Minute Repeater Chimes During Funeral, Correctly Reports Time as 'Time to Go'

A minute repeater complication activated unexpectedly during a funeral service on Wednesday, striking the current time — 2:00 p.m. — with two resonant gongs that echoed through the chapel during what was supposed to be a moment of silent reflection. The watch, an A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater worn by attendee and collector Hugh Davenport, activated when Davenport folded his hands in his lap, inadvertently depressing the slide on the case band. 'BONG. BONG,' the watch announced into the silence, with the clarity and projection that Lange's cathedral gong system is specifically engineered to achieve. 'The acoustics in the chapel were exceptional,' Davenport said afterward, visibly distressed. 'The repeater has never sounded better. The reverb was extraordinary. I have never been more horrified by the quality of German watchmaking.' The deceased's widow, sitting three rows ahead, turned to locate the source of the chiming. Several attendees reportedly mistook the sound for a church bell. The officiant paused his remarks, glanced at the ceiling, and continued. 'Two o'clock,' whispered a fellow collector sitting beside Davenport, who had correctly identified the striking sequence. 'Beautifully struck. Absolutely the wrong moment.' Davenport has since had the slide mechanism stiffened by his watchmaker to require 'deliberate, aggressive actuation' rather than incidental contact. He has also purchased a Casio F-91W for future funerals. 'The Casio has an hourly chime function that I have disabled,' Davenport noted. 'Unlike the Lange, it does not cost $450,000 and does not project sound like a concert instrument. These are advantages I had not previously considered.' The deceased, family members confirmed, 'would have found it hilarious.' He was himself a watch collector.