IMPULSION ONYX

Les Ateliers Louis Moinet draws on a veritable wellspring of modern creativity that has succeeded in integrating two high complications in a new mantel, one that generates strong emotions. The synergy between the chronograph and the tourbillon is impressive, a remarkable spectacle and a feast for the eyes. A single pusher activates the chronograph hand, which ticks away the seconds and sails over the rotating flying tourbillon, whose off-centre cage does one revolution per minute.

Abraham-Louis Breguet and Louis Moinet were close friends and key figures in watchmaking. The former invented the tourbillon, the latter the chronograph. The idea of combining a chronograph with a tourbillon is not entirely new. What does differentiate this timepiece from previous creations is its original and bold character. The first idea was to make the chronograph mechanism entirely visible on the dial side, a world premiere, in fact. The magic of a tourbillon was then added. The result is impressive, a remarkable spectacle and a feast for the eyes. The pristine black colour of the onyx gracefully decorates the inserts and the disk at the back of the tourbillon cage. It is infinitely deep and exudes a ravishing and refined aura.

The movement is made up of 301 parts, many of which had to be completely designed from scratch and manufactured. Incorporating the tourbillon required significant innovations : to ensure sufficient energy, the automatic winding system had to be replaced by a manual double-barrel winding system. The system is called "volte-face" because the two barrels are arranged upside down in series. They release their energy at the same time, delivering a power reserve of ninety-six hours. The innovation is coupled with outstanding performance by the complex mechanisms. All in all, it produces beautiful mechanical art never seen before.

This creation was named IMPULSION, a word that highlights the energy that transfers life to the chronograph and the tourbillon and coalesces the two visual effects to produce a full-fledged show as it were.