Minute Repeater Carillon The minute repeater carillon is a mechanism of great complexity which strikes the hours, quarters, and minutes on request. These indications are obtained by 3 hammer strokes on different gongs: a low pitched one for the hours, a high pitched one for the minutes, plus one of intermediate pitch. Used in conjunction with the others, this last one allows for a carillon effect on the quarter hours. The striking power is precisely calculated to achieve subtle balance. If too strong, it would muffle the sound; if too weak, the sound would be inaudible. With a long tradition of producing highly complicated repeaters, Audemars Piguet developed the first minuterepeating mechanism for a wristwatch in 1985. Repeater movements consist of tiny parts manufactured to extremely fine tolerances. During movement assembly, the watchmaker has to hand-finish many of these components to arrive at the desired result - Tedious and time consuming process that involves constant testing, yet is necessary for harmonious and reliable interaction of sometimes hundreds of components. While minute repeaters chime hours, quarters and minutes on 2 gongs with 2 hammers, the present watch, part of the "Jules Audemars" series, will chime the quarters with 3 hammers on 3 gongs, adding a further tone to the "dingdong" enchanted connoisseurs are so familiar with.