Deconstructed watch: Bremont Terra Nova Jumping Hour

What constitutes a horological trend is difficult to define, but the recent arrival of multiple timepieces that hark back to a method of displaying the time last popularised almost a century ago, suggests that “jumping hours” watches are very much in.

The jumping hours system substitutes the convention of two hands circulating around a regular dial for (most commonly) a pair of rotating discs — respectively marked with hours and minutes — that are visible through separate apertures.

Rather than simply having a mainspring and balance wheel set-up that releases power at a regular rate, a jumping hours watch incorporates an additional system that stores energy which, when the minute disc reaches its 60-minute mark, is suddenly released to enable the hour disc to advance to the next number.

Such movements present additional challenges to watchmakers, both because more energy is required to propel the discs than is needed for conventional hands (the discs being heavier) and because of the difficulty of perfectly synchronising them so that the new hour is displayed at exactly the same time as the final minute of the previous one — hence the term “jumping hour”.

During the 18th century, French horologists dabbled with early versions of the system to produce “wandering hours” pocket watches, with the great Abraham-Louis Breguet being credited with creating the first true jumping hours piece in 1785.

It was not until 1883, however, that the system was patented by Austrian engineer Josef Pallweber, and it wasn’t until the 1920s that it was reduced to wristwatch size in models such as the Rolex Marconi and, more famously, the Cartier Tank à Guichet — which likened the apertures through which the discs could be seen to the windows of a guichet, or ticket office.

The jumping hours complication has occasionally been revived during the past 25 years by brands such as A Lange & Söhne (with its Zeitwerk of 2007) and Gucci, which launched its skateboard-inspired, jumping hours Grip model in 2019. More recently, there have been examples from makers including IWC, Fears, Gerald Charles, Franck Muller and Chanel.

Seldom, however, have so many attention-grabbing jumping hours watches come along at once as they have in 2025.

Louis Vuitton set the ball rolling in January with its Tambour Convergence, while at last month’s Watches and Wonders show Cartier revived the Tank à Guichet, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced a jumping hours version of its Reverso Nonantième and — perhaps most surprisingly — UK brand Bremont launched its Terra Nova Jumping Hour, seen here in deconstructed form.

The two Bremont models were unexpected, largely because the Terra Nova range is associated with rugged adventure-ready watches, whereas jumping hours models are generally regarded as being in the dress category.

Historically, however, the complication harks back to a time before resilient sapphire crystal was used to protect watch dials — a problem solved by the all-metal top cases of early jumping hours wristwatches.

Bremont offers just such a design with a bronze case, as well as the steel version (pictured here), which incorporates the jumping hours mechanism behind a conventional “full” dial carrying a centre seconds hand.

Both use the same Calibre BC634 movement made for Bremont by Sellita and licensed for the brand’s exclusive use until 2027.

Its “high torque” gearing enables the hours disc to make its all-important jump in just one 10th of a second, while the mainspring provides sufficient power for 56 hours of autonomy.

The 40.5mm Terra Nova Jumping Hour in steel costs £3,750; the 38mm Terra Nova Jumping Hour Bronze (limited to 100 examples) costs £4,550 on a leather strap, or £4,900 on a matching bracelet.