Introducing: The MeisterSinger USA Benjamin Franklin Limited Edition

August 18, 2015

MeisterSinger is singularly known for its singular display of time C that is, the fact that there is only one hand indicating the time on the dial. The brand successfully executes this concept by designing dials with an arithmetical, almost gauge-like rendition of hours and minutes. You neednt look further than the Circularis to understand MeisterSingers timekeeping model.While we were pleasantly surprised when MeisterSinger added extra resolution to one of their pieces by using a jump-hour function (Jack made it a value proposition almost exactly two months ago) C MeisterSinger has switched gears again (pun intended) and has released a watch that removes resolution from an already minimalist display. The MeisterSinger USA Benjamin Franklin Watch is a reproduction of a simple, but curious design created by Ben Franklin. This might be as strange to read as it is to write, but I feel that MeisterSinger is the only brand that can attempt this watch and, to an extent, escape unscathed. Im not a clock-aficionado/historian by any means, so I can only produce two reasons as to why I think this is the case (learned readers and clock-enthusiasts are encouraged to enrich my hypothesis through comments).Franklin developed this clock-concept with his friend James Ferguson, a Scottish astronomer and instrument maker who even published the design in his work Select Mechanical Exercises, circa 1733 (see illustration below). Given that Franklin and his peers were globetrotters, and members of various European societies for academia and science, Im theorizing that their publications and concepts were well communicated throughout their travels and within assemblies of other inventive intellectuals at the time. His clock-concept seems to have caught on in Germany for about a century C my guess would be that in addition to being an economical assembly, the region has a thing for simple functionality, and it doesnt get much simpler than three wheels and a couple of pinions. Ferdinand Schade notes the Franklin-clock in his Uhrmacherlexikon (Clockmaker's Dictionary) as late as 1855, and there seem to have been quite a few productions of it by German manufacturers in the 18th century. Name a manufacturer, besides MeisterSinger, that can introduce a single-handed, ber-simple edition-piece and have it be relevant historically, regionally and brand-wise? You cant. One-handed clocks were actually pretty standard and commonplace until the pendulum laid the necessary groundwork for precision in the 17th century. Franklins design tries to do more by doing even less C a very MeisterSinger mantra. The perimeter of the dial divides 240 minutes into four collections of 60. The single hand will span a quadrants distance every hour. Each quadrant represents three hours. The first represents 12, 4 and 8 oclock (XII, IIII and VIII) the second represents 1, 5 and 9 oclock and so on and so forth. As expected, the hand will rotate around the dial once every four hours. Now for the obvious question; if each quadrant represents three hours, how does one know what precise hour it is? The answer is that, well, you dont know the precise hour. The Franklin-dial only displays the hour to within the three designated hours of any particular quadrant. It is up to you to have an idea of the time of day so that is can correspond with one of three hours in that quadrant.For example, according to the quadrant below, it is either 4:33, 8:33 or 12:33. Yes, youre right, this concept completely redefines reading a dial and makes both daylight and twilight to be necessary gauges of time! Is it practical? No, it isn't really. And acclaimed Franklin biographer Carl Van Doren agreed, when he wrote that Franklin invented a curious clock, economical but not quite practical, which a new friend, James Ferguson, improved in 1758 to Franklins generous satisfaction. (Doren, 278.)But, lets not be too hard on Dr. Franklin. He was likely just trying to democratize timekeeping for American colonists with an economical three-wheel train. And he did give us other practical things, like daylight savings time, the odometer and even the the selfie-stick, which Franklin originally called a long-arm and used to grab out-of-reach books on the top shelf.Like Ive said in the past, all dials grow easier to read with time and practice. But thats not the point here C at least I dont think. The point may very well be that, given its niche, MeisterSigner likely is the only brand that can execute this limited edition in the present day. This brings me to [my personal] pros and cons (at least with the release, since Ive yet to handle the watch in person). I find pros in the execution of the design. The font choice is spot on. Bold, sans serif roman numerals around the outline of a snail's shell aptly fuse the original design with contemporary styling. And as far as reading the minutes goes, leave it to MeisterSinger to design a highly legible timekeeping gauge. All this works just fine on an off-white dial.Now for the peeves. Like the Circularis, Im sure that this watch wont feel like 43 mm, that is, it will likely feel smaller. But I cant help but wonder whether such a purist-oriented and historically rooted design should be constrained to classical wrist-sizes. Conversation timepieces should have subtle parameters and, thus, warrant only subtle glances. My second pet peeve is with the movement. Theres nothing wrong with the modified manual Unitas 6498-1. Itll beat just fine for 46 hours at a time and be simple enough to service. But, again, I cant help but wonder if such a historical edition that underlines MeisterSingers niche wouldnt have benefited from a proprietary movement, like that of the Circularis. It would make a special edition all the more special. Only 50 of pieces of the MeisterSinger USA Benjamin Franklin Limited Edition will be made; price is set at $4,399. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Benjamin Franklin Museum in Philadelphia. And visit Meistersinger online to see their entire collection right here. Citations:Doren, Carl. Benjamin Franklin. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin, 1991. 278. Print.Schade, Ferdinand: Uhrmacherlexikon, Weimar 1855, Osnabrck 1981. 28-29. Print.