Jumping hour watches are among the lesser discussed and sought after complications, however they’re no less interesting than their more coveted counterparts. Watches with jumping hour complications defy the norm when it comes to time-telling; rather than gradually moving across the dial every hour, the hour hand will ‘jump’ from one hour to the next as the minute hand reaches 60 minutes. Often, timepieces will eschew the hour hand altogether in favour of a ‘digital’ display — despite the name, this is still mechanically powered and sees a disc viewed through an aperture display the hours. Some watches combine jumping hour complications with jumping or retrograde minutes; the first works in the same fashion and a jumping hour complication while the latter sees the minute hand snap back from 60 to zero minutes as the hour changes.
Related: What Is A Retrograde Watch & How Does It Work?
What is a jumping hour watch?
A jumping hour watch is one that tells the time in an atypical way. While most watches see the hour hand slowly sweeping across the dial as time passes, watches with a jumping hour complication have an hour hand that does not slowly move between the hours. Rather, it points directly at the current hour and instantaneously ‘jumps’ to the next hour exactly as the hour changes (i.e. as the 60th minute of the current hour ends). A jumping minutes complication translates this theory to the minutes of the watch and works in the same way as jumping hours.
Some watches eschew the hands altogether, instead using disks with imprinted digits which provides a display akin to digital watches. Here, the disc will jump from one hour to the next upon completion of the 60th minute of the current hour. Notable jumping hour watches include the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk and the Franck Muller Crazy Hours.
How do jumping hour watches work?
A jumping hour complication uses the mechanical energy stored within the watch to instantaneously jump from one hour to the next. A display of horological virtuosity, jumping hour complications are difficult to execute. Watch movements typically run at an average frequency of 4Hz (28,800Vph), making four oscillations per second or 480 oscillations every minute. This allows for a smooth flow in the geartrain of the watch. However, a jumping complication disrupts this stability and consumes more power than a standard sweeping hours or minutes hand.
An apt comparison here is the date window, a (relatively standard) complication that sees the date disc jump from one day to the next. Although this only occurs once every 24 hours, it draws upon the movement’s power reserve. Thus, a jumping hour (and by extension, jumping minutes) complication requires a far larger amount of power to execute, with only select watchmakers attempting it.
Today’s jumping hour watches often use a separate system with its own spring-wound mechanism to power the complication, allowing it to work without affecting the power reserve of the central mechanism.
The best jumping hour watches in 2024
1. A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk
Fitted with not only a jumping hours but a jumping minutes complication, the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk draws aesthetic inspiration from the Five Minute Clock in Dresden, seen in its oversized digital display. Read from left to right, it makes the time visible at a glance. A subdial at 6 o’clock displays the seconds while a power indicator sits at 12 o’clock. As is standard for the Saxon manufacture, the Zeitwerk is crafted from precious materials — either rose gold or platinum. The A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk features a patented constant-force escapement, which provides the escapement with a consistent flow of power regardless of whether the watch is fully wound or nearly unwound. This not only supplies the escapement with a steady flow of power, but generates the energy needed for the numerals to jump; it’s designed to execute a re-tensioning cycle every 60 seconds. This sees the full force of the mainspring barrel released for a moment, with this burst used to advance the numeral discs.
Price: $POA
Model: Zeitwerk
Movement: manual winding
Water Resistance: 3ATM
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Case Size: 41.9mm
2. Fears Christopher Ward Alliance 01
A collaboration between fellow British watchmakers (and Alliance of British Watch & Clock Makers members) Christopher Ward and Fears, the Fears Christopher Ward Alliance 01 combines the modified jumping hours movement of the former with the aesthetic cues of the latter. A 40.5mm stainless steel cushion case plays host to a maroon dial with a jumping hours aperture at 12 o’clock and a central dial for the minutes.
Price: £3950 (approx. $7380AUD)
Model: Alliance 01
Movement: automatic
Water Resistance: 3ATM
Power Reserve: 38 hours
Case Size: 40.5mm
3. Chanel Monsieur
Chanel’s watchmaking division is not to be ignored. The Chanel Monsieur pairs a jumping hour complication with a 240° retrograde minutes complication, meaning the minute hand will snap back to zero upon completion of one hour. The opaline dial also houses a small seconds subdial in the centre. It’s powered by the hand-wound calibre 1, which is Chanel’s first in-house movement.
Price: from $69,200AUD
Model: Monsieur
Movement: manual winding
Water Resistance: 3ATM
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Case Size: 40mm
4. Andersen Genève Jumping Hours
Alongside world timers, Andersen Genève knows how to make a striking jumping hours watch. Created for the 10th annual Only Watch auction, this one-off Andersen Genève Jumping Hours finds elegance in restraint. The dial is composed of a 0.4mm cut of black jade and is left bare save for subtle branding and a jumping hour aperture at 12 o’clock and a minutes subdial at 6 o’clock. The exhibition caseback showcases the captivating in-house automatic movement which features a hand-guillochéd rose gold rotor.
Price: to be auctioned
Model: Jumping Hours
Movement: automatic
Water Resistance: 3ATM
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Case Size: 38mm
5. Chopard L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25
While the white grand feu enamel dial housing a jumping hour aperture and traditional minutes track around the periphery is striking in its simplicity, the highlight of the Chopard L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 takes place within the rose gold case. The hand-wound in-house L.U.C 98.06-L movement utilises the manufacture’s exclusive Quattro technology and is equipped with four barrels that lend it up to eight days of power reserve; a rare feat for a jumping hours watch. The timepiece marks Chopard’s first foray into the complication and was released in a limited run of 100 examples.
Price: €44,500 (approx. $72,200AUD)
Model: L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25
Movement: manual winding
Water Resistance: 3ATM
Power Reserve: 192 hours (eight days)
Case Size: 40mm
6. Bovet Fleurier Virtuoso V
A bona fide two-in-one, the Bovet Fleurier Virtuoso V sees a guilloché dial fitted with a central jumping hour aperture and retrograde minutes at 12 o’clock. It’s part of the manufacture’s Amedeo collection which is not only reversible, but can be transformed into a pocket watch or table clock. On the flip side, the dial displays the movement and atop it sits an off-centre dial displaying the hours and minutes in the traditional format.
Price: $127,998AUD
Model: Virtuoso V
Movement: manual winding
Water Resistance: 3ATM
Power Reserve: 120 hours (5 days)
Case Size: 34.5mm
7. IWC Tribute To Pallweber
This model pays tribute to Josef Pallweber, the young Austrian engineer who patented the jumping hour complication and is responsible for its commercialisation. The IWC Tribute To Pallweber remains faithful to the dial layout of the Schaffhausen manufacture’s early pocket watches, with digital jumping hours at 12 o’clock and jumping minutes in the centre, and a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. While power drain was an issue in jumping hour watches of the past, IWC has managed to circumvent this issue by separating the drive for the hours and minutes into two geartrains, each with a barrel of its own (connected by a trigger mechanism at the centre to ensure they’re in sync). This works without altering the flow of power in the main geartrain and allows for a 60-hour power reserve. The timepiece was released in a limited run in 2017.
Price: $36,600USD (approx. $53,460AUD)
Model: Tribute To Pallweber
Movement: manual winding
Water Resistance: 3ATM
Power Reserve: 60 hours
Case Size: 45mm
8. De Bethune DB28 Digitale
A contemporary take on the heritage complication, the De Bethune DB28 Digitale combines a digital jumping hour display with a 180° analogue minutes display and spherical moon phase. The dial is decorated with a hand-guilloché barleycorn motif as well as starry sky details. A modern take on classic functions.
Price: $POA
Model: DB28 Digitale
Movement: manual winding
Water Resistance: 3ATM
Power Reserve: 120 hours (five day)
Case Size: 45mm
9. Franck Muller Crazy Hours
Perhaps the most striking and innovative use of the jumping hour complication, the Franck Muller Crazy Hours features a traditional hour and minute hand format on a decidedly untraditional dial. The hour numerals are placed in a seemingly haphazard fashion, with the hour hand jumping from one hour to the next in the correct order. Meanwhile, the minutes are indicated in the usual manner, based on the number that ‘should’ be on that position of the dial.
Price: from $26,466AUD
Model: Crazy Hours
Movement: automatic
Water Resistance: 3ATM
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Case Size: varies
History of jumping hour watches
An early example of a clock with a digital style display can be found sitting above the stage of the Semper Opera House in Dresden. The Five Minute Clock sees the time updated—you guessed it—every five minutes, with the oversized numerals far easier to read than a conventional analogue clock. The Five Minute Clock was designed and built by master watchmaker Johann Christian Friedrich Gutkaes in the late 1930, with assistance from his (future) son-in-law Ferdinand Adolph Lange; founder of A. Lange & Söhne.
In the portable watch realm, the earliest recorded watch with an aperture display and jumping hour complication was a pocket watch made by French watchmaker Antoine Blondeau around 1830 for King Louis Philippe I.
However, the invention of the jumping hour watch as we know it today can be attributed to Austrian engineer Josef Pallweber, who patented the mechanism in 1883 at the age of 25. Pallweber granted the license to IWC, which began to manufacture Pallweber pocket watches from 1884 to the early 1980s, with records showing the manufacture produced and sold around 16,590 of these. These pocket watches had both digital jumping hour and jumping minute displays, making them easy to read and allowing for artwork to adorn the remainder of the dial.
The jumping hours complication made its wristwatch debut in the 1920s, coinciding with the Art Deco movement. Early adopters of the style included Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Cartier.
Enjoyed this article? Why not check out our Ultimate Guide To Watches here; covering everything from the anatomy of a watch to watch styles and complications.
Words by T. Angel
