From the company whose founder and namesake can rightfully be considered as being the grandfather of the chronograph, as creator of the first example of this, the most popular of all horological complications, as far back as 1816, the Tempograph Chrome Blue by Louis Moinet is a quite spectacular and sophisticated time piece which is presented in an imposing case with minute hand crafted detail throughout, and which distils two centuries of watchmaking into one exquisite contemporary wristwatch.

With its dual seconds displays and the striking contrast of deep blue over a frosted silvery base, the Louis Moinet Tempograph Chrome Blue is a wristwatch of the exceptional standards of haute horlogerie, and a piece which highlights the importance of our smallest whole unit of time measurement, the simple but never reoccurring second. Visually captivating and endlessly fascinating in its detail, it features an elaborate, multi-part skeletonised dial, revealing a rhodium plated movement plate and exposing the beating heart of its in house movement within.

A manufacturer for the discerning and uncompromising connoisseur, every Louis Moinet watch is a very special piece which has been crafted by the skilled hands of the Swiss company’s master watchmakers, and in its signature case with six screws on its bezel, the Tempograph Chrome is eye-catchingly distinctive in its appearance.

Encased in 316L stainless steel, the impressive case of the Tempograph measures 44mm across and 14.75mm tall, so it has an conspicuous presence on the wrist. With no fewer than fifty-nine components in its construction, the elaborate case features the Louis Moinet signature two-part bezel with six screws, a crown plate on the side, as well as articulated lug unions.

Beneath a sapphire crystal the three dimensional dial is spectacular, with the broad inner rehaut around the dial prominently decorated with Clous de Paris guilloché, which has a bold hobnail effect. Screwed onto a rhodium plated dial plate, the diamond polished skeletonised blue filets are pared back and sculpted around a cutaway which reveals the balance and gears below. The hours and minutes are indicated by lovely dewdrop hands on a domed dial with a rich blue lacquer, which is offset at the five o’clock position.

The Tempograph Chrome Blue features not one, but two separate second indications which break the minute down into three twenty-second segments. At the nine o’clock position a constantly rotating small seconds wheel is segmented into red, black and grey and it goes around once a minute. But the most eye catching feature of this magnificent piece is the central steel hand of the retrograde seconds, which sweeps across the marked arc at the two, before flicking back every twenty seconds and starting over again, repeating this cycle three times every minute.

On the underside, a sapphire caseback reveals the superb guilloché Clous de Paris finishing of the the 18Kt gold oscillating weight and circular Côtes de Genève decoration on the plates of the self winding movement within. Fully manufactured in house by Louis Moinet, the Calibre LM50 beats at 28’800vph, and will run for 48 hours before requiring rewinding.

The Louis Moinet Tempograph Chrome Blue is a truly magnificent piece which celebrates the beauty and complexity of the humble second in a thoroughly engaging novelty. As with every watch which bears this famous name it is manufactured entirely in house using traditional hand operated machinery to achieve an astonishing degree of craftsmanship throughout, with only sixty examples being produced. It is presented on an alligator leather strap with folding clasp.