Factors Affecting the Timing Accuracy of Mechanical Watches
Friction: A double-edged sword, friction can both facilitate and hinder a mechanical
Factors Affecting the Timing Accuracy of Mechanical Watches
Friction: A double-edged sword, friction can both facilitate and hinder a mechanical watch’s function. Positive aspects include ensuring the automatic winding mechanism’s grip. However, it also leads to wear and tear and decreased transmission efficiency, impacting timing accuracy. The remedy involves improved lubrication, utilizing jewels as bearings, and enhancing gear teeth’s smoothness.
Temperature Effects: Temperature fluctuations can alter a hairspring’s effective length and the balance wheel’s inertia, directly affecting accuracy. Additionally, changes in temperature can vary the viscosity of lubricating oils, thereby influencing the watch’s operation. Solutions include the use of bimetallic temperature compensation balance wheels, special alloy materials for hairsprings and balance wheels, and standard lubricating oils for extreme temperatures.
Hairspring Balance: The balance spring’s center of gravity changes with the balance wheel’s oscillation, leading to positional errors under the force of gravity. Strategies to counter this include the use of Breguet overcoil, cylindrical hairsprings, and innovative materials and shapes to maintain balance spring equilibrium.
External Influences: Environmental factors like shocks, water, and magnetism necessitate design considerations such as shock resistance, water resistance, anti-magnetic shielding, and protective casings to maintain precision.
Regulating System: While the regulating system facilitates time adjustment, it can introduce variability in isochronism and positional differences. To minimize these effects, reducing the distance between internal and external regulating components is key. However, the optimal solution involves eliminating the regulator altogether and adjusting timekeeping through balance wheel inertia adjustments, as seen in Rolex’s Microstella system.
These factors highlight the complexity and craftsmanship required in manufacturing and maintaining mechanical watches, emphasizing the balance between tradition and technological advancement in horology.
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