"New" escapement drawings by Rolex...

[el-piloto]

fellow friends!

Now, most of you know by now that I'm sometimes more intrigued with the
"inner values" of watches (read= movements)...
(now that was an understatement... !)

Well, with my interest being focused on the technical aspects of the "insides"
of our beloved & coveted watches, I was absolutely stunned a couple of weeks
ago when I "discovered" information about something Rolex seems to have been
working on for years... the most important aspect of a mechanical watch: its
escapement!

I just posted this as a short addition to a reply on another thread here, but
I do think this is interesting enough for a thread of its own...

And I hope it hasn't been already posted here, if it has, I apologize about
posting it again...

Almost 10 years ago Rolex filed a patent for an amazing new escapement!!
Unfortunately the document is only posted in French (or at least I was only
able to find it in French) so other than the brief introduction on the first page,
the main document is not in English... But still... it is one of the most
amazing & interesting pieces of horological achievement I came across in the
past years...



You can download & read it here:

European Patent Office link 1 (full document)

It is some sort of a "constant force" escapement, much like the one
Girard-Perregaux is using in their "Bi-Axial" Tourbillon...

If Rolex ever decides to really go for it and test it and industrially produce its
escapement, this would really turn the horological world upside-down!! And it
will probably blow the Co-Axial escapement away in a heartbeat!!! (You all
know how much I adore Omega and its history as well, so no offense meant)

And while we are at, there's more interesting thoughts from Rolex regarding
possible escapement ideas... have a look here:

European Patent Office link 2 (full document)

Rolex has been extremely active over the past decades and has patented a
great many wonderful & interesting developments and ideas... This makes
Rolex as "future-proof" as ever before!!!

That doesn't mean that they will actually venture into producing any of these
ideas... but just the information that ideas & designs like these have been
firmed-up & patented is exciting enough... Don't you think?

Oh, if they ever decide to produce "their" escapement... that would have an
immense impact!!!

Wow... exciting times ahead...

Oh well... I hope you found these 2 links interesting...

All the best

Petros

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Thanks for sharing those links!

Quite interesting stuff!

[el-piloto]

Hello everybody!

While looking for more information on this new escapement, as patented by
Rolex, I stumbled upon even more interesting things...

The inventor credited in the patent document is Mr. Nicolas Dehon. Well,
it seems that either the whole thing was a collaborative effort between
Rolex and GP, or that Rolex allowed the rights to be used by GP for a first
serialized production!

I've been given it much thought and I was having doubts that a company like
Rolex would ever consider to put such an escapement into massive production
(as that would be the scale of massive production Rolex would need to break
even). Well, going "the other way" and either collaborating with others, or
even selling off the patent (?) the "Constant Force" escapement has actually
been prototyped!!!

Girrard-Perregaux has made 20 prototypes and debuted them in this year's
SIHH in Geneva! GP claims to have plans to go into (limited?) production
and have the first models out by 2010!

Nicolas Dehon, the inventor as credited in the Rolex patent document is also
behind GP's work on this escapement, so there must be some sort of
collaboration going on...

I hope it is not only me... but if you also find all this interesting (and friends,
really... I think it is... it is a major new development in this rather "traditional"
world of horology), you may read the first information (and see some
amazing pictures of this very escapement) here:

Constant Force at SIHH 2008

It is a fairly long page, so croll down quite a bit... or do a search (on the very
page) for the words "Constant Force" and you'll get at the beginning of the
piece of interest!

Hope you'll like it... I find it amazing...

Thanks & all the best

Petros

[Tools]

Interesting..and perhaps a glimpse of the future..

Rolex has always been involved in the latest movements and horological technology.

They were involved in the early days of the development of quartz technology, but for whatever reason decided not to follow the rest of the pack..

[mfer]

While I agree that is would be amazing, I don't think it is going to be quite so dramatic of a change. Seiko as a "similar" escapement change with their spring drive where the escapement only turns in one way, with minimal inertial changes. It is truly amazing piece of engineering. You can read all about it at www.seikospringdrive.com.

Don't get me wrong, I think this new Rolex tech is AMAZING and look forward to it with GREAT interest. I just don't think it will flip the watch society up-side-down.

[el-piloto]

Originally Posted by mfer

While I agree that is would be amazing, I don't think it is going to be quite so dramatic of a change. Seiko as a "similar" escapement change with their spring drive where the escapement only turns in one way, with minimal inertial changes. It is truly amazing piece of engineering. You can read all about it at www.seikospringdrive.com.

Mik!

Thank you for the Seiko Springdrive link & info!
Seiko was and is a real giant & very traditional force when it comes to
watches... a force that many people tend to easily forget or even dismiss
sometimes...
And I must admit, that I am guilty of forgetting (or simply not keeping up)
them.

The achievements of Seiko are far too great to fit in the space of this quick
reply...
But thank you for reminding me/us of their achievements...

Indeed, the Springdrive technologu & design is amazing and a wonderful idea
and a great engineering work!

My interest has been now officially rekindled...!!!!

Originally Posted by mfer

Don't get me wrong, I think this new Rolex tech is AMAZING and look forward to it with GREAT interest. I just don't think it will flip the watch society up-side-down.

Well... you may be right about it! It has been dormant since 1999... only to
be "awakened" recently... and seemingly not even by Rolex themselves...

We'll have to wait and see what GP makes out of it... and what impact it
will (or won't) have... Still very a interesting development, I look forward to
its implementation(s) with great interest.

And now... thanks to your timely reminder, I'll fill the gap and read in depth
about Seiko's Springdrive...

Thanks, & all the best

[mfer]

The only reason I said what I said, is that I can't believe that Seiko's movement haven't changed the market. This automatic movement is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO accurate. They are guaranteed to be +-1sec/day out of the box. I would so get one of the springdrives if they made a design I liked..... *sigh*

All that said, I want to hear more about the Rolex movement improvements. Thanks for bringing them up. Now I need MORE!!!!!!

[Dahu dextre]

Une version plus aboutie de l'échappement Constant présenté au stade prototype lors du SIHH 2008 sera présenté lors de BaselWorld 2013. Le communiqué de presse orchestré par Girard-Perregaux (sous pression PPR?) cherche désespérément à rompre tout lien avec le passé en prétendant que les recherches débutèrent en 2008 : quelle plaisanterie...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9dlKTwZcVw