SJX Watches
John-Mikaël Flaux Introduces the Le Guépard Sonnerie-Automaton Clock
A young French horologist who specialises in automaton clocks – his most recent work was a retro-automobile that tells time – John-Mikaël Flaux has just unveiled his most elaborate work to date, Le Guépard. Translating as “The Cheetah”, Le Guépard is an elegantly-conceived, hour-striking clock with its movement forming an automaton of a big cat. Made of brass and steel, Le Guépard tells the time on an open-worked dial on its right, but it is also a sonnerie en passant, chiming out the time as it passes. Mr Flaux, who attended the same watchmaking school as independent watchmakers Cyril Brivet-Naudot and Theo Auffret, describes Le Guépard as a “poetic take” on the hour-striking clock. At the top of every hour, the clock chimes the number of hours via a hammer striking the large bell on its rear. Triggered by a snail cam and front paw of the cheetah, the strike work propels the limbs of the cheetah, which moves in slow motion as the rack of the strike work “counts” the number of hours being struck. The clock can also strikes the hours on demand – a feature activated by pressing on the tail of the cheetah. Located behind the decorative panel are the hammer and bell that sound the hours Made up of 205 parts, most of the clock is produced by Mr Flaux using traditional methods, like turning wheels on a manual lathe. The movement is mounted on a steel platform, but sits against a background of an abstract starry night on the African plains. Executed in a...
