The HOMMAGE Minute Repeater: Tutima Glashütte’s Acoustic Triumph

Jean-Claude Biver once likened the difference between crafting a tourbillon and a minute repeater to “the difference between climbing the Matterhorn and climbing Mount Everest.” It is an analogy that captures not just scale, but altitude of ambition. If the tourbillon is a feat of mechanical virtuosity, the minute repeater is horology’s summit. An instrument that, at the push of a slide, transforms time into sound, chiming the hours, quarter hours and minutes through a choreography of finely tuned gongs and hammers. Requiring hundreds of hours to assemble and commanding six-figure price tags as a matter of course, the minute repeater has long stood as the ultimate badge of legitimacy in haute horlogerie.

A Dream Three Years in the Making

In Glashütte, that summit was reached with the Tutima HOMMAGE Minute Repeater. Dreams, after all, sound better when they come true. The HOMMAGE Minute Repeater, with its acoustic time signal, is the most exclusive and demanding watch Tutima has ever created. The project required approximately three years of development, drawing on the highest level of watchmaking expertise. Limited to just 25 pieces 20 in rose gold and five in platinum it is a rare embodiment of melodious skill.

At the activation of its slide, two precisely tuned gongs sound out the hours, quarter hours and minutes with clarity and resonance. Within the movement, more than 550 filigreed components work in perfect harmony. Their interplay is the result of painstaking adjustment, not only of the mechanical and kinetic systems, but also of the acoustic elements the tension and curvature of the gong springs, the positioning of the hammers, and the cadence of their strike.

The manual-winding calibre measures 32 mm in diameter and 7.2 mm in height, beating at 21,600 vibrations per hour and offering a 65-hour power reserve. It incorporates 42 jewels, four of which are set in screw-mounted gold chatons. A screw balance with 14 gold weighted screws and four regulating screws in slotted, threaded holes operates with a free-sprung Breguet hairspring, while a pallet lever with domed pallets ensures precise energy transmission.

Engineering in Every Detail

Finishing is executed to the exacting standards associated with Glashütte’s long tradition. The movement is built around a gold-plated, matte Glashütte three-quarter plate. All dial train components are hand-finished: bevels are polished, surfaces tin-polished, and the gear train mirror-polished to a fine sheen. The balance cock and the barrel cover of the striking mechanism are hand-engraved with relief decoration. Winding wheels feature click and sunburst polishing, while all levers, springs, rakes and cams are meticulously beveled by hand. Even the black-polished hammers which are visible through the sapphire crystal caseback stand as miniature sculptures, marking the passage of time in measured rhythm.

The case is fitted with a domed, anti-reflective sapphire crystal and a see-through sapphire caseback, offering a clear view of the mechanical theatre within. Yet beyond its visual beauty lies the far rarer achievement: the successful marriage of mechanics and music. 

That achievement did not go unnoticed. In 2013, at the prestigious Couture Time watch and jewelry fair held annually at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas, the Tutima HOMMAGE Minute Repeater won the Couture Time Award in the Technical Excellence category. The jury comprising six industry professionals, including leading watch journalists and the Vice-President of Sotheby’s international watch department was unanimous in its decision, naming it the most technically convincing timepiece of the year.

A Triumph in Las Vegas

More than 200 brands exhibit at Couture Time, drawing over 4,000 trade visitors and upwards of 100 accredited international journalists. In such a competitive arena, the recognition was significant not only for Tutima, but for German watchmaking as a whole. As Alexander Philipp, Sales and Marketing Director, observed at the time, American collectors increasingly appreciate not just design, but technical mastery a realm in which fine German watchmaking continues to excel.

With the HOMMAGE Minute Repeater, Tutima did more than build a complication. It composed a mechanical symphony. One that resonates far beyond Glashütte, affirming that when it comes to horological Everest, German watchmaking stands firmly at the summit.