Lépine

Watches with small seconds typically place the subdial opposite the crown or 90º clockwise from it. Since the 19th century, these locations have been known as "Lépine" (opposite the crown) or Savonnette (90º). This reflects the heritage of movement design, with Jean-Antoine Lépine's classic movement placing the small seconds sundial opposite the crown.

Lépine's movement design was desirable in an era of pocket watches, since most were fixed to a chain by a bow over the crown, thus placing the crown at 12:00 and the small seconds subdial at 6:00. The Savonnette (also called Hunter) design was held with the crown at 3:00 so the small seconds 90º off axis kept it at 6:00.

In modern wristwatches, Lépine placement of the small seconds subdial is rare, since it would fall at 9:00 on the dial if the crown is place at 3:00. The Savonnette (also called Hunter) arrangement places the small seconds subdial at 6:00 on a wristwatch, which is seen as a more harmonious design.

Today, it is mostly chronograph movements that place the small seconds subdial at 9:00. This includes the Breitling B01 family, ETA 2094 and 7750 family, Seiko 6S family, and exotic movements like the Audemars Piguet 2885 and 2889, Bulgari 318/328/388, and Parmigiani Fleurier PF335. Classic Lépine chronograph designs include Landeron (39 family, 48 family, and 71 family), Martel, Minerva, Universal Genéve (281 family), Valjoux (7730 and 7740, 23/72 family), and Venus (150 family, 175 family, 188/210 family).

Some time-only movements also use a Lépine arrangement. Examples include the Zenith Elite 650/680, the rare Seiko 8L34 and 9S63, and time-only movements based on the ETA 7750 including Naoya Hida's NH Type 1.