Your Favorite Horological Innovations

[RobbieG]

Here is something new for an interesting thread idea. Tell us about an interesting innovation that you think made and/or makes a significant impact, or if you prefer ones that you just think are cool.

Obviously tell us the manufactory that came up with it and a little background information about it as well if you can - year, where, why, etc. It can be very old or brand new and everything in between.

You can keep coming back as you think of new ones and add to it with new posts if you like. Instead of doing a bunch of my favs at once, I'll start with this one...

A. Lange & Sohne patented an interesting and very practical function in the year 2000 that is present on each and every watch they build to this day. Since they are an obscure high end brand, many don't know about this feature but Lange took the hack feature concept one step further...

We are all familiar with the hacking function, whereby the timekeeping is stopped when the crown is pulled out to permit more precise setting of the time to an outside source. Any who have done any rate testing knows that what you have to do is manually try to time the "hack" just right so you stop the watch just as the second hand is crossing the sixty/zero index, so when you restart it the time will be accurate to the second.

But Lange takes it one step further by patenting the Zeroreset Hack Mechanism which not only stops timekeeping when the crown is pulled out, but also resets and freezes the second hand to zero.

A very cool, practical, and little known invention.

[dluddy]

Mine is the Repeater or Striking complication. I suspect my love for this comes from my listening to the manual wind Striking Mantle clock my parents had. The sound of the Half and Hour gongs throughout the night....

Someday I will own a Repeater complication watch - question is, will it be a rep

From Timezone:

The oldest and most esoteric complications produced today come from the small family of repeaters and clockwatches. These wristwatches strike the time either en passant ("in passing") like traditional striking clocks, or on command like some pocket watches of the 18th and 19th centuries, and sometimes both like the fine carriage clocks from the golden age of complications. In a world with electricity and artificial lighting these acoustic complications lose much of their original purpose, but within the context of the post-quartz mechanical watch revival they become the ultimate expression of the craft of watchmaking.

It is said that the origin of the long tradition of clockwatches - at least in simpler forms - is lost in the mists of antiquity, but were preceded by the development of striking clocks by a few centuries. The rack striking mechanism still in use by modern striking wristwatches was invented in 1676 by English clock and watchmaker Edward Barlow (1636 - 1716), replacing the less sophisticated count wheel system. In the 1680s the development of repeaters was begun by another English clock and watchmaker, Daniel Quare (1649 - 1724), who would eventually hold the patent for the invention.

Distantly related to the pitched family of idiophonic instruments, the bell-like sounds are produced by small hammers which strike wire gongs. These "gong springs" were invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1783, replacing the small bells and "saucer-shaped" gongs of traditional striking clocks and early striking watches. Each note is produced by a single hammer and gong pairing that must be hand-tuned for pitch and volume -- which includes tweaking the striking force of the individual hammer. This is a laborious and time-consuming process which adds greatly to the cost of the finished product.

Of the striking complications it is the repeater which is most common, and made so by the availability of minute repeater ebauches from Nouvelle Lemania, Frederic Piguet, Christophe Claret, and others. While most are implemented as traditional integrated hand-wound calibres, a few like F. Piguet calibre 33 can be modified to accept automatic winding, or are repeater modules attached to an automatic base movement -- as with the Kelek repeaters.

The standard strike pattern for repeaters (and clockwatches) uses a base note for hours, alternating or combined bass and treble notes for quarters, and treble notes for minutes. As previously mentioned, chiming repeaters permit the use of a separate note for quarters, and there is often some variation in specific implementation from manufacture to manufacture, and from movement to movement.

Minute Repeater -- on command it strikes the hours, quarter hours, and minutes.

Five-Minute Repeater -- on command it strikes the hours, quarter hours, and five minute segments, or the hours and one note per five minute segment.

Half-Quarter Repeater -- on command it strikes the hours, quarter hours, and half-quarter hours (segments of 7 to 14 minutes).

Quarter Repeater -- on command it strikes the hours and quarter hours only.

[Shundi]

So many...

Let's go with an interesting one:

The Chain et Fusee

Springs were first employed to power clocks in the 15th century, to make them smaller and portable.[1][5] These early spring-driven clocks were much less accurate than weight-driven clocks. Unlike a weight on a cord, which exerts a constant force to turn the clock's wheels, the force a spring exerts diminishes as the spring unwinds. These clocks' primitive verge and foliot timekeeping mechanism was sensitive to changes in drive force. So spring-driven clocks slowed down over time as the mainspring unwound. This problem is called lack of isochronism.

Two solutions to this problem appeared with the first spring driven clocks; the stackfreed and the fusee.[1] The stackfreed, a crude cam compensator, added a lot of friction and was abandoned after less than a century.[9] The fusee was a much more lasting idea. As the movement ran, the tapering shape of the fusee pulley continuously changed the mechanical advantage of the pull from the mainspring, compensating for the diminishing spring force. Clockmakers apparently empirically discovered the correct shape for the fusee, which is not a simple cone but a hyperboloid.[10] The first fusees were long and slender, but later ones have a more squat compact shape. Fusees became the standard method of getting constant force from a mainspring, used in most spring-wound clocks, and watches when they appeared in the 1600s.

At first the fusee cord was made of gut, or sometimes wire. Around 1650 chains began to be used, which lasted longer.[6] Gruet of Geneva is widely credited with introducing them in 1664,[2] although the first reference to a fusee chain is around 1540.[6] Fusees designed for use with cords can be distinguished by their grooves, which have a circular cross section, where ones designed for chains have rectangular-shaped grooves.

Around 1726 John Harrison added the maintaining power spring to the fusee to keep marine chronometers running during winding, and this was generally adopted.

Most often used in new Lange designs/ movements it keeps the isochronism even throughout the entire power reserve...

But Lange takes it one step further by patenting the Zeroreset Hack Mechanism which not only stops timekeeping when the crown is pulled out, but also resets and freezes the second hand to zero.

Dornbluth and Sohne took it a step further and made one that freezes on the next quarter...

[RobbieG]

Excellent responses guys - keep them coming and lets hear from more of you. Here is another one:

Ulysse Nardin patented the GMT+/- and then the GMT +/- Perpetual. The first is on my Dual Time watch. The hour hand jumps in one hour increments by clicking pushers on the left side of the case - one forward and one backward. When you get to midnight, the big date display (which is another complication with two discs making it tougher) moves forward and BACKWARD depending on which direction you are traveling.

This was extended to include ALL perpetual calendar functions eventually. In that instance, if you were to be traveling on New Years Eve / Day, even in a leap year, all month, day, and year displays will smartly adjust forward and backward across midnight smartly, no matter what type of year it is. Another very cool but also very practical invention...

[trailboss]

The Zero set hack. I had never heard of that one. VERY handy! Pity all don't have it. DO you have a gen Lang Robbie? I'll have a look next time I'm at the only dealer I know of in QLD that has Langs. Great for pedantic beggers like me.

I'l have a think and come up with my fav when I have a chance bit busey writing out raffle tickets ATM!

Col.

[RobbieG]

DO you have a gen Lang Robbie?

Col.

No not yet. I wanted to get my "regular guy" list taken care of before I go messing with the really expensive stuff. When it comes to that stuff, I feel I have to learn more to decide what I really want to be in the high end watch collection. It is also going to proceed at a snails pace comparitavely as each watch is BIG money and unless you are dead loaded which I'm clearly not it is awefully tough to justify spending thirty or forty K on a timepiece. Kind of once in a lifetime decisions for a guy like me so I will never get anything unless I'm 100% sure I really love it and will forever. I'm holding that code now on 5K pieces and it is a challenge so I can't imagine what going up to this level would be like.

Most everything I like in the high end are handwinds of course (no surprise there for anyone who knows what makes me tick). Believe it or not, I'm totally nuts for Lange as I like a lot of Swiss design elements more than German ones. Lange's have their own vibe for sure though, but more for a "basic" watch for me instead of a complication or wilder stuff like the Chain and Fusse movements. I'm sure a Lange 1 is in my future someday. Very classic but also unique. I love the Datograph too, but I will only have one handwind chronograph and I think I would rather have a 2320 based watch like a VC Patrimony Chrono or a Patek 5070 or something.

Which brings me to another interesting Lange contribution. The Lange 31 (day) power reserve watch with the amazing Caliber L034. The movement is handwound of course and houses two massive mainsprings. The watch comes with a tool - a socket key which fits onto a head on the back of the watch with a ratchet mechanism. There is so much tension force required to store the energy that this is the only way to get full reserve - by ratcheting it up a few clicks at a time. Of course for normal power reserve one can just wind the standard crown a bit. But 31 days is a feat of biblical proportions for sure. Not sure how practical it is really. Kind of a clunky watch at 46MM. 16MM in height and weighing 230G in platinum...

[trailboss]

Now THAT, my friend, is a beautyfull watch! And OH! That MVT!

And I don't blame you one bit about balking at that sort of spend. It's been years since I have even spent that on a car! More so since it's more like sixty grand here. Since all watches are pricer by more than the exchange rate it would be far cheaper for me to fly somewhere and buy it. Much like gold jewelery. When I had cash for that I flew to Asia to buy. Anyone who spends more than a cpl of grand on jewelery here in OZ is stupid. The holiday comes free and you still save money!

Col.

[RobbieG]

Yeah, what a movement. Lange really does some interesting stuff - and of course is right at if not on the top in the hand decoration department. Nobody does tighter, sharper hand beveling than Lange. And the screwed gold chatons are a nice touch.

Moving right along...

IWC's internal rotating bezel mechanism is certainly important in that it is less likely to be bumped out of position - especially if the watch is worn on the right wrist as many divers do given the left being occupied by other instruments. It is also very unique to the brand and is unmiskably Aquatimer. I was really surprised they chose to abandon that in the new 2009 series. I know they figured they had it covered with the Jubilee, but still - iconic to the brand. But I have devoted enough energy to that discussion on enough forums at this point. Suffice it to say it is a cool innovation...

[Shundi]

Yeah, what a movement. Lange really does some interesting stuff - and of course is right at if not on the top in the hand decoration department. Nobody does tighter, sharper hand beveling than Lange. And the screwed gold chatons are a nice touch.

Moving right along...

IWC's internal rotating bezel mechanism is certainly important in that it is less likely to be bumped out of position - especially if the watch is worn on the right wrist as many divers do given the left being occupied by other instruments. It is also very unique to the brand and is unmiskably Aquatimer. I was really surprised they chose to abandon that in the new 2009 series. I know they figured they had it covered with the Jubilee, but still - iconic to the brand. But I have devoted enough energy to that discussion on enough forums at this point. Suffice it to say it is a cool innovation...

Lange also uses German silver for the 3/4 plating of the movement...it eliminates the need for rhodium plating (so they say) and, interestingly enough, will actually change color/ develop a patina over time.

[RobbieG]

Lange also uses German silver for the 3/4 plating of the movement...it eliminates the need for rhodium plating (so they say) and, interestingly enough, will actually change color/ develop a patina over time.

Yeah, that is one of the things that has actually bothered me about them. I really don't like the color German silver becomes. It is a REALLY sickly gold color that looks like the worst gold rep plating you have ever seen. Just horrible to me. Some love it though to be fair. But when it is fresh cut, the color of it is just amazing. I should find out if there is a way to treat it so it locks in the original color without coloring it at all. Maybe the rhodium will still work.

The patina probably wouldn't bother me as much on their chronograph movement which has lots of smaller briges with space in between. But I have seen lots of aged 3/4 plates in person - including some old pocket watch movements from them and it is like one giant hunk of goldenrod. So then what happens is all the brass wheels and gold balance blend in and eventually there is nothing pretty and contrasting to look at any more. It takes a while to look that bad, but you can see significant "goldness" in as little as five years. I'll take the rhodium on steel from the Swiss in that regard and be fine with it...

[dluddy]

Foudroyante (Jumping seconds or hand) (Flying seconds)

^{(In French: seconde foudroyante)}

On a chronograph , a hand that makes one rotation every second, pausing four, five, even eight times to indicate quarters, fifths or eighths of a second. Also called foudroyante. A foudroyante uses a small dial that is marked 0-8. The hand on the dial completes a sweep every second which is an elapsed time of 1/8th of second for each number. Not many brands today feature a foudroyante in their current collections as it is an uncommon complication which measures time at one eighth of a second.

Some that do: Panerai 246, Graham Foudroyante, Girard-Perregaux Scuderia Ferrari Foudroyante Rattrapante

[TeeJay]

I'm not sure who patented it, but my favorite innovations are practical ones: Deployant clasps, and the Diver's extension.

Some are a bit more complicated in manufacture than others, but, they all do the same thing, and I think that is a very simple, but functional thing When I was younger, I was fascinated to see a watch bracelet 'get smaller' to fit the wrist, without being 'done up' like a regular strap, so I guess it's only fitting that I find the Diver's extensions of similar interest, as they perform the exact same function: Changing the size of the bracelet, without any need to 'break the bracelet' for any kind of re-sizing. It's just a simple process of going from one size, to the other, and back again

[_brian_]

One of my favourite brands is Eterna (presently owned by Porsche). They had a very important invention, which became a kind of industry standard: The ball-bearing rotor. The Eterna logo is also based on this invention. There is a movement called Calibre 3800, which is somehow generally unknown - or at least I never read or hear about it:

[RobbieG]

Very interesting, thanks. I wasn't familiar with that movement.