The date: March 16, 2016; the place: Basel; the event: a celebration of the bicentenary of the chronograph, invented by Louis Moinet in 1816. This exceptional jubilee marks the first proper commemoration of the creation of the Compteur de Tierces, the first chronograph in history. 

For this unprecedented occasion, Ateliers Louis Moinet is unveiling an anniversary version of its Memoris timepiece, created for the bicentenary of the Chronograph. “We were keen to have a highly exclusive new edition to celebrate the bicentenary of the chronograph,” explains Jean-Marie Schaller, CEO of Ateliers Louis Moinet. “Following on from the first Memoris watches, unveiled in 2015 to celebrate our tenth anniversary, this bicentennial edition opens up a whole new chapter of celebrations – and the next decade of Louis Moinet creations.” 

A new rose gold case

For this very special edition, Memoris will be housed in a 46 mm rose gold case, whose 52 parts are held together by six visible, functional screws on the bezel. Especially created for Memoris, the case sports alternating brushed and polished finishes, and bears the Louis Moinet signature on the side. In homage to the watchmaking skills of our forebears, it features chevé concave crystals, now made from scratchproof sapphire. 

Within the case sits the chronograph – moved to the fore, on the dial side. When the pusher is depressed, every single aspect of the chronograph’s action can be admired in its entirety. The column wheel orchestrates the graceful ballet of the mechanism of steel and gears, passing information to the hands. To ensure no part of the chronograph mechanism is obscured, the counters are made from a specially-manufactured translucent material.

The innovative movement, meanwhile, is neither a skeleton nor a supplementary module: rather, it has been designed for and around the chronograph. Indeed, Louis Moinet has opted to place the time mechanism on the back of the automatic movement, beneath the plate.

Memoris universalis

The bicentennial edition also sports all-exclusive decoration, the centrepiece of which is a special shade of midnight blue for the chronograph plate, mirroring the actual colour of the sky at night. A host of individually hand-engraved stars shine forth, each crafted using a brand new fixed graver technique. This involves attaching a specially-made lathe to a traditional rose engine (also known as a guillocheuse). 

The idea is to combine the power of the rose engine with the precision of a handheld graver. The end result differs from that produced by milling or stamping: while it resembles the effect traditionally associated with a guillocheuse inasmuch as material is removed, here the process focuses on a tiny area with varying levels of depth – two characteristics that traditional engine turning seeks to avoid at all costs. 

What is more, individual stars are all fashioned with different angles and depths, so that each and every one captures as much light as possible. This requires the fixed graver to be used many times – an unprecedented technique in watchmaking. The outstanding result gives the novel impression of stars actually shining, twinkling with unique splendour against the backdrop of the night-blue plate beneath them. 

The Memoris Anniversaire unveiled at Baselworld 2016 comes in a limited edition of 20 pieces.

Special Chronograph Bicentenary

To ensure a fitting celebration of this Bicentenary at Baselworld, two surprises have been prepared. The first is an animated film that tells the Louis Moinet story from its beginnings to the present day. The second is the ‘Moinet’, a praline chocolate created exclusively for Louis Moinet by Confiserie Schiesser in Basel, established in 1870. Master confectioner Stephan Schiesser, a friend of the Maison, has devised a chocolate version of Memoris, and will be at the Louis Moinet stand at 6pm on Friday the 18th to present his creation.

Both surprises will be on show at the ‘Palace’, in the ‘Maison de Monsieur Louis’, decorated with genuine antique objects from the nineteenth century, along with highly innovative showcases housing an extraordinary display of watchmaking culture. Each showcase is itself an original creation by a partnership of artists and watchmakers.