The primary point that continues to remain a mystery, however, is that the gears of the ML 128 movement turn backwards… Maurice Lacroix is still not explaining why they turn in the opposite direction — but there is no doubt that it has something to do with activating the unusual ‘complication’ that the watch offers, namely that it can mechanically maintain, in its memory, the various chronometric timings when the wearer returns to the hour function. Yet, the company does explain how this particularity works. The barrel spring is compressed from right to left instead of the traditional left to right. The gear train that provides the driving force to the regulator thus also turns in the opposite direction. What happens after that remains a matter of conjecture…
Maurice Lacroix has also revealed a few other details, along more technical and aesthetic lines. One of the characteristics of the Memoire 1 is to offer an in-depth view of the movement. In order to have a clear view of its inner workings, the small oscillating weight has been placed off-centre and thus does not cover the entire surface of the movement. It has been made in tungsten, which, because of its higher mass, will nonetheless allow the attainment of the performances necessary to the rapid, efficient, and bidirectional winding of the barrel spring. It pivots on a ball bearing specially developed for the Memoire 1, and works directly on the inverse system by using a ‘magic pawl’ that allows all of the wearer’s movements to be optimized.
From a design point of view, all the decoration has been coated with a PVD treatment in the colour of tantalum. As for the gemstones, they are white, thus providing a better look at the gears. The balance of the escapement (a Swiss type escapement that has been entirely adapted to the needs of the ‘memory’ complication, of which we will learn more in the near future) is mounted on a transparent sapphire core, equipped with a gold felloe, and endowed with a new system for fine adjustment, one that is different from the traditional swan’s neck.
This future mechanical memory watch is the fruit of a multi-disciplinary approach conducted by the unit, ‘Maurice Lacroix Atelier’, that groups together designers, engineers, constructors, and watchmakers. The birth of the Memoire 1 movement is presented as the prelude to the development of new and original systems. Rendezvous in November.


Source: Europa Star August-September 2007 Magazine Issue