Jean-Marie Schaller and Louis Moinet honoured for their watchmaking creativity

Jean-Marie Schaller - Horological Creativity Contribution Prize

The amazing Salon Exceptional Watches (SEW) in Prague brought together 44 leading watchmaking brands. A single prestigious distinction, the HOROLOGICAL CREATIVITY CONTRIBUTION PRIZE, was awarded for the very first time – and Jean-Marie Schaller was proud to be its very first recipient. As panel member Igor Sirota explained, the prize was awarded in recognition of Jean-Marie’s outstanding overall contribution to watchmaking. “My love for fine watchmaking is my greatest and only treasure,” says Jean-Marie Schaller.

“My decision to revive Louis Moinet from a slumber of one hundred and fifty years was very much due to a sense of vocation. With no resources other than my own enthusiasm, the results of this undertaking have surpassed my wildest dreams.” said Jean-Marie Schaller.

The award thus honours a true enthusiast – one who bears witness to the fact that the spirit of enterprise is just as good a resource as the world of finance, and capable of making an enriching contribution to the values of authentic watchmaking.

Louis Moinet - First place in the German Design Award

The German Design Award is a prestigious international distinction awarded by the German Design Council. First launched in 2012, it has become one of the most renowned design competitions in the world, with an excellent reputation extending well beyond specialist circles.

Thanks to MEMORIS TITANIUM, for the second year running, Louis Moinet has also won a German Design Awards first prize in the “Excellent Product Design – Luxury Goods” category.

Origins – an encounter with history

The history of watchmaking was rewritten on May 14, 2012, at a Christie’s auction in Geneva. On that day, Jean-Marie had to fight tooth and nail to buy Louis Moinet’s Compteur de Tierces, despite its relatively low estimated worth of CHF 3,000-5,000. As a painstaking examination later proved, the piece turned out to be the world’s first ever chronograph, as certified by Guinness World Records™.

Completed in 1816, this precision instrument was also the forerunner of high-frequency timekeeping, beating at 216,000 vibrations per hour. It measured sixtieths of a second, making it the most precise measuring instrument of any kind in its day.

In 1816, Louis Moinet invented the chronograph to help with his astronomical observations.

The purpose of the chronograph?

Of all horological complications, the chronograph remains the most useful. In sport, it’s the final arbiter, determining which driver has done the fastest lap, which athlete has broken the 100 metres world record, and so on. There are chronograph applications virtually everywhere – measuring everything from a patient’s pulse to the speed of a moving object.

Technology

A spectacular, contemporary design

The originality of Memoris resides in the separation of the chronograph (with its 147 components) from the automatic mechanism (155 components). For the first time ever, the entire chronograph has been positioned at the top of the watch, with the automatic part located beneath the plate.

The column wheel – the heart and soul of Memoris

The Memoris column wheel takes pride of place on the front of the watch, at 12 o’clock. This component coordinates the chronograph functions with the minutes hammer, blocking lever, and clutch.

The universal monopusher

Of all complications, the chronograph offers the most opportunities for the wearer to interact with their watch.

Memoris is a visual delight, too. With a single gentle touch on the monopusher, a unique performance unfolds before your eyes. All of the components of the chronograph – yokes, clutch, hammers, column wheel, springs and wheels – are set in motion, responding to each other as they serve their ultimate purpose: measuring a specific time.

It’s worth noting that in spite of their extreme complexity, all these operations are managed by a single monopusher, controlling all three chronograph functions.

Design

An exceptional case

Memoris offers a whole new look. Its curved 46-millimetre case features a unique waterproofing system. Emblazoned with the Louis Moinet signature, its lugs boast four black zircons and screwed settings. Another elegant and subtle detail: the two chevé concave sapphire crystals.

The case, fashioned in grade 5 titanium, has a polished, satin-effect finish. Non-corrosive titanium allows for the manufacture of slim, lightweight components; here, the case weighs less than 31 grammes, making it especially comfortable on the wrist.

Technical Details

About Louis Moinet

Ateliers Louis Moinet was founded in Saint-Blaise, Neuchâtel, in 2004. The fully-independent firm was established to honour the memory of Louis Moinet (1768-1853): master watchmaker, inventor of the chronograph in 1816 (certified by Guinness World Records™), and pioneer in the use of very high frequencies (216,000 vibrations per hour). Louis Moinet was a watchmaker, scholar, painter, sculptor, and teacher at the School of Fine Arts – as well as the author of the Traité d’Horlogerie, a watchmaking treatise published in 1848 that remained a definitive work of reference for a century. Today, Ateliers Louis Moinet is perpetuating this legacy. The firm’s timepieces, produced in limited editions only, have won some of the most coveted honours, including a UNESCO Award of Merit, five Red Dot Design Awards (including one Best of the Best Award), a Horological Creativity Contribution Award, gold and bronze medals in the Chronometry Competition, eight Good Design Awards, three Middle East Watch of the Year Awards, two Robb Report “Best of the Best” Awards, two German Design Awards, a Moscow Grand Prix Award, and a “Chronograph of the year” distinction from Begin Magazine, Japan. Louis Moinet creations often make use of unusual materials, such as fossils and meteorites, combined with bespoke fine watchmaking complications in a unique creative approach. The brand’s core values are creativity, exclusivity, art and design.