Editor’s Note: Watches & Wonders (formerly SIHH) has moved online and Baselworld 2020 is canceled, but that hasn’t stopped watch brands large and small from debuting their new wares. Stay on top of this year’s best new watch releases here.
Mechanical alarm watches are still relatively thin on the ground. There’s the famous Vulcain Cricket, sure, and the Tudor Advisor (as well as its modern equivalent, the Tudor Heritage Advisor Alarm). But it’s perhaps the Memovox that’s proven the most enduring alarm design through to the modern era.
Based on original designs from the 1950s, the newest Master Control Memovox incorporates a revised automatic calibre 956 movement, allowing for a transparent sapphire case back so that the wearer can view the chiming mechanism at work. A silver, brushed sunray dial with applied triangular indices and dauphine hands evokes midcentury models, while the 40mm Master Control case with its 50m of water resistance and mixed polished and satin-brushed surfaces makes for a highly wearable, contemporary feel.
Perhaps more exciting is the concurrent launch of the new Master Control Memovox Timer, which incorporates a new alarm-setting function. Building upon past entries in the Memovox line, which have included world time indicators and parking meter reminders, the new model allows the user to set the alarm “based on the number of hours that should elapse before the alarm rings.” That is to say, that rather than simply set the alarm for a specific time, you can set it for, say, eight hours of sleep, and the alarm will ring eight hours later. You’ve also got the option to set the alarm regularly, however: a small triangle — familiar to fans of vintage Memovox models — indicates the time at which the alarm will ring, rather than the number of elapsed hours.
Featuring a beautiful dial with multiple shades of blue and the 40mm Master Control case, the Master Control Memovox Timer is a limited edition of 250 pieces and will retail for $15,600. The Master Control Memovox is non-limited and will only set you back $11,600.
