The jumping hour complication has a rich and diverse history of use, and it seems to be experiencing a resurgence in popularity amongst a new crowd in recent years. Unlike a traditional hand slaved to the second wheel of the going train, a jump hour display can be approached in a number of ways, and this ability is something that many brands are embracing as a means of more expressive designs. That said, many are happy to lean into the clean, classic aesthetic that it allows for, and we’re seeing it from some rather unlikely sources of late.
Taking a step back, a jump hour display simply advances once at the top of each hour, rather than an indication that travels throughout the hour. This can be a hand that jumps to each hour, or a display that uses a disc that advances once each hour. One iconic modern example of this is the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk (see my review of the Zeitwerk Date right here). Provided that the hour display no longer necessitates a hand, this opens up the dial design to many unconventional options, the most familiar of which is having a fully closed off dial with only small apertures for the minutes and the hour, such as we find on the Cartier Tank à Guichets.
The more you look, the more interesting examples you’ll find, particularly in the high-end independent scene from the likes of MB&F and De Bethune, and most recently, Czapek in celebration of their 10th anniversary. As of late, we’re seeing more accessible examples come to the market thanks to the likes of Fears and Christopher Ward, both of which can be had for under $5,000. Each of these examples takes a similar route (for good reason), and it’s one rooted in history from a brand you may not expect.
In the late 19th century, IWC was the first to really commercialize a jump hour pocket watch thanks to the efforts of Josef Pallweber, who devised a series of nested discs under a closed dial that would allow the hours and minutes to be displayed digitally through small apertures, with a running seconds hand below them. IWC created a wrist watch commemorating the design in 2017.
This provided a template that would be broadly expanded upon throughout the following century. Creating the underpinnings of this complication meant it was generally reserved for the upper echelon brands, but lately, that’s taken a different turn. In 2023, Fears and Christopher Ward teamed up through the Alliance of British Watch & Clock Makers to create the Fears Christopher Ward: Alliance 01, a jump hour watch available exclusively through Fears. Christopher Ward helped to develop the complication at work within, and this week, we’re getting the C1 Jump Hour Mk V. At its core, the function isn’t entirely dissimilar to the striking mechanism at work in the Bel Canto, though instead of winding a hammer, it simply advances a disc.
Both the Fears and the Christopher Ward watches place an hour display aperture at the top of the dial, with a traditional minute hand at work from the center. Christopher Ward developed their own module to achieve this, called the JJ01, and it represents a new opportunity for the unique complication to enchant a new generation of enthusiasts. This is the kind of originality I love seeing from Christopher Ward, and what makes them such a compelling force in the small independent brand space.
Just how we’ll see this, admittedly still niche, complication evolve in the coming generation remains to be seen, but the fact that a more broad selection of brands are offering their interpretation across a wide range of accessibility is always a good sign. I for one am still quite fond of the work done by d.m.h, a brand that was likely a little ahead of its time. Catch more from Christopher Ward and from Fears.