To measure time, ancient Chinese people had a Chinese era calendar system. In the Chinese calendar, a day is evenly divided into 12 periods represented by the twelve Chinese zodiac signs called the twelve terrestrial branches. Each period is equivalent to the present two hours; each period is evenly divided into eight quarters (original quarter, original first quarter, original second quarter, original third quarter, positive quarter, positive first quarter, positive second quarter and positive third quarter). Each quarter is 15 minutes, equivalent to the present quarter hour.
To salute the long-standing Chinese traditional calendar system, Frédérique Constant unveils the Manufacture Zodiac 24H limited edition with the coming of the Year of Goat in 2015. Unlike common watches, this is a 24-hour timepiece: The hour hand takes a turn and runs 24 hours, while the minute hand turns a circle and runs 120 minutes.
On the whole dial plate, the scales of the twelve terrestrial branches (the twelve zodiac signs) replace the Arabic from 1 to 12 or Roman numerals and serve as the main index markers. The position at the six o’clock is marked by the Chinese inscrpition “Year of the Goat”. Each position is a traditional Chinese unit of decimal time reflecting a quarter (15mins) of western time. As the Chinese hour is equal to 2 hours, the outside minute track has 8 positions. To facilitate modern people’s use, the 24-hour scales are marked with Arabic numerals at the innermost circle.
The Manufacture Zodiac 24H limited watch is powered by Frédérique Constant in-house movement FC-724 and has 42-hour power reserve. The 24-hour full-automatic movement is decorated with the Perlage & Circular Côtes de Genève. The timepiece is issued in two limited series of 888 in stainless steel and 888 in polished rose gold plated steel.
