The watchmaker
A discreet artisan, winner of multiple awards, inventor of breakthrough concepts and extraordinary watches, Bernhard Lederer is a Master Watchmaker of German origin established in Saint Blaise, near Neuchâtel, in the cradle of Swiss watchmaking. His creativity and innovative concepts come from a desire to ‘Think Different’, a deep understanding of the heritage of horology and a profound respect for past masters such as John Harrison, Abraham Louis Breguet and Sir George Daniels.
At MHM, Bernhard Lederer is tasked with inventing new complications, mechanisms, timepieces and technical solutions for confidential customers including some of the leading luxury brands in Switzerland. He is an expert consulted when it comes to the most difficult stages in watch construction such as escapements, or, when it comes to the restoration of old movements deemed impossible to repair.
For the Central Impulse Chronometer escapement and remontoirs, he made several inventions over the prior art, including centralizing the impulse inertia, improving the remontoir function and making a chronometer escapement self-starting.
Bernhard Lederer is one of the very first historical members of the prestigious Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (Academy of Independent Creators in Watchmaking – AHCI).
Created in 1986, this masterpiece table clock features a gravity escapement, temperature compensation and a fusée-and-chain mechanism. The 1000-year calendar is paired with a moon phase display, with the sidereal and synodic moon phase display requiring adjustment only once every 800 years.
In 1996, Bernhard Lederer spent more than a year in Brazil to finalize an extravagant project, the Brazil Monumental Countdown Clock. Counting down to the 500th anniversary of the country’s discovery, this monumental clock had to contend with power outages, the salty air swept in by the relentless wind from the Atlantic, and the intense heat of the Brazilian sun. Rock solid reliability that lives up to an historic task.
In 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, on the occasion of the largest collectors’ gathering in Asia, Bernhard Lederer won the prestigious “Most Revered Watch of the Year” award for his Majesty Tourbillon MT3. Dr. Francis Yeoh, organizer of the event, said: “With the Majesty Tourbillon MT3, Bernhard Lederer unveiled something unique in the world, a major breakthrough in design and technology.” The timepiece features 3 cage-free tourbillons secured by a single bridge. When true emotion requires no dial.
Recognized with multiple awards around the world, the Gagarin tourbillon was designed by Bernhard Lederer in 2011 as a 50th anniversary tribute to Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s historic 108-minute spaceflight. Among its distinctive features, a flying tourbillon that moves counter-clockwise, in an eastward march around the dial, completing a revolution in exactly 108 minutes – and a loupe to view its intricacies. Watch number 1 was presented to His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco at his wedding.
In 2016, Bernhard Lederer introduced a notable world premiere: a movement with the lowest magnetic interaction rate ever achieved. Resistant to 100,000 Gauss and certified to the stringent NATO-STANAG 2897 standard, it has a magnetic signature of less than 5 nano-Tesla. This made it the only watch to pass muster as standard equipment for the mine clearance divers unit of Germany’s NATO Special Forces.
Inspired by Breguet’s Natural Escapement and George Daniels’ Independent Double Wheel Escapement, the Central Impulse Chronometer features an innovative escapement driven by two independent gear trains, each with its own barrel and remontoir d’égalité. This creation was awarded the Innovation Award at the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2021.
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