The Orin Bell

Last July (2019) we spent 3 weeks in Japan visiting the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, The Seiko Museum (soon to be relocated), The Tokyo Watchmaking School as well as Grand Seiko and Credor workshops, to execute deconstructions of their watches.

We also visited the Saifuku temple where one of the original Orin Bells still remains, sadly the majority were melted down during the second world war to be turned into weapons. Credor, made an unusual Sonnerie with a small Orin bell inside. What made the watch unusual was a setting mode with a 3-hour interval strike function that is linked with early Japanese cultural history and one of the reasons for the original Orin Bells.

Before clocks and timekeeping existed as we understand them today, the cycle of life in Japanese towns varied from season to season, depending on the length of the day which was influenced by the amount daylight within a day.

The Orin Bell found in the temple was sounded to indicate regular intervals during the working day, although always varying in length during the year. So people worked longer hours in summer than they did in winter. By today's calibrated time we can average the interludes to 3-hour intervals between the bell being struck.

The Orin bell both influenced the technical and cultural approach behind the Credor Sonnerie. Technically, the choice was to develop a clean resonating sound resembling the original bells, associated culturally, the 'original' mode setting sounding the bell 3 times every 3 hours.

The Orin Bell is an example of how different cultures have a direct impact on watchmaking, how this diversity makes the industry richer for it.