You know you’re getting into niche territory if you’re browsing for jumping hour watches to amp up your collection. Along with perpetual calendars and moonphases, the jumping hour is a marvel of mechanical engineering, which is rightly reflected in the price tag.
In most watches, the hour marker slowly sweeps across the dial, but with a jumping hour, it jumps to the next hour as soon as 60 minutes have passed. “It’s a perfect blend of modernity paired with the intricacies of mechanical movements,” says Kevin Cureau from Wristcheck.
One benefit is it’s perhaps even easier to tell time as it points directly to the current hour. Some models also use discs printed with digits, a bit like your trusty digital watch. With jumping hour watches, it’s not so much about the need, but more about the want. “As a watch enthusiast who grew up in a modern era, where the world slowly transitioned from having little to no computers to everyone managing their lives through smartphones, I can personally connect to this complication and it is one of my favorites in the horology universe,” adds Cureau.
Celebrities who have been spotted wearing a jumping hour watch unsurprisingly have that cool factor: Jon Hamm, aka Don Draper, with a Bell & Ross 123 Jumping Hour and Samuel L. Jackson with a Gérald Genta Arena Bi-Retro. So take a leap into serious watch collecting with some of the most sought after jumping hour watches in the game right now.
AP Jules Audemars Repetition Minute Heure Sautante
With the Royal Oak always stealing the spotlight, it’s easy to miss out on other gems created by Audemars Piguet, like the Jules Audemars Répetition Minutes Heure Sautante. “This piece combines the jumping hour mechanism with the minute repeater,” says Cureau. “To me, this is probably the ultimate jump hour watch; it’s classy but modern at the same time and I love this melange of old school and new school.”
MEC Watches MEC-1
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