An exceptional and unique creation in chronometer engineering, the Resonance System Chronometer exhibits the so-called resonance, a phenomenon of physics duly applied to the science of horology. A world first, this wristwatch uses two entirely independent movements which inter-operate in harmony – in “sympathy” – with each other for a wearing precision that exceeds the established limits for mechanical wristwatches.

The physical phenomenon of resonance forms an integral part of our daily-lives, yet we scarcely pay any attention to it. When searching for a specific program on our radio, the radio crackles because the waves selected have not encountered other waves, those of the radio transmitter, until they become harmonized. In the past, Napoleon once forbade his troops to march over a bridge for fear of it collapsing from the effects of resonance! Although this phenomenon is proven and acknowledged, it is still difficult to explain.

Until the recent years, the phenomenon of resonance was not well understood, but had already been pointed out as early as the 17th century by Christiaan Huygens, in particular, among several other scientists. For instance, the highly precision Constant Pressure regulators, still in use less than 40 years ago at the Observatory of Paris for the Bureau International de l’heure and the radio broadcast time signal sent from the Eiffel Tower, were fitted in the Catacombes, at a depth of 26 metres to eliminate fluctuations in temperature and atmospheric pressure. They were also set in separated rooms, in order to avoid any resonance interference. However, as early as the end of the 18th century, few clockmakers among the most eminent found a way to take advantage of the success of such a phenomenon, by synchronizing the pendulums of regulators fitted with two independent movements. Even more so, when applied to a watch, it ensures exceptional operating reliability and precision. When you make a sudden movement, the two movements clash in opposite directions and gradually come to operate in harmony as a result of the force of resonance. As they are inter-attracted, they oscillate together in union, an invisible wave linking the two balances. This timepiece is the only precision chronometer that is not affected by the movements of the wearer. The balances oscillate in natural opposition, and therefore absorb the shocks and compensate the disturbances in order to ensure identical regularity, whether it is worn or not.

The first prototype of the “Souscription” “Résonance” Number “000” was completed for and sold at the Antiquorum thematic auction, The Longitude at the Eve of the Third Millennium, in October 23, 1999 (lot 75), and we are greatly honoured to auction another historical example, offered for the first time at auction.