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31
Novità Orologi / Re:Silicium: material evolution, or artisanal revolution?
« il: Settembre 26, 2012, 12:33:52 pm »
I've just finished to read..it was the most interesting thread about watchmaking that I've ever read on a forum!!! THANKS A LOT!! :) :) :)
I don't think that, in every case, the swiss made icon will be defeated: certainly the Asian solution will reach this unhappy result, with Sea-gull and seiko emperors of the mechanical watchmaking; the return to elinvar is impossible, considering the lack of "know-how" outside the swatch group which controls nivarox;
..the silicon..as I see the situation, it will be the ONLY way which can save swiss watchmaking, apart from maisons which self-produce hairsprings (rolex parachrom, for all): the existence of swiss made watchmaking depends on capacity to ADAPT mechanical watches to the present! If silicon, with its costs in terms of re-conversion, solves the problem without knocking on Asian doors, and also open a new way in order to increase performances..THIS will be the way. Stop.
Finally, the reliability problem..I agree it's very important. For me, the most important. I collect vintage watches, and I'm very obsessed by the watch resistance after years and years. Until these events, I thought that it is fundamental for a mechanical watch to live longer than a quartz one. I couldn't imagine mechanical watches which sacrifice reliability in the years.
So..I hope that someone will solve this problem!!
Waiting for your reply,
Dario

Thanks for your kinds words Dario.   :-[ ;D 8)

After made my investigations, I think, you summarize the questions of the horological industry.
I think that CEO, watchmaker, directors of products, and even directors of marketing, have the same questions...

The silicium, appair to be an excellent short-term solution. Easier to implement that Elinvar.
But there's other considerations: The soul of the watch, the reliabilty on several decades, the image of the technology...

Actually, no one has answers, but the choices will be determinants.

32
Novità Orologi / Re:Silicium: material evolution, or artisanal revolution?
« il: Settembre 26, 2012, 12:24:35 pm »
The freak is wonderful!!!   :P :P :P :P :P :P

So sorry Teo, I don't read this message before. Shame on me.  :-[

I have realised this pictures few days ago, on the border of the Leman lake.


Full album of the watch Freak Diavolo on Watchonista.






33
Novità Orologi / Silicium: material evolution, or artisanal revolution?
« il: Settembre 19, 2012, 14:49:48 pm »
It has been ten years since the late Nicolas Hayek warned that he was going to cut the deliveries of ebauches to his competitors.
While some brands, like Breitling or Panerai, did their best to integrate their production as much as possible, some others, like IWC for example, did not seek to develop other house-made movements, to compensate for a possible ending of the precious 7750 and 2824 deliveries.
Whether they are ants or cicadas, hard workers or lazy, nobody foresaw the current core issue, which actually has to do with the "heart" of the watch.
Indeed, the end of the Swatch group deliveries had been well anticipated by the "shavings makers" (like Tech Ebauches, Sellita, Technotime, Concepto, etc.…), who created a "CNC" Maginot line.
But the fate of Maginot lines is to be by-passed: actually, the problem specifically comes from the hairsprings and more generally from the sets! In fact, the main provider, Nivarox, is a subsidiary of the Swatch Group...

More opinions (by famous bloggers), a Pool to give your opinion, on the watchonista's silicium page.



For a few months, there was a rumor about a potential wave of panic related to the hairsprings: it stated that this component, as tiny as it is vital, as cheap as it is complicated to industrialize, would be missing with a cruelty worthy of the quartz crisis.
This anxiety became tangible when Nivarox informed TAG Heuer that the deliveries had stopped.

Today, a watchmaker who wants to produce watches independently, has to invest in equipments. Yet, there are only three ways to do so.

Produce Elinvar hairsprings oneself:
if it is the most common and the safest solution in terms of brand image, it is also the most complicated to implement.
Indeed, the material's recipe is not a secret,  the Elinvar alloys are utilized in precision measurement tools (industrial scales, precision gauges, etc.);
Hence, there are some producers of the precious isotropic steel alloy, most of them German;
For example, one could think of the Precision Engineering/Moser share holder, who has been producing this material for a long time.



The product is available, the Elinvar spiral recipe is can be found in all the good watchmaking cooking books.
But the missing part is the Chef! Only a few members of Nivarox, carefully selected and submitted to security and confidentiality levels that would make a fighter pilot turn pale, know the secrets of fabrication of the magical hairsprings produced by the ETA's subsidiary.

The brands who offers alternative hairsprings, like Ato-Kalpa or Technotime, spent years to produce good quality hairsprings, and the waste seems to be higher than that of the Swatch Group ("seems", because nobody knows what happens at Nivarox).

So, to summarize:

Finding the right alloy is rather easy, and at any rate a hairspring only weighs a few tenths of a gram, therefore one wastes very little material to find the right mix.
Finding the machines for laminating, wire drawing and hairspring counting is far more complicated, as they are not produced anymore and most of them were destroyed during the quartz crisis.
For example, Technotime bought machines from the ex-Eastern Bloc, formerly used to produce Poljot and consorts.
Finding the "Chef" who will perfectly master all the stages of the production is almost impossible; therefore, he must be trained internally.
The implementation of a hairspring  production plant is a long process, as it takes several years of development to achieve a consistent level of quality (consistent enough for the pairing and the hairspring/balance tuning to be done in less than one day per watch).

But! As the recent "TAG case" just demonstrated, most of the brands cannot spend the 5 or 10 years required to integrate the whole production chain.



Buy hairsprings from other providers than Nivarox: in spite of the quality of their production, the likeable Helvetian sub-contractors cannot supply quantities large enough for the big brands such as Tag Heuer (or Breitling).
TAG, as always the first in any domain, just announced that it will buy its supplies from Japan.
The only continent that produces hairsprings in large quantities is Asia.
For example, one could think of the Chinese Sea-Gull, whose production figures are bigger than those of ETA.
Or of SeikoSha, which is also a very good alternative choice, as its Grand Seiko watches announce better chronometric performances than Rolex.

The Helvetian brands which will source their products in Asia, will symbolically trample the "Swiss Made", by fitting the Swiss watches with the only part that until now, was 100% made in Switzerland.
This decision might lead to extremely damaging consequences. 
One already sees some small brands claiming their cantonal belonging, since the "Swiss Made" doesn't seem to be a guaranty of AOC for the watches.
 Indeed it will be the end of a kind of ambiguity; but the overall watchmaking industry benefits from it;
and the entire field, even those who did what it takes, is at risk of being penalized by a blurred brand image.



Produce silicon hairsprings: it is currently the biggest topic in watchmaking since the advent of quartz.
To well understand what is at stake, one has to understand that the preparation of silicon compared to that of Elinvar is like the Molecular Gastronomy opposed to the "Nouvelle Cuisine" of the greatest chefs.
Or even, if one is a scandalmonger, it is like McDonald's vs. the "Grande Cuisine".
While manufacturing Elinvar demands a genius cook able to feel the materials, to observe the clouds to know the atmospheric pressure, the fabrication of silicon hairsprings takes a valedictorian trained in cutting-edge technologies and able to run the chemical cutting of material with  precisions down to the micron, through the mathematical rigor of equations.
The benefit of using silicon is that one can implement a manufacturing chain faster.
If there is enough equipment, this strategic component can be produced in large quantities far quicker than the Elinvar.



The other benefit brought by the silicon is that the quality of the hairsprings is standardized by the "LIGA" cutting process.
Hence, the slow and difficult pairing phase does not exist anymore (the differences in hairsprings qualities are compensated by appropriate balances). Thus, even the balance production stage is simplified.
The problem with the silicone arises during the assembling phase, where the very fragile hairspring must be fitted into its final slot without shocks.

To better understand the two "quick" options, Silicon & Asia, let's take a careful look at the Tag Heuer case:

The rumor states that LVMH's legal department more or less challenged their counterpart at Swatch Group.
LVMH  wanted to speed up the process of contract renewal for the deliveries of Nivarox escapement sets.
But the Swatch Group lawyers outsmarted those of LVMH: they cut the sets deliveries to Tag Heuer, without striking a blow. Considering the suddenness of the announcement, TAG did not have time to develop its own Invar sets. Therefore, there were only two options: Asia or Silicon.
To compensate for the withdrawal of Nivarox, TAG once again called upon Seiko (and this after the caliber 1887) to get out of this tricky situation.
To address the problem, TAG could have developed homemade silicon;
but they chose to rely on Seiko, on the one hand because it was obviously simple from a logistical standpoint, and on the other hand because the image of silicon may have been deemed dangerous.
Actually, the crucial question raised by TAG's choice is this: what does a "region of origin" mean?
Is it the use of traditional technologies, implying the utilization of a plain alloy and lots of handwork, but made in Asia?
Or does it mean a totally normalized production with cutting-edge industrial processes, but made in Juras?

And the other reason to reject silicon certainly was the reliability.

The fundamental obsessions at Rolex are the reliability and the after sale returns.
As a matter of fact, it is one of the reasons why their production processes are widely automated.
Rolex is undoubtedly the most automated of the mid-range market brands in the Swiss watchmaking industry.
It is obvious that Rolex made the reduction of costs a priority. But not only that!
Rolex engineers spend their time burying innovations.
These break-through, which would have benefited certain independent brands for years, are buried by Rolex without second thought.



This policy of generalized industrialization and of slow innovation, of course, comes from the necessity to bring down the after sales servicing figures.
The brand with a crown would never launch an innovation without making sure to master the consequences from A to Z. One even knows that the brand is very advanced on the silicon matter, but sticks however to the excellent Parachrom rather than taking chances with the silicon.
In addition, it is a common knowledge that Omega, like De Bethune or other "early adopters", already underwent the difficult development of this cutting-edge technology. For that matter, they deserve praises.
For the great watchmakers (such as Journe or Flageollet), Abraham Louis Breguet's Holy Grail was to use less lubrication, which is a source of problems and of dirt accumulation in the mechanism.
For example, with the Extreme Lab, Jeager LeCoultre tested the "fat-free" watch (with a limited success).
If the silicon technology breaks through, there is no doubt that the JlC EL will go through the roof of the auctions at Christie's, 50 years from now, since it has been emblematic of the beginnings of this "fat free" technology.
But today, with the waterproof watches and high quality lubricants, does the development of a lubricant-free technology still make sense?

The greatest technical achievements , like the Citroen DS, the iPhone 4 , the Concorde or printing, were very difficult to develop, which frustrated many clients (-guinea pigs).
But these long development phases have been laboratories for innovations, which were reused in hundreds of new similar products (for example, the technologies developed for the Concorde are still utilized in nowadays airliners).
The equivalent in watchmaking is the Omega 8500, with its silicon hairspring, its coaxial escapement and its double barrel;
it is currently the pinnacle of the mainstream watchmaking technology, but it inevitably suffers from an after sales servicing rate higher than the Rolex 3135.
So, are we ready to potentially sacrifice the long term reliability, in order to benefit from a state-of-the-art product?



Furthermore, when one talks about watchmaking, the cutting edge technology does not mean the same thing.
In the automotive or the mobile phone fields, the equation is relatively straightforward; the goal is mainly to reach the most advanced technology.
"Mainly" , because if some car makers , leaders from a technological standpoint, are successful, their German counterparts, not always as technically advanced, are even more successful !
In the end, the Teutonic cars take the advantage thanks to their uninterrupted reputation for reliability, prestige and to a certain tradition linked to the German luxury car industry.
From the communists to the capitalists, from the industrials to the organized crime, all, all, all of them did put their renowned bottoms on the Mercedes-Benz stiff leather.
A French rap band (NTM) even sang its ode to the "Benz-Benz-Benz".
Why ? Because Mercedes-Benz is a symbol of tradition. And tradition is a common value to all the cultures.

The reason why I am talking to you about tradition, is because it is the key to the rebirth of the mechanical watchmaking.
In a world where everything moves faster and faster, where one lives in an opulent society steered like a drunken ship, it is reassuring to remember our grand-parents' sacrifices,  which allowed for this opulence to exist.
Yet, the mechanical watchmaking's Kryptonite was the quartz.
And there are odd resemblances between the quartz and the silicon: silicon is the main component of the micro-processors that power all our computerized systems, especially the Casio G-Shock.
But also (and specifically?) the fabrication process of a quartz watch is totally standardized, exactly like the production of the sets of silicon escapement devices (compared to the artisanal manufacturing process of a mechanical watch).
Ironically, a well tuned silicon system is amazingly efficient;
the proof is that Technotime, Chopard and Tissot, all of them using silicon hairsprings, won the last International Chronometry Contest.
Yet, the other technology that provides an incredible precision with a silica core is of course the quartz!

The best illustration of this phenomenon is Patek Philippe:  the aura of the most prestigious of all brands relies on an uninterrupted tradition of mechanical movements and on the quest for the best quality, by employing the best craftsmen in all Romandie.
So, do we really want a cutting-edge mechanism in a traditional watch?



Watchmaking only makes sense if one agrees to stop the technological progress at a given date.
If he had had the adapted tools during the French revolution era, would Abraham-Louis Breguet have integrated silicon into his watches?

In short, the silicon raises the metaphysical question of when does the hard-line mechanical watchmaking stops evolving; does silicon have its place in a traditional watch?

Conclusion:
 
The butterfly effect is when a minor decision leads to major consequences.
The ironical side of the story is that, after a few generations, the savior of the traditional mechanical watchmaking could become its gravedigger.
The decision to stop the deliveries of Nivarox sets could be an incentive to switch to silicon.
But the latter is double-edged! It could be the greatest revolution in watchmaking since Huygens (well, at least since the Invar), but it also could be the high-tech product that will totally depreciate the Swiss watchmaking tradition...

We are lucky to witness the greatest revolution in watchmaking since the end of the 60's, and the advent of quartz;
like all the revolutions, it could be a top, or a flop. Will silicon join the heaven of the ground-breaking technologies which died too soon? Or will it open the road to new chronometric heights?
Will it crash against the breakers of the reliability's craggy coasts? Will it rescue the Swiss Made from the Dragons' jaws or definitively spoil the already eared Helvetian watchmaking's brand image?



34
Hey thanks to reading me!  ;)

35
The counterfeiting gangrene is not a recently discovered disease. It already infected the watchmaking industry during the 18th century. To protect itself from the usurpation of the already prestigious Genevan origin, the corporation of watchmakers in this era created the Hallmark of Geneva (H.o.G).

Since the commercial law did not really exist at this time, in order to mark their difference, the leaders of the Genevan watchmaking chose to increase the quality of their production.
 The "Hallmark of Geneva" was born. Its quality requirements were difficult enough to differentiate a mere imitation from a watch made in the Canton after the Poinçon's criteria.



In 2011, these criteria were extended to the entire watch. The Hallmark is difficult to obtain, because it mainly involves the hidden parts of a watch. That implies investing lots of energy into components that only a technician will be able to admire, for example during a maintenance operation.
The Hallmark mainly regards the finishes: all the components must be devoid of cutting marks, and all of them must feature a finish such as stippling, drawing, and most of all polishing. This work also guarantees a better durability of the components.
 If the aesthetic aspect is crucial, now the Hallmark of Geneva has also four performance requirements: Waterproofing, accuracy, additional functions as well as a power-reserve tested in conditions as close as possible as when the time-keeper is worn by customers. The chronometric precision tests are done by comparing photos, shot on a seven-day cycle; the gap observed after this period should not exceed one minute.

In 2011, the Swiss watchmaking industry produced 29.8 million pieces. Only one million was COSC certified (by Timelab, which also manages the Hallmark) and 25,000 were granted the Hallmark of Geneva. Amongst theses 25,000 watches, 5000 were produced by Roger Dubuis, that is to say the entire production of the brand.

Thus, the Roger Dubuis Manufactory is unique in many respects.
 Most of the manufactories of the Canton of Geneva are located in horologic-industrial sites at Meyrin or at Plan-Les-Ouates. Almost all of these manufactories have at least one facility located in the Vallée of Joux or at the Chaux-de-Fond; these sites produce the "chips", which are assembled and sometimes finished in the Canton of Geneva.



But Roger Dubuis goes far beyond the affiliation of the Genevan area: 95% of the components are produced on the first floor of the Meyrin building. The only parts that are produced elsewhere are the rubies, the sapphire crystals and the titanium watchcases, whose machining leads to fire hazards difficult to manage, in a non-specialized Manufactory.
 One of the unforeseen consequences when the factory opened, in 1995, is that the brand probably has the smallest per watch CO2 footprint: actually, as every piece is transformed and finished in a single building, one avoids the endless back-and-forth between diverse subcontractors' facilities.


If the company was created in 1995, it only granted itself the title of Manufactory in 2000. The old fashioned or even knightly approach (which legitimizes the "Excalibur" series) was to integrate all the watch creation steps before claiming to be a Manufactory. At Geneva, one is used to be quicker: to grant oneself the title of "Manufactory", one generally waits to be able to print home-made press kits.

When every workshop started operating, it developed horizontally to fill the orders. When one knows how the Swiss manufactories usually grow, that is to say, in a far more opportunistic way, one can be surprised by Roger Dubuis' choices. But the watchmaker, during this period accompanied by Carlos Dias, had a real industrial and horologic vision, the choice of building the foundation first was indisputably logical.



Personally, I already knew some highly integrated factories with limited production (RD currently produces less than 5000 watches per year), such as De Bethune… But the integration level of the Roger Dubuis production, together with the Hallmark of Geneva is unique. And the obsession for the "home-made" goes very far because every single component, from the rarest, the hairspring, to the most common, the screw, is transformed and finished in the same facility.



But when you enter the first floor of the Meyrin building, the most impressive is that you come face to face with automatic lathes. It is true that at first sight, a lathe is not really sexy (or at least far less than some finishers).
But even the most prestigious manufactories usually subcontract their screws to houses such as Affolter... The lathing process is generally associated with the making of wheels. It is an excellent way to guarantee an optimal reactivity during the production of these types of components, for example to adapt the dimensions for the polishing process.







The wheels, the pinions and the screws will undergo systematic finishing processes (almost always polishing). In the diverse workshops, each finisher is specialized in one category of components.
For example, to finish the wheel teeth, one utilizes discs made of diverse woods, such as pear, beech wood, boxwood...The "mill" is slightly off centered with a piece of wood (usually a toothpick) , resulting in the elliptical movement of an endless screw, in order to alternatively pass between the teeth of every wheel;
 The type of wood and the thickness of the "off-centering piece" depend on the kind of wheels to be polished. The polishing process in itself is pretty quick (between 3 and 15 seconds), but the protection and the storage of wheels takes most of the time invested in the procedure.
So, the pinions are produced in the adjoining workshop. For example, the polishing of a wheel's pinions takes 17 different operations, performed by the same operator.
 Therefore, the technician must switch machines and tune them accordingly, as many times as necessary.
Considering the tiny scale of these components, it is an ant's work, literally.








The other main activity of Roger Dubuis Manufactory's first floor is the cutting of the bridges and plates.
The cutting processes are quite common and are generally performed on brass blocks.
One of Roger Dubuis' specialties is the magnificent skeletons, especially that of the double tourbillon with differential gear. At RD's, the skeletons are directly executed by numerical control machines; Therefore, all the mechanical stresses are pre-calculated, which prevents the warping of the weak plates.
In a similar way, the decorations of these components are machined, notably with a digital engine-turning machine;
Indeed, machines are more dependable in their motions and more economical in their material savings, a valuable quality regarding the stability of skeletonized parts.







As for the classic bridges and plates, they systematically go through the so-called "Hallmark of Geneva" workshop. It is one of the most active departments of the Manufactory: several dozens of finishers work at making all the movement's components beautiful. The techniques are quite common: engine-turning, Geneva stripes, polishing (with "beer-mug coaster" shaped discs). The obsessional pursuit of the good- workmanship and its systematic application is always as impressive as ever.








The last noteworthy part of the first level is the prototyping workshop. The prototype makers have a freehand to follow the creators' blueprints, with several independent numerical control machines as well as all the tools required for the finishing steps and the basic assembling processes;
They are totally independent regarding the fabrication of the prototypes. Therefore, the overall activities are not hindered and the reactivity and the confidentiality are optimal.



Then, we have the opportunity to take a tour of the core of the Manufactory (metaphorically as well a physically: the workshop sits at the very middle of the building), when we enter the workshop where the escapement devices are assembled. Unfortunately, the door to the shop, where the Elinvar blocs are transformed into hairsprings, remains closed. However, the watchmakers who built the escapement devices confide in us a few secrets.
Today, Roger Dubuis utilizes two families of hairsprings: the small one for the movements set at 28.800v/h and the bigger ones set at 21.600v/h, for the tourbillons. The assembling of the escapement device is the most strategic process in the fabrication of a Roger Dubuis watch. Indeed, each layout is modular and allows to easily assemble/disassemble the escapement device in a single step. The whole delicate tuning phase is performed in this workshop. The technicians have an unimaginable level of qualification and the communication with the workshop which produces the hairsprings could not be more direct: only one door separates them. The half dozen of technicians produce only 25 devices a day, two hours per escapement, actually. First of all, the hairsprings are cut out and set with a collet; then, the balance and the other components are fitted. An escapement device is composed of about 60 parts...










This enormous upstream work is useful, because it makes the work of the watchmakers and of the services department a lot easier. For this kind of result:

Excalibur double-flying tourbillon:



Excalibur minute repeater  and tourbillon



Monégasque Tourbillon



Excalibur 42



Velvet



Pulsion Chronograph



Monégasque Club



Throughout the multiple manufactories I have visited throughout the past few years, I had never noticed such a demonstration of strength, such a pursuit of quality.
If some very fine houses have as much savoir-faire as Roger Dubuis (but not more), these competencies are most often spread across several towns. In this case it is astounding: a single Genevan site integrates all of the crafts and machines required to produce a fine-watchmaking piece. All in all, the Hallmark of Geneva is only a consequence.

36

Maybe you remember the article on the Blancpain Villeret Grande Decoration for Only Watch, published about one year ago...
Under its apparent simplicity, this watch's caseback is abundantly decorated. Indeed, the front face features a superb Grand Feu enamel dial; it takes a trained eye to appreciate the subtle work executed on the painted numerals, with their "hollowed body". On the contrary, the back side is a festival; the bridges feature a superb handmade engraving of the "Rocher de Monaco". This work has been executed by Marie-Laure Tabouriech, a "Best craftsman of France".



To well understand the added value of a handmade engraving on a caliber or a watchcase, one has to look into the history of engraving...
Engraving, together with painting and music, is one of the prime arts in the history of humanity. This art is born when the human kind realizes that he can leave a permanent mark on his environment. It is indisputable that prehistoric carving (directly on stone or on bark) somehow led humanity to understand its role in the modification of the environment, which is nowadays a hot topic, with the environmental crisis we are experiencing....
Etching, a more recent medium, was for a long time the way through which journalism allowed our ancestors to discover the beauties from beyond the oceans.



Of course, the art of engraving developed in parallel with the art of painting; for that matter, a large part of the great painters, from Da Vinci to Picasso, also created superb engravings. Indeed, both art mediums rise from the same creative process. When one extrapolates this shared history to the watch dials, one could picture engraving as the tridimensional equivalent of enameling. Besides, the two techniques are sometimes mixed, as it is the case for the Champlevé enamel, which relies on both crafts.
However, engraving is more adapted to the movements' decoration for an obvious technical reason:
The dust produced during the enameling process could indeed jeopardize the caliber's accuracy.



Handmade engraving, with its typical human lack of precision, gives rise to a fundamental question: what is the value of a watch?
Is it the absolute informatics precision, reached through a multitude of CNC and chemical treatments, or is it the tireless manual work furnished by a troop of excellent craftsmen?



If one considers the fact that ultra-precise handmade finishes by someone like Philippe Dufour are, for many dandies, the ultimate Holy Grail of watchmaking, one could conclude, at least with respect to the decorations, that what makes the "Swissness" more than perfect, is the number of hours spent to decorate a watch.



Therefore, someone will dedicate lots of time and energy to decorate your Blancpain, and this person is Marie-Laure Tabouriech. In the Tabouriech family, the decoration craft is a tradition: Marie-Laure's father and grandfather were also engravers; she inherited her family's fairy-fingers. After 10 years spent in the perfume industry (the delicate vial prototypes were done under her direction), she had the opportunity to integrate Blancpain.
Crafting the ultimate decorations by hand is fine. Publicize it is better. When Blancpain understood Marie-Laure's potentiality, the company granted her three months to prepare the "Best craftsman of France" contest.



It is a prestigious competition, organized since 1929. An avatar of companionship, its goal is to create the emulation between the best craftsmen.
Thanks to this type of event, which promotes the know-how and the very high quality, France has been able to develop a prestigious industry of luxury, envied worldwide.



Marie-Laure got a free-hand to take up the challenge. She chose rather classic themes, in the same vein as her current work (but not necessarily as her next ;)).
As a matter of fact, she chose to reproduce a drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci: a fantastic warrior's profile. Regarding the horologic part, it was a Blancpain pocket watch, fitted with a 151B caliber.



Reproducing Da Vinci's knight is a double feat: It has been engraved on a steel sheet (as a template, for the embossing process), a relatively hard alloy, difficult to carve, which lengthen the work time... But above all, the carving had to be less than half a millimeter deep. The relief and the depth are reached through optical effects. Marie-Laure created a perfect illusion, with her master chisel stroke.



The pocket watch is in the same vein as Marie-Laure's actual work. It is equipped with a caliber formerly named "Piguet 151" of 16 lines, since the integration of the Frederic Piguet house within Blancpain it is always the 151 but B. The bridges are made of brass; since it is a far more ductile alloy than steel, it is easier to work. Surely, carving is easier on brass, but with a watch movement, it gets more difficult in totally different ways.



First of all, the 151B is not a Lange movement with a ¾ plate; here, the plate is cut out with bridges very far apart.
As a consequence, it is far more difficult to get an overall visual coherence. Moreover, the engraving is hardly deeper than the classic côtes de Genève; nonetheless, Marie-Laure Tabouriech must preserve enough contrast to make the scene lively. In fact, it is like shooting a short film, intended for a cell phone screen and watched in a subway train. It takes a hell of a time to keep the image coherent.



This caliber referenced 151B or 15B (for the "wrist" version), with its wide bridges, is the primary mechanism engraved by the team of Marie-Laure. The Villeret Grand Decoration and Villeret Pocket Watch are customizable to satiety.
You just have to go to a Blancpain shop, make a deposit and you ask your own personal movement. This is one of the most advanced customization options in the watch industry, with a caliber entirely decorated according to your wishes.



Prior to the conclusion, let's play a little game:
The ornament pictures a typical valley of the Jura, together with its fauna.
One can see a heron, a chamois, a fox, a capercaillie, a weasel, a squirrel, two birds, an oriole and a bobcat; but also with its flora: absinthe, huckleberry, daffodil, gentian...
I will let you find these animals on the Blancpain, the answers in a few days.



In 2012, we live in a world of automation, of absolute standardization; a world where the robot's productivity is so effective that kids are losing their jobs in factories of developing nations!
On the contrary, luxury is more than ever the unique work of highly skilled craftsmen. That is why Marie-Laure Tabouriech's work is important.



38
I will try to take some shots of the version without diamonds.

39
At first glance, it is a bit surprising to see a brand like Concord, with its super-modern designs and its cyberpunk inspirations, featured in our "Savoir Faire and Heritage" summer-school.



But it is the first time I can access such comprehensive information, regarding the production of a watch. Moreover, the creation of a nonconformist watch such as the Black Spider, allows us to put many savoir-faire into perspective.



From the cutting out on numerical control machines to the assembly, through the electroplating and the gemsetting, we will detail the sum of work it takes to produce a Concord C1 BlackSpider Brilliant.


 
Before discovering the detail of the fabrication process, one should know that this piece is a unique (already sold?).
The titanium case makes 47mm in diameter for 13.55mm in thickness.
The bridge bearing the movement is made of eight distinct parts, and spreads out on the bezel: the "Spider" effect is rather successful, even though it works better on the case-back or on the Blackspider without diamonds. 
The gems, fitted on four of the spider's legs, somewhat overshadow the so peculiarly skeletonized movement.



The Blackspider is fitted with a Concepto movement: the C8000 tourbillon is emblematic of their production.
For that matter, the photo of its barrel locking device illustrates the subcontractor's catalog.
The back side of this distinctive piece is unmistakable; on the contrary, the gemsetting on the front side allows the association of the diverse parts to be coherent.
It is quite a bulky movement of 14 lignes 1/4 aka 32.6mm, which is a very suitable size to fill the big watches of the nowadays market. The one-minute tourbillon is set at 21600v/h, with a 72-hour power reserve.
This very open skeleton shows most of the working mechanism, which makes the winding process especially didactic.
One sees the watch living its everyday life; therefore, a power reserve indicator would be absolutely superfluous.



The highlight of this watch is of course the aesthetical link between the bezel and the skeleton. If one could criticize the Concord bezel, one has to admit that when the concept is taken to its limits, the watch reaches another aesthetical dimension.
In order to perfect the look, the inner bezel ring has been machined accordingly.









The other stumbling block of the machining process is the titanium case; as you most certainly know, this metal is particularly difficult to work with: because of its hardness, the high friction can set it to fire.
Therefore, very few brands transform it themselves. Here, the machining of the Blackspider's case takes more than seven hours, with CNC machines specially design to prevent fire hazards.
The bezel is the trickiest part to cut out, as it takes a five axes numerical control machine.





The gemsetting is of course the highlight of this unique piece. As the watch features an almost rough natural element, finding the gems of the right size is a fastidious task.
The next step is the diamonds cleavage; it is like splitting a log. There is a right orientation, with produces two cleanly cut stones. And there is a wrong one, where the diamond will break. If the splitting is properly done, it allows for the elimination of the flaws, which are generally located at the center of the gem.
Then, the diamond undergoes the bruting process, whereby the stone is ground with a diamond mill (of a higher hardness), down to its final shape.
Finally, the most difficult operation, the polishing, where the diamond gets all its facets and its brilliance. This step is performed manually, but of course, the diamond cutter uses a "Dop" (pliers) and a disc turning between 3000 and 4000 revs/min; But surprisingly, he also uses a computer, to guide his movements accurately.
The gems are set using the "grain setting", which is one of the most resistant techniques.
The operation is particularly difficult on the flange, because of the thinness of the material (about 1mm):
Once all the parts are cut out and set, the bridges can be finished. Then, the electroplating is performed. Finally, all the blackened parts are ready to be fitted together.
The previous steps have been properly executed, all the dimensions are perfect. The assembling process is the simplest of all, but at the same time it is the most critical: the task is carefully performed, because if unfortunately a part is scratched or damaged, it must be replaced by a new one.







To produce this C1 Blackspider, set with 224 brilliants, it took a least as many craftsmen and hundreds of hours of work. Because this is the strength of watchmaking: The "Swissness". Many centuries of savoir-faire and unbelievable skills to be able to wear a few tens of grams of happiness.







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Novità Orologi / HYT H1 @ Baselworld, full review
« il: Luglio 13, 2012, 16:02:45 pm »
The main buzz at Baselworld was of course HYT.
Launching a buzz successfully is like putting a spaceship into orbit, it takes a thruster, but it also takes an astronaut.  Yet, most of time the buzz fails, because one of the elements is missing…



The pre-Basel marketing campaign was indeed very well orchestrated: a crew worthy of the A-team, a booth that would fit in Tron Uprising, a most of all, a set with a fancy fluorescent green decoration.
And above all, the engineer with a German accent, who explained how a machine, key to the success of the project, filled the capillaries of the watch. But which watch, by the way?



Regarding the general design, it makes us think of Darth Vader who would have borrowed Flash Gordon's watch.
The HYT H1 is a round watch of about 45mm (actually it is 48.8mm, but it seems far smaller when it sits on the wrist), available with a gold or a titanium case, topped by an impressive raised crystal.
It is rather the contrary of a classic watch, oscillating between sports and science-fiction;
The end result is indeed original and refreshes the round watch style, proof that it is still doable. The feature that makes this piece so special is the couple of rhodium coated pistons which push two fluids, one colorless and the other luminescent green, into capillarie. For that matter, these pistons and the feat they represent in terms of metallurgy are unfortunately outshined by the fluid display system; one would have wished them to be pushed to the forefront.



The luminescent liquid displays a retrograde hour between 7:15 and 5:45. The minutes are indicated on a sub-dial at 12 o'clock, while the power reserve sits at 3 o'clock and the operating indicator at 9 o'clock.
 The indexes remind us a bit of some Zenith Defy Extreme from the Nataf period; they contrast in a somewhat anachronistic way with the caliber's magnificent classic finishes, a work performed by the Chronode workshop (located in the Jura led by Jean-François Mojon).


 
The way the device works is quite simple: the barrels (65-hour power-reserve - 28800v/h) drive the bellows, which move the fluids in the transparent tube.
 The most impressive phase is of course when the retrograde indicator goes back to zero: in a few seconds, the transparent fluid pushes the colored one back to its start position.
 The most playful amongst us will set the time a little more often than necessary, as this sequence is so impressive.


In terms of design, it is the opposite of the Opus 12: when the latter features a super-complex display, using 27 hands, the HYT could (and should!) almost content itself with its retrograde display; a sector dial with an aperture only for the display would have even more impact.
These two watches are the biggest hits of Baselworld 2012 (with the couple of Tudor)...



If the concept is very simple, as it is the case for any hydraulic technology, the development was a nightmare.
 Starting with the watchmaker's psychological barrier of putting a liquid into a watchcase (when, for example, Rolex's core business is the waterproofing). For that matter, it is Preciflex, a company from Bienne, who helped develop a shockproof hydraulic microcircuit, through 7 patents filed by HYT.
Here are some photos of the machine which fills the HYT H1's hydraulic circuit:



Let's be honest, even if the watch is a technological feat, it is also a show-off item: imagine your neighbors on a private beach in St Tropez, green (hydraulic) with envy because they don't own the new kick ass watch…
But the reason why it is such a success in the blogosphere is deeper than these limited views. You all know about the watch-lovers' taste for obsolete technologies?
At the bottom, HYT is a heaven-sent return to the pre-mechanical watchmaking.
Prior to the utilization of wheels, springs and chains, one relied on the flowing of water and its regularity to tell time, even without sunlight. The clepsydra is the mechanical regularity's oldest ancestor.
And even if, in the HYT H1, the liquid is only there for the display, the future developments in hydraulic power applied to watchmaking could give birth to completely new complications, and revive the watchmaking "Haut-Jurassic" era.



Beyond the aspect "Back to the future" and despite the technological feat it represents, the striking feature of this watch is that it does not take itself too seriously... In the everlasting vanity pyre of watchmaking, humor is the salvation received from a fluorescent-green fire hose!!





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What an amazing, wonderful reportage!! Excellent! It was a very interesting exhibition, I knew something about JD's androids but I couldn't imagine such incredible works! Thank you a lot, your topics are always an important contribution to our forum..chapeau! ;)

Thanks for your kinds words.  :-[

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Finally, the attraction of the exhibition, the masterpiece among Jaquet-Droz's creations: the "Writer" android, kept in the Art and History museum of Neuchatel. This building is fascinating, because it was designed and built from the beginning as a museum, which was extremely rare prior the 20th century.
It is also a perfectly preserved testimony to the arts and crafts period of the 19th century; the main entrance features a triptych of allegoric frescos about the arts, industry and religion, which were the patrons' fundamental preoccupations.





The MAHN also houses very fine creations from the Jaquet-Droz family. For example, a vestibule clock, which looks like a singing bird cage at a 1/1 scale, the center of the cage featuring crystal rods which picture water jets. When the birds sing, the crystal rotates and the "watery" effect is stunning.



There are also more classical pieces, such as a walnut clock created by JF Leschot, with magnificently designed hands.



Finally, one of the most fascinating pieces is part of the Patek museum collection; it is a coach watch named "The birds", which features six complications:  moon phase, GMT, alarm, hour strike, "to order" repeater and flying second!! A true personal assistant from the beginning of the 19th century.



But this amazing horologic work gives way to the technical feat called "«L’ecrivain»"; as explained earlier in the topic, it is a major innovation in the domain of computers and it is, by far the most complex of Jaquet-Droz's creations (About 6000 parts, compared to 600 in a contemporary Grande complication).



The way we consider this android is undoubtedly very different from the way our ancestors did. Indeed, from a watch lover's standpoint, the sight of the android conscientiously writing a text of 43 customized characters with a quill, gives way to the sight the working mechanism. The concept of 3D, which is at the core of modern watchmaking and at the core of professional and leisure robotics, took a tangible form with this type of automaton.



The 40 cams are controlled by a customizable disc sitting at the bottom of the android's back (26 small and 14 capitals); They hold all the data which allow «L’ecrivain» to write in abscissa, ordinate and to control the pressure transmitted to the stroke. Therefore, the mechanism must be designed to be adaptable and accurate enough to manage very diverse data depending on the text. When one knows that in a watch movement, every wheel sits at a defined place, with defined teeth, in order to manage linear data, one realizes just how amazing a feat JAQUET DROZ accomplishes in 1773!
Because to be able to develop such an automaton (it took five years), Jaquet-Droz had to ignore a large part of the rules of horology, and had to rely on other specialties such as anatomy, as the structure of the automaton's arms was inspired by the flesh and bone.



For that matter, Pierre Jaquet-Droz was a recognized prosthetics technician; thus, he could utilize his medical knowledge to create the automaton. And certain aristocrats and the bourgeois from Europe flocked to his dwelling in the mountains to benefit from his medicine. If some came to seek the care of JAQUET DROZ, others made the trip to see his automatons in action. Indeed these pieces were also the ancestors of the "Talking-pieces", so dear to the contemporary watchmaking tradeshows.



And this vocation is still ongoing: as a part of the partnership with "Automates et Merveilles", Jaquet-Droz has invited the collectors, the journalists and some of the horologic blogosphere to an event intended to give media coverage to these vintage "Talking-pieces". And, in conditions of comfort and security inconceivable in the 18th century, we attended the opening cocktail of the exhibition of Neuchâtel. It was followed by a dinner at the Hôtel du Pérou. Finally, a custom fireworks display right in Neuchâtel and some animations of Singing Birds (one of the specialties of the JAQUET DROZ family) were the highlight of the evening.


Thiebault Benz (Jaquet-Droz), Ariel Adams (A Blog to Read), Marc André Deschoux (The Watch TV, Alexander Friedman (Watchonista)









The next day, we had the opportunity to visit the MIH and the château des monts, under a magnificent sun. It has been a delight to benefit from Vincent Davaux's knowledgeable commentaries and to meet our friends from the Parisian horlogical web.

The French horological web by Toutatis from Passion Horlogère: Vinvent Daveau (L'express), Malik "pifpaf" Bahri (Watchonista), René Giroud (Pole Horlogerie), Jean-Philippe Tarot (Montres de Luxe), Thomas Gisclard (The Watch Observer), Stephan Ciejka (La Reveue des Montres)





The exhibition will be held until September 30th, with many demonstrations of the automatons planned. For the European enthusiasts, it would be a shame not to attend this event, as not only do these androids represent a major turning point for the watchmaking industry, but also for many artistic or scientific specialties. Furthermore, traveling to the Canton of Neuchâtel has become easy. For those of you who are far away, I hope you will have as much pleasure reading this article as you would attending "Automates & Merveilles".



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This is the first topic of our summer serie: Summer school, heritage & Savoir Faire.

Watch out: here comes a spoiler! The following text reveals most of the content that will be seen at the exhibition Automatons & Marvels; so if you plan to attend, (as you should, since it has become so easy to travel), don't read any further. Add this page to your favorites, so you can compare it to your impressions later.

“L’écrivain:”










Are you comfortably seated in front of your PC? This morning or this evening, were you almost as comfortably seated in your car? With the AC, the cup holder, the sound system or for the purists, the hydro pneumatic suspensions.
You sail toward work or home, undisturbed, on a sea as flat as a mirror, since the roads are so well paved. When it is time to go on vacation, if one shatters the speed limits from time to time, it takes half a day; in the morning one is in a megalopolis and in the afternoon one walks in the water or in the snow. If the trip is too long, one takes a plane, and 24 hours later one is on another continent.

Travelling has become so easy that it is almost commonplace. But at the end of the 18th century, it was a different ball of wax. The finest roads where barely cobbled; most of the time, they were made out of dirt or gravel; on which the lathering highwaymen served as traffic lights and radar detectors. Whether riding or sitting in a carriage pulled by horses, one could travel a few dozen kilometers per day at best, and then have to hastily find an inn, or end up devoured by wolves.

However, despite the jolts, the dangers and the bad weather, all the greats from the European courts visited Pierre Jaquet-Droz, in his residence located deep in the mountains, at the Chaux-de-Fond.
Nowadays, such an enthusiasm might look excessive, but the work of JAQUET DROZ must be placed in its historical context.
The androids, the central pieces of JAQUET DROZ's automatons collection, are a quantum leap in the history of computers.
If the Antikythera mechanism is the best example of an antique computer (it allowed for complex calculations related to calendars, astronomy, etc.), it was neither programmable nor self-powered...




The greatest of the recent inventions (the 1955 Citroen DS, the Concorde, the Macintosh, the http protocol) were not new technologies, but rather the convergence of several ground-breaking technologies, which increased the individual qualities of each of these innovations exponentially. The realism of Jaquet-Droz's androids is such that during one of the many exhibitions held at royal courts, their creator almost ended up on the stake like a sorcerer!



Indeed, in 1758 YouTube was yet to be invented; one had to be physically present to present one's work. At the beginning of April 1758, Pierre Jaquet-Droz was already 37, and his exceptional work on large clocks was common knowledge in the whole canton. Lord Georges Keith, the governor of the Neuchâtel province and well acquainted with the European courts, helped to introduce PIERRE JAQUET DROZ to the court of the King of Spain, through Don Jacynto Jovert acting as intermediary.

Mrs Hayek:



PIERRE JAQUET DROZ and his craftsman, Jacques Gevril (whose name is utilized by a cheap Spanish watch brand), as well as his father-in-law, Abraham-Louis Sandoz-Gendre(whose diary recounts this trip in detail) will embark on a 1500km trip in a cart customized to carry six clocks. This 49-day journey (at a fantastic average speed of 30km per day, slower than by foot), ends up as a disappointment. The king of Spain is detained by the illness of his wife, Marie-Thérèse of Portugal; and only the heaven-sent hospitality of Don Jacyntho Jovert, prevents Pierre Jaquet Droz, his craftsman and Jacques Gevril from returning prematurely, which would have left them very distressed. Following the advice of Georges "Lord Marischal" Keith, their benefactor welcomes Jaquet-Droz and his companions with a lavishness that one usually reserves for close family members. Our grateful friends will use the three-month wait, to repair all the clocks and watches of the Spanish Lord's house. To this day, the generosity of Don Jovert is still remembered, as his name has been immortalized through the rebirth of the Jaquet-Droz house by the Swatch Group.
After the death of the Queen, Ferdinand VI is back in business in September 1758. One should know that the Sovereign was more of an artist than a warrior, and that during his 13-year reign he systematically favored the arts and culture, notably by sponsoring the famous castrato Farinelli. The Jaquet-Droz team is eventually welcomed to the royal palace and the demonstration of the clocks is a triumph.
The assortment of six clocks brought by Jaquet-Droz and his companions consisted of the following pieces:

-One long-case clock

-One chiming clock, with flutes and serinette (from the French "serin", canary)

-A clock called "Le Nègre ", which answered diverse questions by hitting a chime, for example "what time is it?" (To this day, the way this clock worked is still nebulous).

-A clock called "The stork and the Fox". It featured a decoration themed after de La Fontaine's fable.

-A "perpetual motion" clock: its automatic winding system used the dilatation of different metals (an ancestor of the Atmos).

-The "Shepherd's clock", which featured a dog guarding a basket of apples: if one took the apple, it would start to bark. It seems that the barking was so natural that it triggered the response of King Ferdinand VI's hound, and that a few frightened courtiers left the room. (The King's dog looked more courageous than the courtiers...)This super-complex clock included a series of articulated figurines, amongst which a shepherd, in a country-style scenery; every character producing its own specific sound.

Three of these pieces were sold to the court for 2000 pistols and one was offered as a gift to Don Jovert; the "Stork and the Fox" as well as the "Shepherd" and his dog, were offered as a gift to King Ferdinand VI. It was probably one of the last moments of joy in Ferdinand VI's life: he died the following year at 45, grief-stricken from having lost of his wife...

This brilliant demonstration of Pierre Jaquet-Droz's genius spread like wild fire throughout Europe. His success opened the door to several European courts. Therefore, he was not only a precursor in horology, information technology and robotics, but also a precursor in the watchmaking business (he especially sold lots of pieces in China, through his London subsidiary).

10 years after his success in Madrid, Pierre Jaquet-Droz had to reinvent himself. Assisted by his son Henri-Louis, and his adopted son and apprentice Jean-Frédéric Leschot, he took five years to create four automatons, of which three have been preserved until today. The fourth of these automatons, "The cave", was a giant diorama picturing a palace carved in the rock and its French garden, punctuated with a series of animated figurines. Its large size (it covered a surface area of several square meters) was its undoing. During the tumultuous adventures of Napoleon, the three androids often changed hands, as circumstances dictated. But the diorama "The cave" was not safely movable; in all likelihood, this led to its destruction.



The three remaining automatons represent the heights of creativity and good workmanship.

Ladies first, the watch museum of La Chaux-de-Fonds holds «La Musicienne». This piece was mainly built by Henri-Louis, who had almost finished his musical studies.

Musical automatons, like singing birds, usually simulate the melodies with silent mechanisms, synchronized through an internal sound system.
«La Musicienne» pushes the envelope to its maximum. First of all, the maiden is reproduced at the 1/1 scale, and as was explained earlier, it is an android: the body houses the mechanism that moves the automaton's hands and fingers (independently). Therefore, it can play any instrument adapted to its morphology: in reality it plays the mini-organ featured in the set, the sound is very convincing...
But in the end, one is so mesmerized by the fluidity and the gracefulness of its movements, that one does not really notice the music. The sight is truly awesome and if mechanically this piece is perhaps the simplest of the three works, it is also the most moving.







The International Watchmaking Museum of La Chaux-de-Fond, which holds «La Musicienne», is worth checking out. La Chaux is one of the core places in the history of watchmaking, and watches are central to the economy and the heritage of the city. This museum, created in 1902 through a confederation council, pays a comprehensive tribute to watchmaking, with this exhibition of more than 5000 pieces.
By comparison, the Patek museum features rarer watches and pure collector's pieces, whereas La Chaux Museum includes many historical works or even key pieces.

For example, the famous planetary mechanism of François Ducommun: it is an integral and almost exactly scaled reproduction of the solar system, as it was known in 1816 (thus, without Neptune), featuring all the known satellites.
It is an exceptional work which Ducommun exhibited for free, to the great delight of the inhabitants of La Chaux.



One can also see the Astrarium of Giovanni Da Dondi, a remarkable work that tells time as well as the location of the seven corresponding planets, after the work of Claudius Ptolemy. Since the original was destroyed in the 16th century, the exhibited piece is a reproduction.




But above all, one can see the famous "The stork and the Fox" clock created by Pierre Jaquet-Droz.





The chateau des monts which houses the watch museum of Le Locle hosts «Le Dessinateur» (The Draughtsman). Using a stylus, it can execute two drawings out of the four that can be selected: a dog ("my doggie"), a portrait of King Louis the XV, a portrait of King Louis the XVI together with Marie Antoinette and the funniest, an allegory: Cupid riding a cart pulled by a butterfly. This automaton was mainly built by Henri-Louis and Jean-Frédéric Leschot; Like «La Musicienne», it is incredibly realistic in the way it works. It draws in several steps, starting with the general sketch and ending with the details, all of it with the movements of a real drawer.









The castle houses some beautiful pieces, notably some creations of Jaquet-Droz, parts of the Sandoz collection; but besides its hosts, the house also deserves our attention. The chateau des monts is located on the border of Le Locle.  Actually it is one of the horology historical houses. Decades upon decades, the mansion successively belonged to the Sandoz-Gendre, Dubois, Ducommun and Nardin families…
Most of these names are rather famous in the watchmaking industry and the kinships are often recognized.
One has to understand that during the 18th and 19th centuries families were extensive, the population was scarce and marriages often took place between members of the bourgeoisie from the province of Neuchatel; this category was even rarer than the peasant-watchmakers. Aside from the historical standpoint and the architectural jewel of horology, the chateau des monts is located in a perfect setting, if of course the building and the park are maintained in the "Swiss way"; the most impressive feature is its surroundings: the park is bordered by fields, trees and glades which throw you into Heidi's world.










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At the beginning of each Baselworld, the commentators frenetically split their attention between two booths: Rolex's and Patek's. Yet, in order to see the 2012 edition's future best-sellers, one only had to slightly turn one's head to the right when facing the Rolex booth.  Indeed, even if the Tudor booth is absorbed by the impregnable Rolex bunker, the novelties presented by Tudor were the focus of all the photos and of all the attention. Therefore, the excellent "Heritage" chrono presented in 2010 was not a "single-shot", which only confirms that the Tudor creations are "laboratory tests" for the Rolex group.

Let's say it straight out: it is the greatest hit of Baselworld 2012. Tudor not only presented The most attractive watch of the trade show, but the two most attractive, at least in the affordable category. You know this category of watches which is not divorce-inducing in case of a compulsive purchase. I'll let you determine which one is the best, according to your tastes.





The question is: why?

In order to understand the success carried by these products, one has to understand the Rolex myth. Since I am not a specialist of Rolex, I will describe it from an ignoramus' standpoint.
The mythology of Rolex was popularized by another myth, that of the James Bond played by Sean Connery.
Rolex is the legend of the Alpha man from the 50's-60's. Adventurer, sports man, but also gentleman which remains  virile, in short, the last example of the complete man from the XVI-XVII centuries (the "gentilhomme", poet, philosopher, swashbuckler and womanizer).

This myth of the exploration, of the last geographical conquests (the deepest dive, in the Mariana Trench, the highest climb to the top of Mount Everest), but also of the spies, was the foundation of the Rolex passion. (Spies are the main theme of the excellent movie "Killer Elite" that takes place at the end of the 70's, in which Robert de Niro and Jason Statham both wear the Rolex Submariner 5513 or 1680).
One has to admit that many marine commandos were equipped with Rolex throughout the 50's-60's period, outstripping Panerai, even though this brand was the historic provider for the Axis' combat divers.
Rolex for the most expensively equipped divers, but also Tudor, for more thrifty army corps.



For the Rolex & Tudor purists, the ideal watch is functional, waterproof, legible, compact, and it preserves the elegance of the curved shapes from the 50's.

Yet, since the industry gradually gave up using tritium and painted dials during the 80's, some of the Rolex fans on the web are frustrated, as the will to reach the "Zero flaw quality" sometimes led Rolex on the path of gentrification.

Against all odds, this year it is Tudor, the "affordable" subsidiary of Rolex, which presents two watches true to the "adventurous" spirit from the 50's. Even if these two watches are totally different in terms of design, they satisfy the same technical specifications:  producing dive watches conforming to the criteria of the Submariner's original commercial success. On the one hand, the engineers inspired themselves from the 50's-60's period, and reproduced as faithfully as possible a military dive watch. On the other hand, they turned toward the future and created a mechanical dive watch as modern as possible but satisfying the exact same criteria.

First of all, the most desired? Longed for? Wanted? The Tudor Black Bay.
It is definitely inspired by the Tudor 7922-7924 from the 50's; this watch, with a professional or even a military purpose, featured a blue bezel, and more rarely a red one.

The case also has a vintage look: "Big Crown" without flange and metallic bezel insert, domed sapphire crystal (the vintage's look without the Plexi's shortcomings). The lugs are rather thin from the front view, but they are a bit too thick when seen sideways; therefore, they look too modern, it is an inconsistency we already noticed on the "New Migauss".



In order to understand the dial, one has to talk about the bezel; remarkably, the Tudor team chose to revisit the red version. It will take a while for the blue model to be available. This choice of color enhances the dial's gilt font. While it is shocking to some, it is well suited for the "brand with a crown", especially considering the success met by the green bezels from Rolex. But most of all, after hundreds of gallons of vintage Pepsi, Tudor crosses the sparkling soda's Rubicon, and at last proposes the Coca-Cola Rolex; excuse me, the Coca Tudor.

The watch's appeal comes from its warmth, from the combination of the gilt hands, indexes and font, sitting on a domed dial and associated with the red/burgundy bezel. All of this provides the watch with the warmth of a peplum shot in Technicolor.



As described in the press kit, the dial is black, but if I trust my eyes and my EOS 60D, it looks slightly brown, as if it had been exposed to imaginary radium. Or perhaps the SuperGilt (© Watchonista) indexes/font/hands visually beam on the overall dial…



In the Tudor purist's opinion, the watch should not feature Snowflake hands, as they don't match historically this kind of indexes (it should feature double pencil hands)….  As well as some other details, such as the red insert that sits between the bezel and the casing (which is not terribly shocking when one holds the watch in one's hand).

As always, the criticism is easy, but the art is difficult. For example, today, one of the rare almost successful attempts at redoing a Neo-Vintage watch is the Jaeger leCoultre Polaris.
This watch is almost identical to the vintage model, yet, it has a few flaws that tend to prove that  succeeding in this area is almost impossible (?): the watch is relatively cold, the "Vintage Luminova" indexes are over worked, but most of all , the price of about 12.000€ is absolutely outrageous . Hence, if the expertise used on this vintage Polaris is quite impressive, the final result is a bit disappointing. Comparatively, the Tudor Black Bay, or some Neo-Vintage Panerai are far more entertaining and are priced according to the quality of their movements, even if they are not perfect reproductions of the original models.

Today, wanting to perfectly reproduce the glorious "oldies" is utterly useless: 

-The brand's internal policies, and especially that of the groups, forbid certain things; for example, it seems that the Mercedes hands (which would match the indexes better) are obviously reserved for Rolex.
-The everlasting level of quality increased enormously since the 50's-60's: a lot of patinas and weathered bezels were inherent to the manufacturing flaws of this period.
-The processes became more industrialized, and the manufacturing techniques from this era have been forgotten.
-The fact that the uses of Radium and Tritium have been successively forbidden prevents the indexes/dials from aging quickly.
 -Nobody owns the "watch aging machine", especially since the process is inherent to its original buyer (CF the article on the PAM382 "Gonzo").



The morale is that it is far more important for a watch to "sound" vintage with charisma, than to be an impossibly perfect copy.  The Black Bay keeps with another vintage code: the price, even if it fits into modern ranges. It is one of the most affordable neo-vintage watches on the market (the Longines Legend Diver is another example).
 The Tudor BB will be sold for about 2400€, for the version with the aged leather strap (included the Tudor NATO), and about 2600€ with the stainless steel bracelet.
A real certified quality vintage will cost you about 10 times the price, with complimentary Becquerels.

NB: These watches are both fitted with the ETA 2824 set at 28,800v/h, with a theoretical 28-hour power reserve (by the way, Tudor communicates openly on the matter, which is rare in the industry and therefore praiseworthy)
 The 2824 has the quality of its main flaw: it is very common, because of an extremely broad diffusion, and is therefore easy to maintain, from a customer service standpoint. There will be plenty of qualified people and spare parts available for a very long time.

The other bombshell presented by Tudor is the Pelagos (which means "deep sea", in Greek). While the Black Bay plays the role of the Submariner's Grandmother, the Pelagos impersonates the prodigal grandson.



It is the super-futuristic remake of the famous vintage Tudor divers, like the "Marine Nationale".
 This work is not only futuristic, but also realistic. Rather than proposing a fanciful piece with a waterproofing far beyond the best divers' abilities, Tudor focused on the functional and aesthetical aspects. For decades, the Submariner has been the main source of inspiration for some small watchmakers who lack creativity. And one has to admit that the Germans especially, and sometimes the Americans, managed to present dive watches more believable as tool-watches, than those proposed by Rolex.



By becoming more and more of a luxury item, the Submariner gentrified.  In order to outstrip the "little ones" who sometimes successfully produce some vintage Rolex, the brand had to return to basics.
 The return to basics is the key to the success of this Pelagos: it is technical, super-modern in its design and its details, but most of all, it is streamlined to make way for the functionality to shine through.



The first big surprise is that the case is made of brushed titanium: even if this material has become a classic in watchmaking, up to the point where it even replaced stainless steel in some brands, the Rolex group had almost never used it….  When it is oxidized, the titanium takes on a brownish tinge (which brings some stealth to the piece).
The matte look is also visible on the shot-peened ceramic bezel. The middles, which are almost as thick as the Black Bay's, look a bit slimmer on the Pelagos: the brushed titanium and the slightly larger casing (42mm) create this visual effect. On the crown's side, the flanges are very well designed, sharp and sober. The other side features the helium valve. This device is far from being indispensable for the leisure or semi-professional diving. Akin to many watches, it sits at 9 o'clock, a placement that disturbs a bit the case's harmony: a fitting between the lugs or at 7:30 or 10:30 would have been more subtle….
The last noteworthy detail is the titanium bracelet. Its folding strap features a series of devices that allow the bracelet to adjust to the variations of the wrist's diameter, which changes depending on the depth: the wetsuit gets thinner as the pressure increases.
 But in everyday life, the desk divers' main concern is to know whether the auto-adjustment system is sensitive enough to adapt to the summer's temperatures, that is, to the swelling of the wearer's wrist.
 In a few months, the lucky owners will be able to share their experiences. There is no doubt that if successful, Tudor will have found the philosopher's stone of the metal bracelet's folding strap.



The dial gives its full meaning to the stealth and the pureness of this watch. First of all, it is absolutely matte (like the casing), and it features a beveled and crenellated chapter ring, (yes, like the Seiko Diver 200) to make room for the UNRIMMED indexes!  Indexes with no metallic rim, we are not yet back to painted dials, because the indexes are bonded; but still, it is a big leap for the tool-watch lovers. The indexes are square, which matches, it seems, the superb snowflake hands (with a black finished inner part), even better!


All of this in blue Lume on a black background, like the SDDS; it is pretty, it looks technical; but is the fluorescence better than with the green? It will take some testing.  The watch features little lettering, which is unusual with a Submariner's dial. But most of all, the dial conveys quality, despite its lack of lust: all the details, such as the date's aperture or the chapter ring's cut outs, are very, very carefully done.
 If the Black Bay is a successful tribute to the adventurers or the divers' watches from the 50's, the Pelagos is the perfect adventurer's watch from the 10's:  efficient, streamlined, technical, it has all the features that make the desk divers happy. It will be available for about 3300€ with the titanium bracelet (it would be a pity not to choose this version), which is quite fair for a revived myth.



The commercial war is fought on all battlefronts, notably on the diver's; from Japan to the USA and through Eurasia, Omega, Rolex, Breitling and Tag Heuer fight each other to sell as many watches as possible, sometimes forgetting the watch lovers' simple passion.
What just happened at Tudor's is very healthy, very positive. Tudor's creative team managed to move the supertanker from Plan-les-Ouates with brilliance. These novelties, designed for the watch lovers by the watch lovers, prove that the creation and the trendy products are not the prerogatives of the independent watchmakers or of the niche-market brands…





45
I will present in the next few days & weeks, a series of topics on the Geneva auctions of May 2012.

This is some extracts of the first photo-report, full texts & pictures on Watchonista.


Patek 2523 & Patek 605 North America at Christie's:  687.000chf for the Patek 605  & 2.771.000chf for the Patek 2523

http://www.watchonista.com/2914/watchonista-blog/watchographer/patek-2523-605-north-america-christies










Rolex 16800 Comex @ Christie's. The final bid: 46250chf

http://www.watchonista.com/2914/watchonista-blog/watchographer/rolex-16800-comex-christies






Audemars Piguet Full Calendar Gubelin at Christie's. Final price: 62500chf

http://www.watchonista.com/2914/watchonista-blog/watchographer/audemars-piguet-full-calendar-gubelin-christies





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