Five Things

[tribe125]

On a more serious note, I don't know if mechanical watchmaking has truly hit the end of the road. I was very encouraged by Zenith's new movement that came out a couple of years ago utilizing a high speed vibrating membrane (of sorts, I'm not that technical) instead of an escapement. I'm still eagerly waiting for them to develop it further--quite a radical difference.

Yes, the Zenith movement is probably the most advanced movement there is, and it’s a fascinating prospect for the future. The key thing, though, is that the membrane was developed by a university research physicist, not a watchmaker. It relies on advanced materials from the wider scientific world.

[mlcor]

Yes, the Zenith movement is probably the most advanced movement there is, and it’s a fascinating prospect for the future. The key thing, though, is that the membrane was developed by a university research physicist, not a watchmaker. It relies on advanced materials from the wider scientific world.

Nothing wrong with that. So many advances come about that way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tribe125]

Nothing wrong with that. So many advances come about that way.

Of course, but I was only saying that there wasn’t much left for watchmakers to do, meaning people with the skills of Daniels, Dufour, etc.

[Dimman]

Rolex also uses white gold indices on their stainless steel watches.

I don't want to be pedantic, but even if graphene is only one atom thick, it's still got three dimensions (irrelevant whether we can see all three with the naked eye). Just sayin.'

On a more serious note, I don't know if mechanical watchmaking has truly hit the end of the road. I was very encouraged by Zenith's new movement that came out a couple of years ago utilizing a high speed vibrating membrane (of sorts, I'm not that technical) instead of an escapement. I'm still eagerly waiting for them to develop it further--quite a radical difference.

It hit the end of the road once quartz was introduced.

Right now it's just a matter of bragging about who has the roundest corners on their finely decorated square wheels.

[mlcor]

It hit the end of the road once quartz was introduced.

Right now it's just a matter of bragging about who has the roundest corners on their finely decorated square wheels.

You mean like this?

[Dan R]

One thing I will say about Rolex is that they make great dials, hands, and indices. I've owned two stainless and they (the dials) still amaze me.

As for Kobold, that was an interesting flame out in the early days. Turned me off from the brand ever since.

Thanks again Alan!

[tribe125]

• The first watch to be worn on the summit of Everest was a Favre-Leuba. The first watch to be worn by a woman, that is. Junko Tabei was the first woman to climb Everest, in 1975, and her watch was a Favre-Leuba Bivouac. As the name suggests, the Bivouac was made with mountains in mind, and it was a fabulous bit of kit for its time. It looked like a regular watch, but in addition to showing the time, it was also an altimeter and a barometer. For divers, Favre-Leuba made the Bathy, which incorporated a depth gauge. Rolex, with its Explorer and Submariner, was a weak-kneed dilettante compared with Favre-Leuba.
  
  
• Early wristwatches had a red 12 so that people wouldn’t think that 12 was at 3. Not all early wristwatches, but it was common back then, and it wasn’t about style. People were accustomed to pocket watches, and most pocket watches had the crown and the 12 together at the top of the watch. With the crown rotated to 3, the red 12 was a reminder of the dial’s orientation. Sometimes, the red 12 was blue. As wristwatches became more common, the red 12 became less common.
  
  
• Moser launched a dive watch by accident. It was a prototype produced for retailer feedback, but it was placed on the wrong tray at a trade show and fifty were sold. It didn’t have a reference, so back at Moser HQ they didn’t know quite what had been ordered. Having worked it out, and having accepted the orders, they made fifty. Moser has no plans to make a dive watch - or another dive watch.
  
  
• Oris is Latin for ‘mouth’, but the Big Crown has nothing to do with dentistry. Oris is named after the Orisbach, a stream that runs past the Oris factory in Hölstein - except that the stream that runs past the Oris factory is the Frenke, and the Orisbach is about five miles away. Hölstein isn’t where the cows come from, that’s Holstein, which is in two other countries. Oris says that their trademark red rotor “is the symbol of Oris’ mechanical ingenuity”. Tricky colour, red.
  
  
• 2019 saw the first recorded use of ‘portfolio’ to describe a collection of watches. There is software to track your liquidity, with graphs. Watches may appreciate, but the appreciation of watches is another thing.

[mlcor]

Good stuff. Although if you need to count your watches as part of your liquidity, that might not be a good sign...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pip]

Just listed to an interview with a couple of chaps from Oris this morning, I do like a lot of their kit. The interview was about a year old, I discovered the Scottish Watches podcast last month and am up to episode 46 I think. And this fine forum has been mentioned too a few episodes ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Rdenney]

Favre-Leuba is (was) an interesting company. In they early 70’s, they owned Jaeger-LeCoultre. Yup.

Rick “and their innovative twin barrel” Denney