Very interesting. Not sure if this is a major development or just an advancement of the technology in the Zenith Defy Lab. Either way it’s great to see Swiss makers investing in development rather than just tinkering with age old ideas and claiming things like small increases in power reserve or new bezel materials as major improvements.
It's major not least because Frederique Constant is owned by Citizen.
I'm no expert on watch movements but that looks very impressive!
Really interesting, but having read the article I'm not quite sure that humanity is any further forward in the practice of keeping time with a wristwatch, and therefore I don't see it as a major development myself.
I read that too. Interesting innovation The thing that strikes me is I wonder how long the elasticity of the compliant regulator will be maintained and what effect the will have in timekeeping and servicing.
Presumably all plastics stiffen with time? I appreciate that all springs also degrade but I don’t know how the longevity compares.
That's awesome. I'd definitely want a warranty whilst the tech beds in but it's very interesting.
I've never been that bothered by low beat movements but I like seeing this sort of innovation and it creates a great talking point.
I hope they sell really well and show that there's money to be made in pushing development not just new colour schemes.
That's pretty cool. It's such a simple concept but clearly much more difficult to execute. FC is a great brand, but their designs are lacklustre for my liking.
Very interesting read that thank you
Impressive, but there's something rather frenetic about the oscillation that I think I'd find offputting!
Certainly it does in the video, but I guess that may be due to the frame rate.
The price doesn't seem extreme, either, for something genuinely new.
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Different technology, but in what way is this an advance over something like the Seiko spring-drive? What more does it offer?
Innovation is to be welcomed. Looks pretty good too.
Not sure I'd be interested at rrp though.
Yes, especially as current quartz watches are more accurate, more robust, cheaper and have less servicing requirements than any mechanical movement!Originally Posted by monogroover
I really liked the look of the Zenith Defy Inventor (which to me is the actual ground breaker here). I was actually looking for one in the UK at one point to try. However it was apparently plagued with reliability issues and therefore withdrawn from sale. I wonder if this will do better.
Well done to FC for creating this. Perhaps even harder though, is changing the way people see a brand - it’s like trying to change the meaning of word that everyone knows. They may find that’s the real challenge.
Citizen, the world's largest watchmaker, bought Frederique Constant 5 years ago. If they, Citizen, now choose to use Frederique Constant's 'Monolithic' movement in some of their other brands, it seems likely that this will have a major impact on their competitors, not least Seiko with their quite expensive-to-produce 'Spring Drive'.
I can't find any mention of accuracy anywhere, although I doubt it would be able to match Spring Drive there. It's presumably much cheaper to make and more reliable though. And has a long power reserve.
It's also a lot thinner than the spring drive which is a bit of a chunky monkey.
I like stuff like this, nice to see that horology is alive and well. It's the kind of thing I'd like to own one day, although maybe in a different watch. The blue vibrating silicone looks a bit out of place in the middle of such a classic looking design, it would be better in something more contemporary and sporty looking like their high life models. But then the thinness of the movement probably pushed them towards a dressier style.
Great Video and very interesting concept, love the fact that they have challenged how it could be done.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
The Spring Drive is very impressive, of course, but is a complex and expensive solution to what is essentially a simple problem. The Monolithic approaches the problem from the opposite direction and is essentially a simple solution.
As to its accuracy, it's repeatably adjustable to less than 5 hundredths of a second a day, which suggests that it's accurate within that limit.
However, its longevity and other features have yet to be tested 'in the wild'.
Fabulous stuff....a second comprised of 80 beats..wow
Very impressive, given that it works and is robust. It will be tricky to get the rest of the movement to be as robust, i.e., the bit which reduces the high vibration to something useable.
Best wishes,
Bob
Interesting, but at 40Hz what's the wear on the gear train? One end still runs at the same speed to drive the hands, but 4 gears beck it's whizzing.
That would be seriously impressive. I just looked up the Zenith and that is rated to .3 seconds per day, but at 5Hz instead of 40Hz, so maybe it really is in that kind of range? Would be HAQ accuracy in an automatic watch.
I wonder if you can hear the movement?
Thanks. I did not know that.
The tech is the same as the Inventor's but smaller (and a quarter of the price). We haven't been shown what it sounds like. The Inventor sounds like insects in a jar...
You can hear the Inventor here in the first few seconds
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eSMjUsHwDRA
Last edited by abraxas; 27th March 2021 at 16:15.
"The whole purpose of mechanical watches is to be impertinent." ~ Lionel a Marca, CEO of Breguet
From the article...
"Although the brand does not communicate on the ultimate rate deviation achieved per day (movements will be regulated with -4 +6 tolerances, which is similar to COSC specs), the frequency used yields much greater potential in this respect."
Not sure it's as much of an innovation as Citizen's 0100 movement though?
Based on other videos I've seen, I don't believe it sounds loud like that. Just a highly sensitive microphone specifically used to capture the sound, to emphasise the rapid movement.
I find it strange that they chose to put this in something quite so classical, as if it’s a tourbillon. Not that everything technological has to be in a sci-fi case, for instance it’s good that GS spring drives are usually in traditional, sophisticated watches. But this is taking it to extremes, it’s like inventing the warp drive and attaching it to a Roman chariot.
The spring drive is a red herring as the actual oscillator is a quartz. I'd be putting this closer to the tuning fork watches. These answer two immediate questions.
First, it's perfectly possible to have high rotational speeds without excessive wear. The issue is the amount of angular momentum. If the system is lightly loaded, as in the tuning forks, then it can be a non problem - as it is in, for example, the f720. In this case, it's clear that there is a train, so the biggest question is how much torque the balance needs. if it's not much then we have a viable watch. If not... However, having held some carbon parts they weigh nothing and so I suspect that the balance will require far less torque than a traditional escapement
Second, the incredibly fine tines of the tuning forks seem to be functionally indestructible and they are made of metal. Carbon, which doesn't fatigue like metal, should be basically indestructible.
I suspect that we are looking at a viable technology that, like quartz, will find its own niche and end up being dirt cheap. If it were me, I'd be using PTFE jewels of the sort that I've never hard to replace in a GP 352. I think I'll call it The Astrolon...
But there are no high rotational speeds in that watch. The balance wheel in a conventional 4hz watch has a higher rotational speed than the fastest rotating component in the FC movement. Assuming 3/4 turns per beat, the average rotational speed of the conventional balance wheel will be about 360rpm. If the escape wheel in that FC watch has the same number of teeth and a 40hz oscillator it’ll be rotating at about 320rpm. The oscillator itself is not rotating but flexing and only has 6 degree amplitude.
I stand corrected, cheers. Serves me right for 'shooting from the hip'. It's likely the future of dirt cheap mechanical then.
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I stand corrected, cheers. Serves me right for 'shooting from the hip'. It's likely the future of dirt cheap mechanical then.
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