Production of this reference started in 1955. Engraved on the back: "To N.B. C. from L.P. C. - L'amour toujours - Dec. 25, 1957". Minute-repeating wristwatch movements were originally made for two types of case. The first, the savonnette type, features subsidiary seconds at 6 o?clock, and the repeat slide is activated in a clockwise direction. The second, the Lépine type, has no subsidiary seconds and the repeat slide is activated in an anti-clockwise direction.
What is a Minute Repeater? A minute repeating watch tells the time both visually and audibly. A slide on the side of the case, usually near the 9, will activate two hammers in the movement. These hammers strike two gongs curled within the case. First one hammer strikes a gong of lower tonality; it will count out the hours, then both hammers strike both gongs alternatively to count out the quarter hours after that hour, and then the second hammer alone striking a gong of higher tonality will count out the minutes after that quarter hour. The repeating mechanism was developed by Daniel Quare. In 1687, he had patented a mechanism that sounded the hours and the quarter hours. The early repeaters used bells. At the end of the 18th century, two bent-wire gongs became the more popular mechanism. In 1892, the first minute repeater wristwatch was produced by Omega, a model with a round-shaped case.