In this article from the WatchTime archives, we size up MeisterSinger?s single-hand, double-barrel Circularis, which boasts a power reserve of five full days. Original photos are by Nik Schölzel.
No watch can function without a movement, so the watch industry was understandably anxious when the Swatch Group announced in 2010 that it planned to curtail movement sales to companies outside the group (it is doing so gradually, over a period of years). The German brand MeisterSinger, like many other mechanical-watch brands, began looking for alternatives to Swatch Group movements. The result was Caliber MSH01, made exclusively for MeisterSinger by Synergies Horlogères, in Bienne, Switzerland.
In 2015, MeisterSinger, which specializes in single-handed watches, launched the movement in a watch called the Circularis. Like other MeisterSinger watches, the Circularis shows the time in 5-minute increments.
The movement is 32.7 mm in diameter, making it significantly larger than any movement MeisterSinger has used in the past. The larger size has several advantages. For one thing, it makes the caliber more robust, which is important for a movement that is intended for  large-scale production. A larger movement can also have a longer power reserve: MeisterSinger guarantees 120 hours (five days) for the MSH01. The movement achieves this impressive running time with the aid of two barrels, which are integrated into a building-block system.
The MSH01 is meant to serve as a base caliber....