AkriviA Introduces The Tourbillon Chiming Jump Hour

July 09, 2015

Building a complicated watch is all about choices. Grand complication watches contain as many complications as possible, in a show of virtuosity. Complicated watches are more restrained, containing a selection of complications that work well together. Akrivia is doing the complication game right with their newest watch, the Tourbillon Chiming Jump Hour. At the top of the dial we see the hour chiming hammer. A chiming complication sounds the hours as they pass, not on demand like a minute repeater. It is a really fun complication that is not seen very often in wristwatches. If you need to silence the hour chime, just push the button on the crown.The digital jump hour is prominently featured near the center of the dial with the minutes hand directly beneath it. I love digital time indications, there is something amusing about seeing a mechanical device display time in a digital format. It can make reading the time a bit quicker as well. The beautifully finished tourbillon is at 6 o'clock and rotates once per minute, with the balance wheel beating at 3Hz (21,600 BPH). It is easy to appreciate the symmetry of this watch when looking at the dial. Flip the watch over, and you will see a very symmetrical movement as well. This is really rare to find with a tourbillon placed at 6 o'clock. Because of the tourbillon and center wheel placement, there is no other place for the third wheel to go but off to the side. Some makers will hide the third wheel on the dial side to get around this. Instead, the Tourbillon Chiming Jump Hour has two third wheels. The second third wheel is just for looks - it doesn't add anything features-wise to the movement.The Tourbillon Chiming Jump Hour is the first watch for AkriviA that was designed and finished in-house. Notice I did not say made; manufacturing of some of movement parts are outsourced. Check out the AkriviA website for more information.Model: Tourbillon Chiming Jump HourDial: Black steel, matte polishCase: SteelMovement: AK-04, manual wind, 26 jewelsDiameter: 43 mmPrice: Available upon request Nicholas Manousos is a watchmaker based in New York City. A veteran of the Silicon Valley tech industry, Nicholas pursues watchmaking from an engineering perspective. In addition to his work as Technical Editor at HODINKEE, Nicholas is the Vice President of the Horological Society of New York.