In reality, the case is the most critical point of the ring, in that it is the main failure factor of a minute repeater movement.
Today, there are a handful of manufacturers of these white label movements. We don’t always make them develop a case to go with the movement. In the same way, certain factories which have such a caliber are content to nest it without more precaution. The error is fatal.
The potential for movement can be reduced to zero by neglected interaction with the housing. Sound box is everything, ask Mr. Stradivarius. In a trumpet, it is she who transforms the chicken from our lips into a bugle call to wake up the dead. Two points are essential: giving space and joining together. The first point provides amplitude to the sound.
The too small cases, too close to the movement deprive it of a primary sound box. Solidarity is a point of critical development. Some people attach the stamps directly to the box to transmit energy to the outside most directly. Others join the movement and the case, either by more screws, or by driving it closer.
Patek Philippe “fatty hunting”, for example. This is enough for them since their cases are never waterproof, they only block dust and ambient humidity. At MHC or Vacheron, we go further, to file the plate by hand to bring it as close as possible to the casing circle, itself housed in a box which gives air to the stamps. Jaeger-LeCoultre imagined the Crystal gong, which fixes the stamps directly under the sapphire crystal. It serves as resonant skin, like that of a drum. Combined with other Jaeger solutions, it gives Master Minute Repeaters a lot of intensity and richness, but also a metallic personality. We often prioritize the metals of the case according to their speed, their density.
Titanium has a harder, drier sound personality than rose gold. And platinum can sound wonderful when it is supposed to be the least favorable of all. In reality, the composition of the case cannot make up for the faults of a movement or design. Conversely, it cannot ruin the sound of a successful caliber. The debate is quite lively because it concerns a simple compartment of the game. But we make too many cases of it.
Horsehair and train-train There remains one component to be treated, the regulator. This piece, which dictates the speed and regularity with which the watch rings rafiqsonsonline.com/product-category/womens-watch/, has long determined its speed by an anchor system. Who says anchor says friction and ticking. Result, the old ringing movements make a rattling noise. Some customers appreciate it, perhaps because it reassures them, but it is a complete archaism. Today, regulators are inertial, their speed of rotation is limited by the deployment of masses at the end of springs. They are silent, in any case in principle. A notable exception is that of Jaeger, who clicks at the end of the ringing, which is a shame considering the efforts made on the rest of the ringing mechanism.
This case metal story sums up the problem surrounding the minute repeater. Each brand claims to have the best, the richest, the most sonorous, the most crystalline. Marketing discourse mixed with a rare complication and intimidating prices discourages objectivity. However, it is as essential here as on other key points in watchmaking, such as chronometry. But in the absence of easily quantifiable basic data, we give up.
Delicacy For about 5 years, a new generation of watches has emerged, more powerful, less expensive. They manage to break with the weight of tradition, with the very tight economic equation that limits innovation. Indeed, when a watch rafiqsonsonline.com/product-category/casio/ is depreciated over a few dozen units during its life, it is difficult to reinvent the wheel for it. Those who develop new movements have more merit. Especially if they already have some in their catalog, which they seek to enrich. But there remains a limit that the ringtones cannot cross. In a volume of 18 cubic centimeters, you cannot physically produce a really powerful sound. The alarm clocks use for this a raw energy, focused on an intense strike without research of musicality pushed. The balance of a striking watch is delicate and involves more factors, horological and non-horological, than any other complication. You must therefore persevere, listen, compare, as much as possible, to develop your watchmaking musical culture.
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