Slim table past life (below)

In the first two articles in this series, we looked back at the history of ultra-thin watches - the ultra-thin watches evolved and as the watchmaking industry developed, the timepieces became so slim that they had begun to reach a certain mechanical limit. In today's third article, we will admire the two modern watches of Audemars Piguet and the Count, focusing on the micron-scale revolution of watchmakers and discussing where the future of ultra-thin watches will go. Auctions table Ref.25643BA watch First, let's start with this 1986 watch. Audemars Piguet Ref.25643BA, equipped with Caliber 2870 movement, is one of the most important watches in the history of ultra-thin watchmaking. In the second article in this series, we talked about how ultra-thin tabulations have pushed the movement (substrate and splint) (made of traditional materials) to a slim one, and the company under the name of Jean Lassale in the 1970s and 1980s Exploration attempt: Completely abandon the traditional substrate - plywood movement structure, the barrel, gear train and escapement directly on the substrate. The "flying barrel" (so-called because it is like a flying tourbillon, which is supported by only one side) plus a "flywheel" is the clamp on the pivot of the balance wheel that is integral to the traditional movement architecture The remaining lotus silk. Only a few brands, such as the Earl and Vacheron Constantin, applied these movements. In fact, the movement was too sensitive and sensitive. Repairs often meant that the old movement was dropped and the new movement replaced, so in the end it did not succeed. But to abandon the traditional substrate - plywood movement structure, thereby further reducing the thickness of the watch did not die out of creativity. In 1986, Audemars Piguet introduced a more radical design: the watch case as the movement of the substrate. The figure above shows an early Ref.25643BA prototype table. A number of details are visible from the front, including a "hammer" style swing and a small tourbillon (7.2mm x 2.5mm in titanium). However, only flip over to really understand, this is a very revolutionary design watch. These are the Ref.25643BA watch backs. Petite flat crown can not be used for winding, can only adjust the pointer. Want to winding, you must gently swing back and forth until the watch starts ticking. The small red circle we see at the bottom of the table is actually the ruby ​​running the gear wheel pivot. Audemars Piguet Ref.25643BA is the history of the thinnest automatic winding tourbillon watch, the entire thickness of only 4.8 mm, the record has been maintained until today, as the Audemars Piguet Caliber 2120 is still the world's thinnest all-around Tuo Automatic winding movement. Omega "Dinosaure" watch An interesting fact about Ref.25643BA is that the design of the watch case as the movement base does not come from nothing. Ref.25643BA Developed by two engineers: Maurice Grimm and André Beyner. As early as 1980, Maurice Grimm developed an ultra-thin quartz watch called "Dinosaure" for Omega, equipped with a Caliber 1355 quartz movement. This watch is not so famous, but extraordinary excellence. Omega "Dinosaure" watch is only 1.42 mm thick, note that the entire table (not just the movement) thickness of 1.42 mm. In the design of this watch, the bottom of the table is used to support the gear driving the pointer. More exotic, "Dinosaure" watch pointer printed on the transparent plate, which adds a little mystery to it. Later, Maurice Grimm and André Beyner developed Ref.25643BA and Central Tourbillon watches for Audemars Piguet and Omega respectively (1994). And the evolution of this concept did not end here. Pictured above is one of the most slim watches in the world: Earl 900P. In 2013, the advent of the Earl 900P watch set a new slimline record for the industry - 3.65 millimeters in thickness (two years later, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced a skeleton watch with a thickness of 3.60 millimeters without engraving). The 900P continues the design philosophy of the 1980 "Dinosaure" and the 1986 Ref. 25643BA: Use the bottom of the watch as a movement base. In contrast, the count goes further: the bottom of the table pivot completely moved inside the case (the bottom of the table is no longer visually visible pivot gem); dial and the running gear in the same plane; crown can winding , But also adjust the pointer time. 900P watches the thickness of the watch than most of the movement should be thin, and 48 hours to provide power storage and 20 meters waterproof, extreme performance squeeze can do, no matter how exaggerated this technical achievement can not be overestimated. So what's next? It is interesting to observe the next phase of the development of ultra-thin mechanical watches, as this gradual evolution has continued for a long time, even in the light of the incremental standards of watchmaking. Do not forget that as early as the first decade of the 20th century, some of the thinnest watch movements in history have come out. For example, the Caliber 145, only 1.38 mm thick, was 1907. The use of traditional watchmaking materials, sooner or later, will always be subject to the laws of physics. For example, if the case is made of stainless steel and the movement base is made of stainless steel or brass, the thickness is reduced by half a millimeter by one millimeter for a timepiece-only mechanical watch, The force is enough to make the material deformation, resulting in stop watch operation, outweigh the benefits. In addition, you will find that if the barrel is too flat, the power provided by the barrel is often hard to sustain for a long period of time, regardless of size and friction loss. If you have to give an answer, I would say that Omega "Dinosaure" watch, Audemars Piguet Ref.25643BA watch, and even Lassale movement strategy - the watch case acts as the movement of the base plate, dial and run Trains are reduced to the same plane and using spherical bearings to carry "fly" gears and barrel - will start to gain in popularity, at least in the area of ​​cutting-edge, ultra-thin watches. In addition, for self-winding watches, pearl Tuo and Wai Tuo Tuo is ultra-thin watch standard, so the future is likely to continue to use. NOMOS Tetra Neomatik watch Finally, let's take a look at the watch and movement shown above, which is a back view of the NOMOS Tetra Neomatik watch. In contrast, the thinnest all-automatic self-winding movement, the Audemars Piguet Caliber 2120 (without second hand, without date display) has a caliper of 2.45 mm. The Vacheron Constantin Les Historiques Ultra-Thin 1968 is one of the thinnest (time-only) self-winding watches with a total thickness of 5.4 mm; the NOMOS Tetra Neomatik is thicker, 7.2 mm. NOMOS did not "slim" as a Tetra Neomatik watch promotion gimmick. However, whether the movement, or watch, slim means sincerity, customers feel comfortable, the product can be more competitive. The 3.2mm DUW 3001 movement is thinner than the ETA 2892 movement (3.6mm) and thinner than the ETA 2824 movement (4.6mm) and is half the thickness of a Rolex Caliber 3186 movement (6.40mm). All of these movements have a different design focus, and in fact there is no universally accepted definition of "slimness" (as we discussed in the first article in this series). One view seems to become more and more clear, that today's ultra-thin is not just about creating records. Of course, there are certainly some people concerned about how to break through the limits of mechanical watchmaking, for whom the record is a pleasure. But for some people, Slim Watch is not so much a record as it is, but rather an experience: light and cheerful, classically elegant, less pure numbers, and more about outstanding design. This article is reprinted from the watch house, if you have any questions, please send an email to wbsj@wbiao.cn to contact us.