lunes, 28 de septiembre de 2009

Fuente del Reloj. Parque de la Isla. Aranjuez.

La fuente del reloj fue la primera fuente que se instaló en el Parque de la Isla de Aranjuez. Es una fuente de pequeño tamaño, estilo árabe - recuerda las fuentes de la Alhambra - y de gran importancia para el monarca que la hizo construir (tengo que revisar notas para especificar de quién se trata). Este monarca era un amante y coleccionista de relojes, e hizo construir esta fuente a modo de reloj de sol. En su dia el perimetro de la circunferencia que se ve en la foto tenía una graduación - que se ha perdido - con las horas del día. El chorro de agua de la fuente hacía las veces de mastil.
El parque, así como el Palacio y todo el recinto monumental es precioso, y un trozo importante de nuestra historia, así que animo a que hagáis la visita. Aranjuez está a menos de 50km de Madrid.

martes, 8 de septiembre de 2009

Mi Orient favorito

Este es posiblemente mi Orient favorito, de corte clásico. Entre otros cuenta con indicador de reserva de carga, muy útil para cualquier automático.

Sus características son:

Mechanical Movement : ORIENT caliber 46N45 Made in Japan
Self-winding movement
21 jewels
21600/hour vibrations
Power reserve indicator, date
Stainless steel case
Sapphire crystal
Screw see-through caseback (crystal glass)
Stainless steel bracelet or genuine leather strap
Water resistant to 50m
Diameter 40.00mm
Thickness 11.70mm

sábado, 5 de septiembre de 2009

¿Son los relojes una inversión?: lee la opinión de KronosClub



Unless you are willing to wait for many, I mean many, years and are lucky in your choice, do not look at watches as an investment.These are watches that, if kept “new with box and papers,” will get you at least list price, and in most cases quite a lot more. If used, they will get quite a better price than any other, and they will sell much more quickly. That's bad news, I'm sure, for all the others, but those are the rules of the market... These watches have all been (or are) available direct from your dealer. Limited editions of less than 50 units and heavily inflated prices have been avoided, since they are generally out of reach for regular buyers. Some of these end-up in the "Legends" list...provided they are no longer available and their prices keep rising.

modeltype
AMVOX 2 "Chronograph Concept" more...
Daytona "Steel" more...
OffShore "Team Alinghi" more...
OffShore "Barrichello II" more...
Patek Philippe "5070" more...
Radiomir "California" more...
Squadra "World Chrono" more...

Lista negra de relojes, según "kronos club"




These are watches that have become a little bit overdone, to the point of being nothing special or quite common. Fashion victims, gangsta rapas and sleazeballs make them part of their attire, swinging their arms for all to see. Because these watches are fashionable to such persons, connoisseurs have blacklisted them. Most people that have one own it for the wrong reason…

modeltype
Channel "J12" more...
Daytona "Steel" more...
Franck Muller "all of them" more...
Jacob "World Time" more...
OffShore "Rubber" more...
Panerai "Luminor" more...
Rolex "GOLD" more...

jueves, 3 de septiembre de 2009

[Guy Ellia] Zephyr Tourbillon (video)

Zenith Zero-G (video)

Limited Editions Part 4 - Generation Tourbillon (video)

Dewitt Tourbillon Force Constante (video)

Glashütte tourbillon (video)

Jaeger Lecoultre Gyrotourbillon (video)

Tourbillon de fabricación china por menos de 1k (video)

miércoles, 2 de septiembre de 2009

Tourbillon (Wikipedia)

Wikimanía 2009 se desarrollará en Buenos Aires del 26 al 28 de agosto. ¡Inscríbete!.

Tourbillon

El Tourbillon es un mecanismo de relojería creado en 1795 y patentado en 1801 por el relojero Abraham Louis Breguet para compensar el efecto negativo que produce la gravedad en la marcha del volante, sobre todo en los relojes de bolsillo. Consiste en un mecanismo que hace girar el volante y escape del reloj sobre su eje, normalmente una vez por minuto.

ourbillon o torbellino: Dispositivo ideado en 1801 por el genial relojero suizo Abrahan Louis Breguet (1747-1823) para anular, en las posiciones verticales del reloj, los efectos de la fuerza gravitatoria sobre el centro de gravedad del volante. Su efecto se ha revelado inútil en los relojes de pulsera y poco significativo en los de bolsillo; es por ello un mero alarde de manufactura, una “elegantia” mecánica, sin utilidad práctica.

Apoyándonos en una ilustración publicada de Horlogerie Suisse (© Eric Cosandey), damos las nociones que siguen sobre su funcionamiento.


Horlogerie Suisse (© Eric Cosandey) Hasta la rueda primera (G) el rodaje es convencional, pero en dicha rueda no engrana la rueda de segundos sino que lo hace una estructura llamada jaula (A), a través de su piñón “B” (piñón de jaula). Dentro de la jaula y desplazándose con ella van la rueda de escape (F), el áncora (H) y el volante (D), debiendo retenerse que sobre la rueda de escape no actúa el rodaje del reloj.

Tanto la rueda de escape (F) como su piñón (E) van desplazándose al mismo tiempo que lo hace la jaula, ya que son transportados por ella. A su vez el piñón de la rueda de escape engrana con una rueda que va fija e inmóvil en la platina, fuera de la jaula (la rueda de segundos C). Este engranaje permite que al propio tiempo que el piñón de la rueda de escape se desplaza con la jaula gire sobre si mismo, pues ese es el efecto que produce sobre sus dientes la resistencia que ofrece el dentado inmóvil de la rueda de segundos, lográndose así el giro de la rueda de escape y con ello que pueda impulsar el áncora y, en definitiva, que las funciones del escape y del volante se desarrollen con normalidad.

Cuando el áncora bloquea la rueda de escape, no sólo se detiene el giro de la misma, sino también la marcha de la jaula, pues el piñón de la rueda de escape también queda detenido y, al ir sobre uno de los brazos de la jaula, frena el movimiento de ésta, ya que aunque actúa sobre ella el tren de rodaje, su fuerza no alcanza a vencer la resistencia que los dientes fijos de la rueda de segundos ejercen sobre los del piñón de la rueda de escape, reanudándose la marcha una vez que la rueda de escape queda libre otra vez, durante el tiempo en que el volante realiza su arco de oscilación suplementaria.

Bien se comprenderá que al ser la jaula, y no la rueda de segundos, la que recibe el movimiento de la rueda primera, suele disponerse para que de una vuelta completa cada minuto y que el segundero del reloj vaya precisamente sobre el pivote del piñón de jaula.


Remedo del torbellino es el sistema llamado de “carrusel, patentado en 1892 por el relojero danés Bahne Bonniksen (1859-1935), también sin efecto práctico sobre la marcha del reloj. En el torbellino el volante y la jaula suelen ser concéntricos, sus ejes giran sobre la misma línea, lo que no ocurre nunca en el carrusel; en el que son concéntricos sin embargo la rueda de segundos y la plataforma del carrusel, y el giro de ésta es bastante más lento que el de la jaula del torbellino, en general una hora frente a un minuto. Pero estas características, que suelen citarse para distinguir uno y otro dispositivo, no son determinantes, sino que la diferencia está en la diversa forma de impulsión.

En el carrusel la transmisión del movimiento es igual que en un reloj convencional: el carrusel no forma parte del sistema de transmisión del movimiento, gira arrastrado por una rueda suplementaria, normalmente añadida al eje de la rueda primera, dando en ese caso una vuelta cada hora. Y la rueda de escape, aunque incorporada a la plataforma del carrusel (junto con el áncora y el volante), es arrastrada como en un reloj normal por la rueda de segundos, que va alojada dentro del carrusel, aunque sin apoyarse ni ser desplazada por él, sino que su piñón y pivote inferior pasan a través de la plataforma del carrusel por un agujero practicado en la misma, como se ilustra en el dibujo de David Penny publicado en http://www.antique-watch.com/ref/e_karrus.html; de esta forma aunque el carrusel gire llevando consigo a la rueda de escape, el piñón de ésta permanece siempre en contacto con la rueda de segundos, dada la proximidad de ambos elementos. Es más, en teoría podría eliminarse el dispositivo del carrusel y el reloj seguiría funcionando con normalidad, no así en el tourbillón, cuya jaula sí forma parte del rodaje de transmisión del movimiento, no haciéndolo en cambio la rueda de escape.

Does the Spring a Mechanical Make? by Ken Worley

Does the Spring a Mechanical Make?


All photos Copyright Ken Worley


There has been some lively debate from time to time about the "status" of Seiko's Spring Drive movement. Is it a quartz movement? Is it mechanical? Although I know I love the movement, it has taken a while to decide exactly why. If you're interested, I thought I'd share some of my thoughts in this essay.



Do We Love Watches?


Is it the watches we love, or is it their movements? That can be a difficult question. For those of us who love mechanical watches, I believe it is the movement that is the essence of the watch. It is the movement that makes it special. To gaze into the workings of a mechanical movement and see this tiny machine working, spinning and ticking fills me with a sense of wonder. How could it be that a tiny balance wheel, flying back and forth against its spring, can regulate the unwinding of the mainspring so accurately? It is truly amazing. To me, the love of such a magical thing is obvious, self-evident; how could you not love it?


Omega Speedmaster Professional with display back


Quartz watch proponents know the answer, but let me guess at it. To a person that does not understand or appreciate the magic of a mechanical watch movement, a watch is a practical tool. It is merely a convenient means of checking the time. All notions of jewelry aside, a watch should be as accurate as possible and as inexpensive as possible. Okay, sure, style plays a role as does prestige. But with quartz watches, the notion of timekeeping seems to exist separately from the watch as jewelry. It takes on a secondary role. It is taken for granted. "Why, what a lovely diamond encrusted bracelet that is…and it also tells time." In other words, quartz watches are loved for the attributes of the movement: accuracy, battery life, and functions, as well as for the style of the watch, not for the movement itself.


I know there are many people who love both quartz and mechanical. But, if I may postulate, they are loved for different reasons. How could a mechanical watch be loved for its true practicality? It is less accurate and more expensive than a quartz watch of equivalent build quality. How can a quartz watch be loved for the wonder of its movement? Looking into a quartz movement is like staring at a battery. I've seen quartz watches with display backs and I can't fathom the reason. It's beyond me.


Let me also make it clear that I know there are many other reasons to love a watch regardless of its movement. Watches can hold tremendous sentimental value (just watch Pulp Fiction). They can be loved for their pure style, or for their history. There are other reasons as well, but they're all outside the scope of this essay. My thoughts are centered around what's inside.


Let me also say that accuracy varies wildly in both mechanical and quartz watches. Some mechanical watches are very accurate while some quartz watches leave much to be desired, keeping time much less accurately than a good mechanical. Quartz watches, however, are certainly capable of much more accuracy than any mechanical watch and there are many examples which prove it. I don't think many people would argue with the assertion that, on average, quartz watches are more accurate than mechanical watches.



Ups and Downs


Let me summarize briefly what I consider to be the pros and cons of each type of watch (and I know I'll leave some things out). I purposely leave out any notion of whether a watch gets you noticed (pro or con), and it's true that these are generalizations.


Mechanical:


+ Amazing, magical tiny machine

+ Cool sweeping second hand (no once-per-second tick)

+ Requires no batteries

- Requires servicing from time to time

- Requires winding (either by being worn or manually)

- Expensive (compared to most quartz)



Zenith Rainbow Flyback


Roamer La Grande

Minerva Palladio


Quartz:


+ Usually highly accurate (a technological wonder)

+ Service required rarely (if at all)

+ Less expensive

- Movement is mundane

- Requires battery changes (rechargeables less so, but all rechargeable batteries die)

- Annoying once-per-second tick (okay, maybe only for me)



Breitling B-1


Omega Speedmaster Professional X-33

Wenger Commando



What is Mechanical? What is Quartz?


I've been throwing around the term "quartz watch" quite recklessly. For me, it has a very specific meaning: a watch that runs off battery power (whether disposable or rechargeable) and which moves the watch hands by means of one or more stepper motors. I know that everyone does not share this definition, but for me "quartz watch" is equivalent to "battery powered watch" for I don't know of any battery powered watch (currently manufactured) which does not use a stepper motor. So, to me, a battery powered watch is, more or less, just a tool for telling time. I have several that I like and I do like a certain look. I'm even willing to spend a fair amount of money for just the right look, but I know I'm buying a look. I'm not buying magic.


Perhaps I've also been using the term "mechanical watch" a little too carelessly. After all, anything that has parts and locomotion of some sort is in a sense mechanical, yes? My definition of a mechanical watch, and I know almost everyone will agree with me at least to some extent, is one which contains a mainspring whose power is used to drive the watch hands. It contains no battery and no stepper motor. That sounds fairly self-evident, doesn't it? And yet, it leaves out the thing that some people consider to be essential to a mechanical watch. Here's where we may diverge. Does a mechanical watch have to have a traditional escapement?



It's Not So Black and White


As it turns out, it is difficult to define, at least for everyone, what is a quartz watch or what is a mechanical watch. I've given you my definitions, but there really aren't just two black and white categories. There have been several mixtures of the two technologies in an attempt to capture just the right mix of mechanical wonder and quartz accuracy and practicality. Many of these are still in use. Here are the major contenders:


Tuning Fork:


These appeared at the beginning of the battery powered watch era. The movement uses a battery to power a "tuning fork" which vibrates at around 300 times per second. The motion of the tuning fork itself drove a tiny gear whose power was transmitted to the hands. These movements, made famous by Bulova with their Accutron models, were a revelation. They were more accurate than most mechanical movements and displayed a smoothly sweeping second hand which "ticked" faster than the eye could see. Quartz technology, however, quickly drove tuning forks out with even higher accuracy and longer battery life. Tuning fork movements are no longer produced.


Standard Quartz:


We've discussed this one already. A quartz watch uses a battery to power a quartz oscillator which vibrates at a fairly stable rate around 32,000 times per second. Its vibration is used as a reference rate to drive the watch hands using a stepper motor.


Mecaquartz:


A mecaquartz is a battery powered watch which keeps time using a quartz crystal oscillator and moves the hands using a stepper motor. The difference between this and a regular quartz watch is that the watch includes a mechanical chronograph module. The watch generally uses a stepper motor with a higher step rate to drive the mechanical chronograph so that it looks the same as the chronograph you would see on a mechanical watch - generally stepping four or five times per second. Most battery powered chronographs simply use several stepper motors to drive the different chronograph hands.


I owned a Breitling Chronoracer Rattrapante mecaquartz watch at one time. It was a beautiful watch, and I appreciated the mechanical chronograph especially with the split-second feature. In the end, however, I thought of it as basically a quartz watch. It had a battery that would have to be changed and the standard second hand ticked once per second like any other quartz watch. It seemed to be a combination of more cons than pros. It retained the battery powered stepper motor that I have no love for from the quartz side, while adding the extra service requirements and expense of a mechanical chronograph movement. I still thought it was a nice watch, but more for its style and accuracy than for its movement. It wasn't my "perfect" watch by any stretch.


Breitling Chronoracer Rattrapante (mecaquartz movement)


Kinetic:


A kinetic movement (this is just Seiko's term for the technology) is a like a standard quartz watch except that it uses a rechargeable battery or capacitor. I know of at least two companies that produce such a movement: Seiko and Ventura. These have a rotor, just like an automatic mechanical movement, which is used to drive a small generator circuit which recharges the battery. Some of these watches have a display back so you can watch the rotor spin.


To me, kinetic movements are a bad trade-off. You remove the necessity to change the battery every couple of years, but you add a great deal of inconvenience when the rechargeable battery does finally give out. And believe me, every rechargeable battery does give out eventually. Perhaps it wouldn't be until after the practical life of the watch is over, but judging by reports I've seen on the internet, this is certainly not guaranteed to be the case. Scientific, I know.


This movement also introduces one of the disadvantages of a mechanical movement to quartz: that the watch be worn in order to work the rotor and recharge the battery. They generally hold quite a charge and may not require any recharging for months, but the requirement is still there. You may not be able to set it in a drawer for a year, then put it right back on with no further adjustment like you can with most quartz watches.


Solar:


A solar movement is like any other battery powered quartz movement except that it uses solar energy to charge a rechargeable battery.


Just as the kinetic movement, this one trades the inconvenience of a battery change every couple years for the larger inconvenience at some later time when the rechargeable battery gives out. It also introduces the (not so difficult) requirement that the watch be exposed to light at least some of the time. If you wear it all the time or even a fair amount of time, this is not a problem. Even if you just leave it out on top of your dresser, it will likely hold a charge nicely. You just can't put it away for a year in a drawer and expect it to be charged when it emerges.


In my opinion, this is a much more efficient way to maintain a rechargeable battery than the kinetic. They hold their charge well, don't require that much light to charge, and don't have the additional complexity of a moving rotor. They can also charge without being worn (and without a watch winder) by simply being left out in the light.


Radio Controlled:


A "radio controlled" watch movement is a standard quartz movement which receives a radio time signal from an atomic clock source (like the one in Boulder, Colorado in the US). They are not so much accurate as often corrected to exactly the right time.


And Then We Have The Spring Drive


All currently produced, battery powered wristwatches are quartz based. That is, at their base, they are powered by a battery and use a stepper motor to drive the mechanism. Seiko's Spring Drive approaches from the opposite direction. Beginning with a mechanical movement, using a mainspring to drive the mechanism, the Spring Drive replaces only the escapement - the mechanism that regulates the rate at which the mainspring unwinds. Instead of a traditional escape wheel and balance spring, the movement generates electrical energy as it unwinds. This is used to power a quartz oscillator and an electromagnetic brake which keeps the "glide wheel" spinning at exactly 8 revolutions per second in a smooth motion.


Arguably, this movement combines the special nature of a mechanical movement with the higher accuracy of a quartz movement. It retains the wonder of a tiny mechanical machine spinning and whirring using only the power of its mainspring while, at the same time, adding the accuracy of quartz and some of the lower maintenance requirements of quartz movements due to decreased friction and a single direction of motion. It also adds its own special perk to those who might appreciate it: a perfectly smooth non-ticking second hand. It's the furthest you can get from the once-per-second tick tick tick of a run-of-the-mill quartz movement.


Seiko manufactures Spring Drive movements to the highest build quality using more parts than most traditional mechanical watches. Fewer than 10 highly skilled watchmakers at Seiko are qualified to assemble and work on the movements. No other company makes anything remotely similar.


I have owned two watches containing a Spring Drive movement (the second I still own). The first was a Seiko Marinemaster 600m Spring Drive. It was a huge chunk of a diver watch and a model sold only in Japan. The second is a Seiko Spring Drive GMT which contains the same movement as the Marinemaster and also sports a display back that lets you see the mainspring unwind via the spinning glide wheel. This model is part of Seiko's international line of Spring Drive models available around the world. Both displayed amazing accuracy varying by less than a second per month from the atomic clock.



Seiko Marinemaster 600m Spring Drive

Seiko Spring Drive GMT



What makes a movement special?


There are many people who dismiss Seiko as a maker of mass market quartz watches. Perhaps they blame Seiko, as the inventor of the quartz watch, for the temporary demise of the mechanical watch industry in the "dark years." For some, "Swiss Made" is what makes a watch good as gold. But wait, that Panerai sure is nice. Guess we'll have to include Italian watches too. Oooh, I like that Glashutte Original. Okay, Germany is in. Perhaps any movement made in Europe is okay?


Ask a group of watch aficionados what makes a mechanical movement really special and I think you'll get several common answers (among others):


- High build quality (and, sometimes, decoration)

- High complexity (complicated or complex to build)

- Exclusivity (usually to one brand i.e. "manufacture" but not always)

- History & Tradition (of the company)


These are the traits that make a high dollar Swiss (or Italian or German) watch worth the money. Things don't always add up though. Some brands that are highly respected and make expensive watches do not use exclusive movements. Some of them don't have a long history (although they may have assumed a name that is steeped in history and tradition). Many fine mechanical watches use relatively pedestrian movements made by ETA and that's okay. But everything does add up for Seiko. It meets all of these conditions with the Spring Drive (as well as with some of its other high end mechanical movements). Seiko has a long history of tradition and innovation in watchmaking. These movements are of extremely high build quality and are built by Seiko exclusively for use in their own watches. The Spring Drive, in particular, is highly complex requiring many years of research and prototyping to perfect.


For those that do still think of Seiko as only a mass market quartz watch pusher despite this, I guess I have to chalk that up to guilt by association. Seiko does produce a lot of quartz watches which, while generally more expensive than most quartz watches, are a lot less expensive than most mechanical watches. I guess this leaves them in the same situation as many other companies who have chosen to use the same brand name for products intended for a broad market as well as those intended for a much more exclusive market. Alas, the Ford GT will forever be associated with the Ford Fiesta! :)



So where does this leave me?


I have owned several mechanical watches, including at least one which was even more accurate than some of the quartz watches I own. My Breitling Navitimer Montbrillant Datora ran, for the most part, dead on for the relatively short time that I owned it. I only gave it up to get a Spring Drive. I lust after mechanical watches with all their little gears, their mainsprings, their mechanical whirrings. And yet, at the same time, I'm an accuracy freak. I almost (note that I said almost :) cannot stand to wear a watch that needs to be reset every few days or every week to keep it within a reasonable interval from the atomic clock. I start to get antsy when my watch reads more than 5 seconds off of the "real" time. I know this is just a personality quirk on my part, but it is there nonetheless and I know I'm not alone. For some of us, accuracy is important.


Breitling Montbrillant Datora


At the top of my list of desirable watch traits are mechanical and accurate while at the bottom are the requirements for battery replacement and regular service. And at the very bottom of my list is whether or not everyone agrees with me. This leaves, at the top of my list, the Seiko Spring Drive.



Seiko Spring Drive GMT


Seiko Spring Drive GMT

Seiko Spring Drive GMT display back


Hope you enjoyed my ramblings,

Ken