Patek Philippe Invents New Balance Spring

The new balance spring

Swiss luxurious watch manufacturer Patek Philippe has created what is well-known as a technical progress reflected in mechanical wrist watches: a thinner balance spring of a silicon-based material, which amplifies the accuracy of mechanical movements and permits to make thinner watches.

The balance spring is a scientific device invented by Robert Hooke, an English physicist, inventor, and mathematician. It is used in mechanical timepieces to control the vibrations of the balance wheel. Generally speaking, Patek Philippe’s new balance spring considerably enhances the isochronism (literally, “the same time”) of a mechanical wristwatch (that is to say, its capability to keep precise timing whether completely wound or not).

Due to the novel material, functioning, and design, Patek Philippe’s patented “Spiromax” spring apparently differs from usual springs in many ways. Moreover, it can be made 3 times thinner than other springs, allowing the development of super thin mechanical movements. The silicon-based material used for the spring was cooperatively worked out by the Patek Philippe watch company, a Swiss research institute, and other units of the Swiss watch industry, and is confirmed by a privacy treaty.

The first watch with a Spiromax balance spring (a limited issue) will be officially presented at the international 2006 BaselWorld watch exhibition, prestigious clock and jewelry show in Basel, Switzerland (March 30 – April 6).

Patek PhilippeРІР‚в„ўs Technical Progress

The new balance spring is related to another patented technical progress of Patek Philippe unveiled in 2005 at Basel: the first anchor escapement wheel produced from monocrystalline silicon, which is lighter than steel, yet wear resistant. Being anti-magnetic and corrosion resistant, it transmits energy more efficiently to the balance and never needs lubricating.

Regarded by many professionals as the Bentley of watch industry, Patek Philippe elaborates watches that will last for many long years, featuring a great number of complications. In horological terms, a complication in a mechanical timepiece is any function besides telling the hours, minutes, and seconds. Examples of complications include: 24-hour watch, Automatic watch, Chronograph, Date display, Day of week display, Double chronograph, Equation of time, Hack feature, Minute repeater, Month display, Moon phases, Perpetual calendar, Power reserve, Quickset date, Tourbillon. The development of a watch with a few of these complications may take from 9 months to 9 years.

It is a meticulous concentration upon all aspects of quality that distinguishes Patek Philippe from many other watch companies. Patek Philippe projects and manufactures almost all of its watch components (except for some elements, such as hands, faces and sapphire crystal), and garnishes and assembles each timepiece by hand (about 25,000 a year).

The company manufactures wristwatches of the 4 fundamental designs, each of them feature a variety of different properties and complications. These are the Calatrava (the classic round face); Ellipse (in the shape of an ellipse, the face glitters blue); Nautilus (a metal sports wrist watch with an octangular casing) and Gondolo (with tonneau-, rectangular- or square-shaped casings).

Manufactured in issues from 1 up to 300, the watches go through hand finishing, or polishing. Hand finishing, performed only by a few of the best Swiss watch companies, diminishes friction in the timepiece, whilst enhancing its accuracy, longevity and appearance. Every part (the company makes 4.000.000 components a year) gets scrupulous attention. Each and every component is cleaned, furbished, verified at every stage. It is necessary to pass 1,200 stages to produce the movement of a Patek Philippe self-winding (automatic) timepiece with amplifications. When assembled, every movement goes through 600 hours of tests and fine-tuning, as well as imitated real life wear and tear. Therefore, fewer than 3% of the watches do not pass the ultimate internal quality control tests and, when they are bought less than 1% of them are given back.

As you know, original Patek Philippe watches are awfully expensive. You have a nice opportunity to purchase replica Patek Philippe watches at modest price. Premium copies of Swiss timepieces are virtually indistinguishable from the authentic ones. Moreover, now you can wear replica watches while traveling or working to keep your authentic timekeepers away from damage or thieves.