To celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Louis Moinet inventing the chronograph, and in salute of their founder’s indomitably brilliant creative genius, Louis Moinet are proud to present the Memoris, the world’s first chronograph timepiece that is clothed in light!
In 1816, Louis Moinet created an artistic and technological masterpiece that created haute horological history. Beating at a rhythm of 216,000 vibrations per hour, designed to observe the orbits of the planets in the heavens the world’s first-ever chronograph was a harbinger of finer things to come.
Two hundred years on, in salute to that spirit of sheer creative genius that drove their founder, Louis Moinet lights up the stars by presenting Memoris, the first chronograph-watch, clothed with light. The stunning timepiece clad in a canopy of stars blazing out of the night sky, is the first of a series of Limited Edition creations dedicated to the bicentenary of the invention of the chronograph.
Using an engraving technique that is unprecedented in the history of watchmakingk The “Memoris 200th Anniversary” features a series of individual stars scattered across the night sky, each one worked on indivudually by the craftsman to imbue a natural
The three main differentiation points of the “Memoris 200th Anniversary” are:
A new hour dial – made in enamel for the first time in history of the piece
A new mainplate, painted and decorated with star constellations
A new translucent flange and counter bridge
The starry back consists of a brass plate coated in a translucent blue. The stars have been created using an entirely new fixed graver process. Devised by one of Louis Moinet’scraftsmen, this involves attaching a specially-made lathe to a traditional rose engine (also known as a guillocheuse).
The idea is to combine the power of the rose engine with the precision of a handheld graver. The result differs from that produced by milling or stamping: while it resembles the effect traditionally associated with a guillocheuse inasmuch as material is removed, here this is focused on a tiny area with varying levels of depth – two characteristics that traditional engine turning seeks to avoid at all costs.
What is more, individual stars are all fashioned to feature different angles and depths, so that each and every one captures as much light as possible. Several fixed graver sessions are required per star. The process used is unprecedented in watchmaking – and the outstanding result gives the novel impression that certain stars really are shining.
New, crystalline transparency
For the flange and counter bridge, Ateliers Louis Moinet have used a revolutionary translucent material. Its precise makeup, produced by combining a number of composite materials and high-temperature vacuum moulding, is a closely-guarded secret. It offers a unique advantage that has won over Ateliers Louis Moinet: it is through-coloured – and yet the same time maintains a certain degree of transparency.
Using it in translucent dark blue on the flange of the new Memoris adds an exclusive sense of depth, whereas an opaque flange would have ‘locked down’ the timepiece.
In its natural state, this material is as just as pure and translucent as crystal, but nowhere near as fragile, allowing it to be used for the counter bridge, too; and the latter’s ensuing transparency ensures the wearer can admire the night blue sky – without missing a single star.
Technical data sheet
Features and functions
Monopusher chronograph with column wheel
Chronograph mechanism visible on dial
Hours and Minutes (at 6 o’clock)
Seconds (at 9 o’clock)
60-second chronograph (central hand)
30-minute chronograph counter (at 3 o’clock)
Dial and hands
Chronograph hand, “Monogram” design
Hour & Minute “Gouttes de Rosée”® dew-drop hands, blue-tinted with luminous coating
Rounded enamel dial, diamond cut bead
Hand-painted mainplate, engraved with fixed graver technique
Translucent flange and counter bridge
Movement and finish
Automatic click movement with chronograph function on dial; hours and minutes off-centre at 6 o’clock.
302-component LM54 caliber, designed and manufactured by Louis Moinet
Winding: Automatic, bi-directional
Oscillations: 28,800 vibrations per hour
Frequency: 4Hz
Balance wheel: Glucydur, chronometer quality
5 position settings
Lines: 13 ¼
Power reserve: 48 hours
Jewels: 34
Diameter: 30.40 mm
Height: 8.90 mm
Decoration: Côtes de Genève, diamond-polished facets, diamond-cut chamfers and circular gears with 5N colour finish and straight-line steel.
“Energie Plus” system
Pawlwindingmechanism
Pawl winding system: comprises a baseplate and two jewelled pawls
‘Crab claw’ spring mechanism
Gearing: automatic wolf-teeth gear
Ball bearing: 7Myrox balls (ceramic), diameter: 0.397 mm
Oscillating weight: Dual material, with concentric “Clous de Paris” and “Fleur-de-lis” pattern
Case and strap
Case: Original Louis Moinet®, composed of 52 pieces, design with two-part bezel and 6 screws, assembled at a 17° angle
Monopusher: “Clous de Paris” pattern
Material: 18K gold
Diameter: 46 mm
Thickness: 15.75 mm
Water resistance: 50 meters
Case back: Fitted with 7 screws, engraved with individual number and Louis Moinet symbols
Lugs: Screwed settings (1 black zircon jewel and 3 screws per lug)
Crystals: Two convex sapphire crystals with non-reflective coating on both faces
Crown protection: Patent pending
Distance between lugs: 24 mm
Strap: Hand-sewn Louisiana alligator leather with alligator lining
Buckle: 18K gold folding clasp with “Fleur-de-lis” motif, two-strand, black DLC-treated steel
Presentation box
Louis Moinet book
Limited edition
LM-54.70.20 20 watches 18K white gold
About Louis Moinet
Ateliers Louis Moinet was founded in Saint-Blaise, Neuchâtel, in 2004. The fully-independent firm was established to honour the memory of Louis Moinet (1768-1853): master watchmaker, certified inventor of the chronograph (1816), and pioneer in the use of very high frequencies (216,000 vibrations per hour). Louis Moinet was a watchmaker, scholar, painter, sculptor and teacher at the School of Fine Arts – as well as the author of Traitéd’Horlogerie, a watchmaking treatise published in 1848 that remained a definitive work of reference for almost a century. Today, Ateliers Louis Moinet is perpetuating this legacy. The firm’s timepieces, produced in limited editions only, have won some of the most coveted awards, including a Red Dot Design Award (Best of the Best category), a prize in the International Chronometry Competition, and a recent UNESCO Award of Merit. Louis Moinet creations often make use of unusual materials, such as fossils and meteorites, in a unique creative approach combined with bespoke fine watchmaking complications. The brand’s core values are creativity, exclusivity, art and design.