Blancpain\u2019s Grande Double Sonnerie<\/a> combines grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie and minute repeater functions with a flying tourbillon and retrograde perpetual calendar. What truly sets it apart though, is that it offers the wearer a choice of two audible sounds: the coveted classic Westminster Chimes or a specially created Blancpain four-note original composition by Eric Singer. <\/p>\nFor Blancpain, the approximately $2 million four-hammer, four-gong watch with all the other complexities was a technical feat years in the making. For Singer, it was a rare chance to merge two lifelong passions: music and watches.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing a drummer has to do is to keep time in any musical situation and that is exactly what a watch does, too, so I have always felt connected to watches,\u201d Singer said. \u201cPlus, they are all about micro mechanics. You’re wearing a little living machine on your wrist that’s also a functional piece. It\u2019s form and function. I love all watches, but Blancpain is a brand that I have always been attracted to.\u201d<\/p>\n
A slide on the side of the watch case allows for selection of the melody or the Westminster chimes. <\/p>\n
Blancpain<\/p>\n
Singer said his relationship with Blancpain CEO Marc A. Hayek developed naturally through years of shared enthusiasm for horology. \u201cThat started our friendship relationship, if you will,\u201d he said, noting that today he owns several Blancpain watches in his large well-rounded collection.<\/p>\n
Singer\u2019s relationship with Hayek is what eventually led to this unusual assignment to compose something musical with severe limitations.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitially, I wasn\u2019t sure exactly how what I composed would be used, but I was just honored to be asked to be involved in any way, especially something that such a unique type of watch,\u201d said Singer, admitting that there were certainly challenges to tackle. <\/p>\n
Assembling the movement for the Blancpai Grande Double Sonnerie.<\/p>\n
Blancpain<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had its limitations because it only allowed four different notes, the four notes used for the Westminster chimes\u201d Singer said. \u201cIn music you have octaves and that\u2019s eight notes. You can write an entire song with eight notes and more if you count sharps and flats, but I only had four notes to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singer enlisted his friend famed keyboardist Derek Sherinian and headed into Sherinian\u2019s studio, where the challenge quickly became clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thinking on musical terms, but Blancpain is thinking in mechanical terms. They wanted an alternate melody [to the Westminster} so when the wearer flips a little switch on the side of the watch, they can play the other melody,\u201d Singer said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s ever been done before and it was challenging to create a nice melody with just four notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Singer, he and Sherinian tested numerous combinations and sequences over the course of several sessions before one option stood above the rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried all the different options,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it seemed unanimous that the sequence we chose was the one everybody gravitated towards. In the end it was Marc\u2019s decision and he liked the one melody we liked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Singer was not fully aware of the scale of the entire project or what the watch was going to look like or do until he later visited Blancpain\u2019s manufacture in Le Brassus, Switzerland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea of all the complications involved in this watch, from designing it to then actually making it a reality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What impressed him most was the process of tuning the gongs so each note rang at the correct pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw the process\u2026 they were using a computer to listen to the sound,\u201d Singer said. \u201cThen they would shave off parts of those little metal pieces\u2026 barely taking any metal off — just enough to change the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a drummer, that precision felt familiar. Timing, rhythm and control are central to both music and watchmaking. \u201cThere is such a connection because a drummer is what? A timekeeper,\u201d said Singer.<\/p>\n
Singer has collected watches for decades and views them less as luxury objects than personal milestones. \u201cBuying watches for me is sometimes a way to celebrate different things in your life,\u201d he said, noting that he has often marked career moments l like the end of a tour with a special purchase. \u201cI have a passion for music and the things I collect. To me, watches are my art and what I have a personal passion for.\u201d<\/p>\n
That perspective endowed the Blancpain project with an even deeper meaning for him because he was helping to shape one of the watch\u2019s defining complications: its sound and cadence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blancpain CEO Marc A. Hayek (left) with summer and musician Eric Singer. Blancpain Compose a melody using only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[194391,194394,194390,194392,61,60,80,194393],"class_list":["post-447092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-blancpain","tag-derek-sherinian","tag-eric-singer","tag-grande-double-sonnerie","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology","tag-westminster-chimes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Marc](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778695639_97_0x0.jpg\")
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