres of limited-series complicated watches to present something far more accessible – a form movement designed as a basic calibre that supports complication modules and unusual indications. That means engineering a three-hand selfwinding platform that can be manufactured on an industrial scale. It nevertheless has its attractive side with a layered construction, more than a dozen bridges and an inverted escapement to bring the balance-wheel into view alongside the time.
This latest movement in the Audemars Piguet stable is the engine of two Millenary models coming onto the market at the end of this year, one gold, and the other steel. It’s built for performance and has all the nice decorations and finishes. Those who appreciate form movements could ask for nothing more.
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Multi-purpose rings
Casing-up rings are not used exclusively to combine different shapes, but also to adjust small round movements seeking to play in the big league. This approach has become a substitute for making specific movements for each size of watch. However, although fairly understandable for medium-sized watches, it is far less convincing in light of the trend for really large timepieces. As a watchmaker jokingly puts it: “When a pea claims to drive a ‘potato’ (the industry nickname for big watches), it can in fact work, but it’s about as weird as finding a 2CV engine under the bonnet of your Mercedes”.