Timeline  /  The first minute repeater wristwatch
1892

The first minute repeater wristwatch

First

In 1892 an Audemars Piguet minute repeating movement was cased as a wristwatch by Louis Brandt & Frère, the firm that became Omega: the earliest known minute repeater on the wrist.

The 1892 minute repeater wristwatch in red gold with a white enamel dial and leather strap
The watch itself: the 1892 minute repeater in 18-carat red gold, with its enamel dial and no name on it, photographed at the Omega Museum, Biel.Photograph: TimeWerke · used with credit · TimeWerke
The need
The wristwatch was still a novelty for women in the 1890s, and striking the time on demand was the most admired thing a watch could do. Putting the two together was a demonstration of what a tiny movement could hold.
Made by
Audemars Piguet, Le Brassus, which made the minute repeating movement, no. 2416, for Louis Brandt & Frère of Biel, the firm that became Omega, which cased it in red gold.
What was new
A minute repeater small enough to wear on the wrist: hours, quarters and minutes struck on two gongs from a slide in the case band, in a movement small enough for a lady’s wrist.
Worth knowing
The watch still works. Patek Philippe’s first repeater wristwatch followed in 1916, a platinum piece of 27 mm made for a private client.
Where it is now
The Omega Museum, Biel.

Historian’s noteAudemars Piguet itself says it made “one of the first” minute repeater wristwatches in 1892, and Omega’s history calls the piece “probably the first of its kind”. No earlier minute repeater wristwatch has been identified, so it is listed here as the earliest known, not the first beyond doubt.

SourcesAP Chronicles · Timewerke (Omega Museum)

Suggest a correction

Spotted an error, or know a better source? Tell us. Notes go to the editor and are not published.