Central Impulse Chronometer

Description

Bernhard Lederer Central Impulse Chronometer

The Chronometer of Extremes

Bernhard Lederer, inceptor of numerous breakthroughs in watchmaking and creator of extraordinary tourbillons, returns to center stage with a new collection entitled ‘Tribute to the Masters of Escapements,’ a limited series of precision chronometers designed and developed to honor those who set true milestones in the advancement of an horological invention that remains as crucial and fascinating as ever.

After years of research, the watchmaker, incidentally one of the first members of the AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, an association with the mission to perpetuate the art of independent watch and clockmaking), brings to fruition the principle of the natural escapement with two 10-second constant-force mechanisms as conceived by John Harrison in 1756. The Central Impulse Chronometer by Bernhard Lederer: a sleek watch with a movement of exceptional complexity, the result of unimagined development efforts and a testament to the noblest of legacies.

Once again the watchmaking and aesthetic world of Bernhard Lederer finds its expression in a new high-precision chronometer. The first Bernhard Lederer watch of the ‘Tribute to the Masters of Escapements’ collection comes in a case that has a diameter of 44 mm and a thickness of 12.2 mm. In it the award-winning German watchmaker has placed the fruit of years of reflecting upon and exploring the escapement, one of the most complex and noble subjects in watchmaking. The result is Central Impulse Chronometer whose movement has a natural escapement.

A journey completed

Drawing on nearly 40 years of experience and the resources of his workshop in St Blaise near Neuchâtel, in the cradle of Swiss watchmaking, Bernhard Lederer completed the work on the natural escapement initiated by George Daniels, who himself had taken over where Breguet left off. The Central Impulse Chronometer escapement is the ultimate, reliable and stable embodiment of the mechanical movement’s counting and regulating system designed by the English watchmaker. It is composed of two escapement wheels operating in alternation and connected to an anchor that is absolutely one of a kind. Its profile, rubies, angles of lift, even the way it comes into contact with all the components it guides, make this an exceptional creation. Not least because the contacts are so light and gentle that the escapement is remarkably quiet, whilst emitting a unique sound every 5 seconds each time one of the two alternating constant force remontoires springs into action.

Virtuous optimization

To achieve the precision of his Caliber 9012, Bernhard Lederer installed these two escapement wheels at the end of two separate gear trains, each with its own barrel and its own 10-second constant force remontoire. In finely evening out the driving force, optimizing the geometry of the escapement parts, paring down the weight of these energy-intensive components, and reducing the internal friction of the escapement to a minimum, Bernhard Lederer has achieved an extraordinary degree of watchmaking perfection. It is a work deeply rooted in respect for the noblest traditions of watchmaking, with a level of finishing to match.

Simplicity in sophistication

Yet all this sophistication remains elegantly subtle. The Central Impulse Chronometer comes in the form of a watch in a sleek, understated round case in rose gold with a smooth bezel. The dial is vast, minimalist in its markings, save for a small seconds at 8 o'clock with a circular finish. For those who prefer a more visible technicality, Bernhard Lederer offers a second version in white gold with a slate grey sunburst openworked dial. It offers views of the final part of the gear train, the remontoires and the escapement, i.e. the distinctive core of the Central Impulse Chronometer.

Bernhard Lederer, the discreet watchmaker

Little known to the general public, a man operating in the background, at home in his workshop, Bernhard Lederer is a German watchmaker born in 1958 and largely self-taught. He had been working in the field of floor clocks, monumental clocks and wristwatches since well before the end of his apprenticeship as a watchmaker. Without ever having learned under a great master, without a technical mentor as such, he developed a culture of quality, driven by what can only be called a true inner fire for watchmaking. It was on his 16th birthday, when his grandfather bestowed him his prized pocket watch, that his interest was kindled, only to be forged into an unbreakable intellectual and emotional bond that would never falter.

A future full of promise

Trained on the job, spurred on by a deep passion for watchmaking and a penchant for technical challenges, he began his watchmaking apprenticeship at the Wuppertal Watchmaking Museum, then in Pforzheim, building a parallel career as a watch repairer and restorer. His masterpiece, completed at the age of 25 to qualify as a Master Craftsman, was a table clock. It had a gravity escapement with a perpetual calendar that solves the problem of non-leap years that are multiples of 400, with a synodic and sidereal moon display accurate to 800 years and a solar and lunar eclipse display. Soon followed direct commissions to carry out projects such as the modern clock sculpture Trojka. It comes as no surprise that when the AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, an association with the mission to perpetuate the art of independent watch and clockmaking) was founded in 1985, he was invited to become one of its first members.

Impressive at any scale

In 1996, he spent more than a year in Brazil to finalize a fantastical project, the Brazil Monumental Countdown Clock. Counting down the days until the date of the 500th anniversary of the country’s discovery, this monumental clock with huge hands had to cope with power outages, strong Atlantic winds, the salty air and problems of legibility in blinding sunlight. A project of such complexity that it suffered staunch opposition from all sides. On a parallel track, he created the Time Dimension, an avant-garde wristwatch with a black case and a time display complication using concentric circles devoid of markings.

Works

In 2002, a collection of wristwatches was launched under the BLU brand – for Bernhard Lederer and his Universe. Here, Lederer’s aesthetic sensibilities came to the fore in watches that were instantly recognizable by the single lug and smooth round cases housing off-center display complications, with the characteristic hands that were his signature at the time. His most striking creations were in the field of orbital tourbillons: Majesty Tourbillon MT3, followed by Tourbillon Gagarin, which won numerous awards throughout the world.

A fresh impetus

In 2014, he returned to his workshop, collaborating with a historical expert to compile a matrix of all known escapement systems. It is on this foundation that he began work on several approaches, including the Central Impulse Chronometer. In 2016 he presented a movement entirely of his own design with the highest magnetic interference threshold ever achieved. Rated to 100,000 Gauss and certified NATO-STANAG 2897, it emits a magnetic signature of less than 5 nanotesla. This was the criterion for passing muster with the mine clearance divers unit of Germany’s NATO Special Forces, whose lives depend on utterly non-magnetic equipment.

Joint thought exercises with Dr. Georg von Tardy […]

Supplied by the brand to the GPHG for its entry.