Hot/Balloon Red&Silver 74.6002/504

L’Épée 1839 has imagined its tethered flight in a very specific way, offering a completely new way of presenting time. Hot Balloon can be displayed on a desk, a table or a shelf, and it can also be hung directly from the ceiling, floating in air above it all – a first for a mechanical clock of this scale.

Hot Balloon is therefore be supplied with a suspension kit. A very thin cable, fully incorporated into the clock’s design, attaches to the hot air balloon, allowing it to take flight.
The time is displayed on the balloon’s burner; a two-pointed needle resembling a flame indicates the hours and minutes on two black cylinders stacked one on top of the other.

The crown for setting the time is located under the vertical escapement, and its gear train is located between the basket and burner, in place of the blast valve. Just as the flow of gas inflating the hot air balloon is adjusted with the blast valve, the clock’s time is adjusted with this crown.

Winding the clock involves the whole basket. Regardless of how Hot Balloon is displayed, to wind the clock, simply turn the base several times (generally six turns), to provide enough power for eight days of flight. For greater ease of use, especially when Hot Balloon is placed on a table, L’Épée 1839 has also made it possible to wind the clock by turning the basket’s upper ring, to avoid having to lift the clock.