Video publicitario de Orient Skeleton

Seiko Credor (video)

Seiko Credor Sonnerie, con movimiento basado en "spring drive". Este video de apenas un minuto, con una banda sonora sugerente, muestra este modelo Credor con maquinaria a la vista. El paseo por la superficie del movimiento da idea de su complejidad.

Este movimiento posee la complicación añadida del "Sonnerie" o carillón (alarma).

Movimiento Seiko (video)

ETA valgranges movement (video)

Vostok Timeline

1942, July 1, in Chistopol, watch factory NK MV 835, is created on the basis of the Second Moscow watch factory and DOS factory, manufacturing products for needs of frontlines.

1943, Release of K-43 men's watch, and instrument production is begun. The machine-tool construction for watch manufacture is organized.

1949, Serial release of a K-26 "Pobeda" man's watch, wall-mounted ship clocks with a luminous dial, clocks for a/m "ZiM", "Volga", "Pobeda", wall-mounted and street industrial clocks are begun.

1950, The factory has started construction of own industrial buildings.

1952, The factory released of "Kama" shock-proof watches in water-proof case, clock devices for various branches of a national economy.

1957, Release of precision watches: K-28 "East", "Mir", "Volna", "Saturn", "Cosmos" with lateral and central second hands, a lens and shock-proof movement is mastered. Export of Chisopol watches has increased 7 times.

1962, Chistopol Watch Factory is awarded the gold medal of the Leipzig international fair; Komandirskie watches are developed and manufacturing begins; Chistopol watch factory became the official supplier of these watches to the Ministry of Defence of the USSR.

1968, Release of Amphibian" watch; Since 1969, all watches are manufactired under the "Vostok" trademark, and the Chistopol Watch Factory is now referred to as "Vostok Watch Factory"

1972, Release of a new 24 calibres man's watch with a numerical calendar, a double calendar, and an automatic movement; Watches are exported to 54 countries of the world.

1976, Cosmonaut G. Grechko presents the "Vostok" watch which has visited space to the Factory.

1980, This year the factory manufactures 4.5 million pieces; All production is deemed the "first" and "supreme" categories of quality.

1986, Release of water-meters, tahografov accustoms, release of manometers are begun. The factory passes in the Ministry of the radioindustry. Chistopol faculty “Vostok” of Kazan Aircraft University is opened.

1989, The factory passes to self-financing, in 1990 - on rent. The assortment of watches is annually updated on 70%, release of watches with custom-made symbolics is mastered. Export of watches increases.

1992, The factory passes under jurisdiction of Republic Tatarstan and becomes an Open Joint Stock company. The majority of watches are exported to Italy, USA, Switzerland. In USA the greatest popularity was received with "Desert storm" watch.

2000, Vostok Watch Makers Inc. is the leader of the domestic watch and clock industry on volumes of release and sales of men's watches. Release of the female watches, an expensive, prestigious man's watch, and a quartz alarm clock are begun.

2001, The factory became the owner of "The Russian National Olympus” the prestigious premium in a nomination "To Technology. A science" and the winner of "The Russian organization of high social efficiency" competition in a branch nomination.

2004, The company "Koliz Vostok Co. Ltd" was founded as a joint venture between the Russian movement- and watch-maker "Vostok Watch Maker Inc." and the Lithuanian enterprise "Koliz Ltd." offers the world market a new generation of automatic watches based on the traditional Russian watch-making technology and new designs from Lithuania. The first collection of the new watch brand Vostok Europe was introduced at Basel, Switzerland.

2006, "Amfibia" brand, featuring modern-style diver watches, launched.

2007, Updated Komandirskie debuts to public.

Visita a la fábrica "Raketa" en Peterhof (video)

Cómo se hace un Orient (video)

Entusiasta español fabrica reloj de madera

Reloj mecánico de madera artesanal con calendario, fases lunares y sistema de recogida de cuerda automatico. Diseñado y construido a mano por Juankar de Elgoibar.

El arte de hacer relojes (video)

9S67

Calibre 9S67 de Seiko

Este es el magnífico calibre de modelos Grand Seiko, comparable a los mejores movimientos suizos.

Seiko Spring Drive (video)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Spring Drive is a novel watch movement that was developed by Seiko Epson^[1] through collaboration with Seiko Instruments and Seiko Holdings.

It uses a mainspring, barrel, automatic winder and stem winding like in a mechanical watch to store the watch energy. The conventional escapement is replaced with a device that Seiko calls a Tri-synchro Regulator to regulate the unwinding of the mainspring. The regulator controls the use of the three forms of energy used in the Spring Drive mechanism; the mechanical power of the mainspring, the electrical energy generated from this mechanical power, and the electromagnetic energy that governs the rotation of the glide wheel. The energy produced by the glide wheel is used to power a control circuit and quartz crystal oscillator, which in turn regulates the electro-mechanical braking of the glide wheel.

The glide wheel's speed is sampled 8 times per second (i.e. each time it makes a complete revolution around the regulator) and compared with the reference quartz signal by the circuit. A variable braking force is continuously applied to regulate the glide wheel's frequency. This is the only movement with a time-only feedback (or phase-locked) loop in existence today.

The Tri-synchro Regulator's innovations result in a watch where the hands glide instead of ticking as in a conventional mechanical or quartz watch. This is because the movement never stops as in a traditional escapement, it is slowed to the proper speed by the brake. The movement is specified to 1 second accuracy per day. However, 1-2s per week is commonly reported by owners.

The movement is used on the Spring Drive International collection and in some watches of Grand Seiko, CREDOR, GALANTE, IZUL and PROSPEX series. Complications include moon phase, power reserve, chronograph, sonnerie, GMT and calendar functions. These watches are fairly expensive, with the least complicated models costing several thousand dollars. The top of the line Credor Sonnerie in Rose Gold is over $150,000 and can be considered a grande complication. (see collection at http://www.seiko-watch.co.jp/gs/collection/index.html)

Grand SEIKO Mechanical 3Days Movement 9S67 (Video)

Video promocional de Seiko, para la gama Grand Seiko. Está en japonés. A partir de la mitad del video contiene un despieze interesante del calibre 9S67 (41 rubíes y reserva de marcha de 3 días).

Movimiento del balancín del calibre 7S26 (Video)

Este pequeño video muestra el movimiento del balancín de un calibre Seiko 7S26, perteneciente a un reloj de la serie Seiko 5 Military.

Estupendo video sobre el funcionamiento de un reloj

Video sobre el funcionamiento de un reloj mecánico

Vostok "KOMANDIRSKIE"

La serie militar "KOMANDIRSKIE" es tributo a las fuerzas navales rusas.

Son relojes mecánicos de cuerda, por lo tanto ecológicos y biodegradables. Las características que comparte la serie son las siguientes:

• Caja 39 mm x 14 mm grosor
  
• Cuerda manual con reserva de marcha de 36 horas
  
• Calibre/movimento Vostok 2414A de 17 rubies
  
• Corona enroscada
  
• Fecha a las tres
  
• Caja de metal con trasera de acero atornillada
  
• Aleación inoxidable y terminación plata
  
• Impermeable
  

Vostok comenzó a fabricar relojes en 1942, siendo seleccionado como proveedor oficial de las fuerzas armadas rusas. La actual serie "Komandirskie" replica los relojes de aquella época.

Vostok

Vostok story starts back in 1942 when one of the Moscow watch-making plants was evacuated from Moscow to our little town located on The Kama River. Defense equipment was the only company output during war years, but as soon as the war was over we started making mechanical wrist watches - our main production item ever since.

Yet, we never backed away completely from our military past - the company was appointed an official supplier of watches for the Defense Department of the Soviet Union in 1965. This year marks the creation of the world-famous "Komandirskie" ("Commander") watch.

Military watch grew very popular even with people who were unaware which end of the gun bullet comes off, mainly due to high precision, excessive reliability and durability. The appearance of the watch also contributes to its appeal - functional and clear-cut design invoked the feeling of belonging to the tough world of combat professional.

The experience we gained through development of the army watch was the foundation of our next special watch - "Amphibian". This impressive timepiece in stainless-steel case endured the depth of 2000 meters - kind of a wrist submarine. Success of the professional watches determined the company's present philosophy - to create mechanical watches maintaining precise timekeeping at any temperature, in any environment, surviving heavy pressure and blows.

The viability of the chosen strategy is now time-proven. A vast multitude of people both in Russia and abroad boasting "Vostok" watches and various international prizes awarded for high quality and commercial success testify to this. Still, we are far from being self-content with our achievements. We are always trying to look ahead, pursuing new ways to broaden our market presence. 

Thus, in 1996 we started a partnership with US "Capital Trading" company aiming to create a new generation timepiece.

The synergy of traditional "Vostok" austere design and the world's latest watch-marking trends is a cornerstone of this new project launched into the oncoming century. Time goes by, bringing changes into everything - we introduce innovative technologies, new styles of watches, one generation of watchmakers follows another. 

Yet, one thing remains unchanged with us - as fifty years ago we make for you timepieces you can rely upon.

Raketa

Raketa watches are considered among Russian watch collectors as one of the higher quality watches. They are known for their 24 hour dials and strong military heritage. Although Raketa manufactures many types of watches including pocket watches. These watches were manufactured up until 1995-6, when the Raketa factory went Bankrupt, its huge inventory is still now being sold off a decade later, a classic reason for bankruptcies is high overhead and an over abundance of inventory. This appears to have been the problem as now the Raketa watches which have been for sale for a decade after the factory closed in bankruptcy are finally getting harder and harder to come by. There is talk about the company emerging from bankruptcy in the near future.
Here is the proud heritage of Raketa dating back to 1935 manufactured by the Petrodvoretz Watch Factory.
In 1701 the stone working factory was founded according to the regulation of the tsar Peter the Great. Since the beginning of the XIX century the factory has been producing the art pieces made of precious and semiprecious stones, conducted diamond cutting.
In 1930 the ruby stars for Moscow Kremlin towers have been produced by the factory. In 1932, on the base of that factory, the "Plant N1 was open. It was fit for production of precision technical stones.
Since 1935 the factory was manufacturing the products for watch industry.
Since 1954 "Raketa" factory has become the leading watch manufacturer in Russia.
The plant produces clock mechanisms which rank among the most reliable in the world. Mechanisms produced by "Raketa" factory designed to work in extreme conditions. They have been tested under the load that impressed Swiss specialists. The unique clock mechanisms on 16 ruby stones are of high rate of precision and reliability. These mechanisms are admitted in Europe and in Japan.
In 1972 in the International Leipzig Exhibition in Germany, "Raketa" factory gained the First Place in the tuff competition with the best world watch manufactures.
In 1984 "Raketa" had a success on the European Exhibition in Bulgaria.
In 1994 the factory was given the International reward "Golden Globe" for production of competitive high-quality products and integration in the world's economy. Serial "Raketa's" clock mechanisms are being installed in the watches of companies Seiko, Omega, Orient. The watch factory is located in the city of Petrodvoretz (about 30 km. from St.Petersburg). This small suburban city is more known for its old Palaces Parks and Fountains.

7S26, 7S36, 7S37, 6R15

7S26

6R15

7S36

7S37

Presentación del blog

Como admirador de la relojería tradicional, me apasionan los relojes mecánicos: de cuerda, automáticos, ...

Hay una serie de puntos que encuentro esenciales:

• El reloj de poseer un movimiento mecánico (obvio)
• El reloj debe ser asequible (importante)
• El reloj debe ser de "marca de reloj"

Quisiera extenderme un poco más sobre el asunto de la marca:

Actualmente cuando entro en una relojería encuentro marcas como D&G, Tommi Hilfinger, Emporio Armani, Moschino, Diesel, Guess, Esprit, Carrera, Armand Bassi, Adolfo Dominguez, ... por supuesto todos con movimiento de cuarzo.

Estos que menciono no son marca de reloj, sino complementos de moda en forma de reloj. Un reloj debe poseer un alma, fruto de una historia y una evolución. Cuando intento evocar la imagen de relojes con "alma", vienen a mi mente nombres como Certina, Rolex, IWC, Omega, Breitling, Tissot, Breitling, Tag Heuer - grandes nombres suizos - pero también otros como Orient, Seiko - los gigantes japoneses - o los fabricantes tradicionales de relojes rusos como Poljot, Vostok, Buran, etc. - estos últimos los he descubierto más recientemente.

Mi afición me ha llevado a enfocarme en el reloj como elemento funcional con alma - algo dificil de encontrar en cualquier máquina - pero no como artículo de lujo de miles de euros.

De la misma manera que un buen aficionado a los coches sabe apreciar marcar emblemáticas como Alfa Romeo, Lancia, BMW, Citroen, Porsche o Lotus, sin que necesariamente toda su afición se centre en los Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Koenigsegg, sólo al alcance de reducidas elites.

En mis caso, soy admirador de las marcas japonesas y rusas, ... las chinas todavía no las conozco.

Como parte de mi afición, cada vez que adquiero un reloj para mi colección particular, compro algunos otros para su venta, y de esta manera costeo mi afición.

El último calibre automático de SEIKO: 6R20

Según SEIKO, el reloj de pulsera es un accesorio muy personal. El mejor reloj está en armonía e interactúa con la persona quién lo lleva puesto, y sus funciones ofrecen lazos emocionalmente satisfactorios. 

El desarrollo tecnológico de SEIKO se centra en la creación de tecnologías emocionales. Tecnologías emocionales que crean interacción entre la persona y el producto (fuente: web de Seiko).

El calibre automático de SEIKO 6R20. 

Este calibre está diseñado para el mercado de relojes mecánicos de alta calidad. Todas las piezas del 6R20 excepto los rubíes, son fabricadas y montadas por SEIKO Instruments Inc. 

Son exquisitos los acabados del movimiento, con el rotor grabado, los cantos pulidos y la superficie principal con una tonalidad muy fina. 

El movimiento de alta vibración (28.800) ofrece una precisión de -15~+25 segundo por día y el muelle real Spron 510* genera una reserva de carga de más de 45 horas. Tiene capacidad de carga manual y de bloqueo de maquinaria.

Manual de Instrucciones en Inglés (clickea para descargarlo)

La serie Seiko Premier es ciertamente bonita y elegante, con una maquinaria y complicaciones al mejor nivel suizo ... ciertamente no se trata de unidades "baratas", ya que los precios rondan entre los 600 y 1200 euros.

Los relojes mecánicos increiblemente cerca de los humanos

En algún momento tendré que traducir esta reseña. Se trata de la presentación que realiza el Presidente de Orient Watch, D. Jun Watanabe, sobre los relojes mecánicos. Voy a intentar resumir a continuación los puntos principales de su discurso:

• en primer lugar, se declara firme creyente de que los relojes mecánicos van a tener gran reconocimiento y admiración en los próximos años
• son relojes "limpios" o ecológicos, por los materiales empleados (metal en lugar de circuitos integrados) y su nulo gasto energético (no precisan baterías altamente contaminantes)
• son relojes "eficientes", ya que solamente están en marcha durante su uso (cuando dejamos de utilizarlos y los guardamos en un cajón, en un par de días se paran)
• son relojes "acompasados" al cuerpo humano, que le proporciona la energía cinética necesaria para su movimiento (movimiento de muñeca para carga automática, o la cuerda en el caso de carga manual)

 

Mechanical watches are amazingly close to humans

  I believe that the beauty of mechanical watches will be recognized more and more in the future. If I were to mention some of the positive qualities, the first would be that they are extremely clean products because they do not use batteries. Although solar powered watches are also clean, they use a secondary battery for recharging. The second point is that mechanical watches are truly ecological products because they will return to the earth in the end since they are made entirely of metal components. Other types of watches use plastic parts, which do not return to the earth. The third point is that mechanical watches keep moving along with the movement of the body powered by human strength. It won't move unless you move around. If you don't wear it on your arm for a while, it usually stops. You could say that mechanical watches are amazingly close to humans. Some say this is a demerit, but for the watch, it's better for it to stop when you're not using it. The reason is that when the gears are constantly moving, they gradually start to wear. It's better for mechanical products not to move when not in use. That allows them to last longer.

  Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, because mechanical watches are made entirely out of metal, if you wanted to recreate a part, you could do so at any time. With products that use electronic circuits, it is relatively difficult to produce parts when they break. However, with mechanical products, because they are built by combining single precision parts, you can use them almost indefinitely by replacing parts and performing maintenance. They're products that can be handed down to the next generation and continue to be used.

Jun Watanabe, President of Orient Watch Co., Ltd

http://www.orient-watch.com/company/

Relojes rusos ... apasionantes

Los fabricantes de relojes rusos siguen fieles a la tradición, fabricando relojes de movimiento mecánico.

¡ Muchos de ellos de cuerda"!.

Incluso algunos tienen esferas únicas numeradas hasta el 24; efectivamente, la manecilla de las horas solamente gira una revolución por día: ¡ fantástico!.

Seiko 5 Sports

Este es mi reloj de diario :)

Seiko 5 Sports es claramente una de mis series favoritas de reloj. Su maquinaria a la vista es un compendio de las máquinas de toda la vida, llenas de engranajes y poleas que no dejan de girar. Y todo ello en un tamaño reducidísimo, ... acostumbrado a los circuitos impresos y firmware, hemos perdido todo contacto con el mundo de la mecánica.

Este reloj lleva monta el calibre 7S36 de 23 rubíes, muy parecido al 7S26 de 21 rubíes. Estos dos son los movimientos utilizados en las series Seiko 5 desde su creación en la década de 1970.

Además, pensar que el movimiento de mi brazo da vida a una máquina que no precisa mayor consumo energético !.

Seiko 5

Soy un admirador de los SEIKO 5.

Seiko 5 es un maravilloso "invento" japonés de Seiko, que impone 5 requisitos a sus relojes de la serie "5":

AUTOMATICO

Sumergible

Anti-chock

Fecha

Día de la semana.

Desafortunadamente esta serie no se comercializa en Europa ni Norteamérica, ya que su "mercado natural" son los países de escaso desarrollo, que necesitan relojes FIABLES, SIN PILA y DURADEROS.

El reloj de las fotografías fue mi primer Seiko 5, comprado en eBay, y también vendido en eBay. Este reloj montaba el calibre 7S26 de 21 rubíes. Actualmente somos legión los apasionados de esta gama Seiko. Hay muchas razones, entre las que destacaría:

• "Value for Money", o en castellano, ofrece mucho valor para el coste que tienen
• Son diseños extraordinariamente funcionales, sin ornamentos, sencillos y prácticos
• Son muy duraderos; en internet se puede encontrar testimonios de gente que ha llevado un Seiko 5 por más de treinta años.
• Atemporales
• Con la maquinaria a la vista
• Con gran mercado para intercambiar, comprar o vender

Reloj Orient Automático

Reloj Orient extraordinariamente elegante.

Esta es mi última adquisición. Me gustó desde el momento que lo ví; ya que es muy elegante pero también moderno e innovador por la forma que muestra el día de la semana.

Como en otras ocasiones, he adquirido varias unidades para su venta.

Actualmente es mi reloj "de paseo", ya que el "de diario" es un Seiko 5.

Algunas de sus características:

- Movimiento mecánico automático Orient calibre 46V (FN)
- 21 rubíes, 40 horas de reserva de marcha

- Fecha a las tres
- Día de la semana en inglés, con indicación mañana / tarde ( AM-PM)
- Caja en acero
- Correa de piel negra con costuras blancas
- Sumergible 50m
- Esfera cristal mineral y cristal curvo
- Medidas: 36mm de ancho (sin corona), 45mm de asa a asa y 12mm de grosor
- Peso 65 gr.

Orient, que pertenece al grupo Seiko hoy en día, es uno de los pocos relojeros que siguen apostando por movimientos mecánicos en relojes "populares".
Si valoras los relojes mecánicos, sin circuitos electrónicos ni batería, e impulsados por el movimiento de tu muñeca, te sentirás atraido por esta marca.
La alternativa son los relojes suizos de alta gama, fuera del alcance del bolsillo ...

Orient tiene la garantía de una marca japonesa con muchas décadas en el mercado - se fundo en 1901 y comenzó a fabricar sus propios relojes en 1950.