The Scuba's Bioceramic Palette
On the heels of the Swatch × Blancpain collaboration, Nick Hayek Jr. provides Bloomberg's Andy Hoffman and Julius Domoney an inside look at how Swatch's patented Bioceramic material is made.
Alluding to the overarching impact that the recent Swatch collaborations have had, Hayek boasts that they've shown prestige brands that:
We have created a new market, there is an opportunity to reach the younger people without harming your own image.
Image credit Pascal Mora for Bloomberg
Richard Mille Caliber RMAR2
Mille's declutchable rotor is a novel workaround to the problem of having too much energy at the disposal of a mechanical watch equipped with an automatic winding system.
Traditionally, this issue has been addressed through the combination of thixotropic lubrication on the barrel wall and a modified mainspring that can slide along the barrel wall to dispel excess energy when the equilibrium viscosity threshold of the lubricant is met. Said another way, once enough pressure is exerted on the barrel wall lubricant it suddenly becomes slippery and the mainspring can glide across it, but when pressure is any lower, friction remains high enough to hold the mainspring in place.
While it works, this latter approach results in an inconsistent power delivery curve. Theoretically, a declutchable rotor should do away with this inconsistency while simultaneously reducing wear in an area of the watch that often needs addressing when it comes time to service. Not to mention, for Richard Mille, any excuse to use "clutch" in marketing material is gold when it comes to his speeds-and-feeds, motorsport-loving client base.
Image credit Richard Mille
Inside Tornos
Donnie Hinske, of Titans of CNC, tours the factory in Switzerland where Tornos builds its world-class CNC machines.
The tiny part that Donnie is so exuberant about at the beginning of the video is a balance staff for a mechanical watch. The 0.165mm diameter that Michael Hauser relays when they dive in a little deeper just before the 2 minute mark is actually on the larger side of the spectrum when it comes to the pivots of a balance staff, which are routinely closer to 0.100mm in diameter. I've handcrafted several in the 0.090mm range and as small as 0.080mm for various restoration projects over the years. There is little sense comparing what the human hand is capable of relative to these massive Swiss CNC lathes, though. The speed, repeatability, and precision of the components that Tornos' machines can crank out is remarkable.
Donnie also gets particularly excited about a 33-spindle machine in this video. I, for one, am appreciative I finally have something to point people to when talking about this level of Swiss micro-machining. Shortly before the launch of the Apple Watch, I had an opportunity to spend a week inside Apple's design studio and adjacent model shop at Infinite Loop 2. At some point, I got to talking with one of the CNC operators in the Industrial Design Group about some of the more advanced CNC machines we had each encountered and he looked at me like I had three heads when I articulated the capabilities of a 32-spindle unit. To this day, I still don't think he believed me.
Walking a Hairspring Tangle
Henry B. Fried demonstrates a means of addressing a tangled hairspring in a clock or watch, along with four other hairspring manipulations, for the Office of Career Education of the Board of Education of New York City in 1974.
As Fried states, the key is not to exceed the metal's natural point of elasticity.
Inside the All-new Workshops of Patek Philippe
Cheryl Chia, writing for Revolution Magazine, provides a behind-the-scenes look at Patek Philippe’s new, vertically-integrated manufacturing facilities located in Plan-les-Ouates. An unassuming, 10-story building (nearly half of which is underground) dubbed PP6. Weighing in at a cost of CHF 600 million, the new building was architected by Frisk de Marignac Pidoux with interior work by Frei & Stefani.
From the machine of raw materials through to hand finishing and grand complications, PP6 subsumes the roles of PP5 and brings many of the company's previously disparate manufacturing specialties under one roof, including the Patek Philippe Advanced Research department.
Image credit Revolution Watch
Beyond StockX
StockX was among the first to publicly quantify and track prices on the pre-owned watch market. Bloomberg is in on the same game with the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, which tracks the average selling prices of the 50 most traded references on the secondary market.
Graph from subdial.com/market
You Can Bank on Swithinbank
Having forecasted a Swatch × Blancpain collaboration of the 50 Fathoms on the heels of the Moonswatch over a year ago in the New York Times—despite Omega's Gregory Kissling demurring—Robin Swithinbank was right on the money.
In lieu of cosmic bodies, this new collaboration draws inspiration from Earth's oceans, along with a few subtle nods to the heritage of Blancpain's 50 Fathoms.
Taking a page out of Vianney Halter's playbook, the transparent oscillating mass is a characteristically fun touch.
While not a piece I'll be shelling out for, the Antarctic variation is my favourite of the bunch. Coincidentally, its white Bioceramic case seems particularly apropos for a watch whose namesake brand translates "white bread".
Image credit Swatch Ltd.
Lights of Thoddoo
A stunning photo of bioluminescent dinoflagellates set aglow as they wash up against the beach from the Indian Ocean, with the Milky Way and a meteor visible in the background.
Captured by Petr Horálek along the shore of the island of Thoddoo, in the Maldives.
Image credit Petr Horálek
Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Antimagnétique
Rexhepi has officially unveiled his entry for Only Watch 2023, an all-new reference fitted with a newly-conceived watch movement.
Beyond being antimagnetic, the 14k gold pallet fork and bayonet-locking, stainless steel caseback are interesting and unexpected touches.
Image credit Akrivia
Rolex to Acquire the Bucherer Group
Pending the approval of Swiss competition authorities.
The Bucherer Group operates upwards of 100 watch-focused retailers worldwide, under storied names that include Bucherer, Tourneau, and The Watch Gallery. Only around half of their present locations currently carry Rolex.
Under the Hood of Patek Philippe's Sky Moon Tourbillon
JX Su provides a look inside the Patek Philippe caliber R TO 27 QR SID LU CL that powers their double-sided Sky Moon Tourbillon references 5002 and 6002. A multi-layered movement consisting of 705 parts.
The movement of the Sky Moon Tourbillon is essentially a combination of three familiar calibres. At its base is the R TO 27, a hand-winding movement with tourbillon and minute repeater launched in 1993.
Add on a perpetual calendar module and the result is a movement with minute repeater, tourbillon, and retrograde perpetual calendar.
The last piece of the puzzle is the sky chart from the Celestial refs. 5102 and 6102.
While these references are loud, in both the literal and figurative sense, Patek Philippe's sky chart remains one of the most sublime in the industry.
Image credit JX Su
Polishing a Reverso at Jaeger-LeCoultre
The secondary wheel, on the left, is there to remove any residual polishing compound left behind by the wheel on the right, resulting in a bright, specular finish. The various jigs that she employs guard against any rounding over of the edges.
Image credit Jaeger-LeCoultre