 The
tourbillon makes it possible for the remontoir d´égalité to be fitted comfortably within the tight confines of a wristwatch as several components
can be combined on the same axis. Very careful assembly and adjustments are required by the watchmaker to avoid an unpoised carriage resulting in poor timekeeping.
The tourbillon, remontoir
d´égalité and dead-beat
seconds ... give us a technical
ballet in miniature.
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Remontoirs
come in two main categories: train remontoirs, which provide a constant force to the escapement, and constant force remontoirs (normally referred to as constant
force escapements). The difference between the two is the placement of the spring (it can be spiral or blade), which provides the constant force. Constant force
escapements have the spring in the escapement and train while remontoires have them placed somewhere in the train, normally as near the escapement as possible.
The remontoir d´égalité is a train remontoir.
Dead-Beat Seconds
At
the end of the seventeenth century, clocks were becoming increasingly accurate, so watchmakers took advantage of this to add a second hand. Many of these clocks
were equipped with a Huygen pendulum that had a natural period of one second due to a one meter long pendulum.
This
had the effect of the second hand advancing, then stopping dead for one second before advancing again, much like the second hand
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on a quartz watch. Second hands on mechanical watches by contrast, generally move in fractions of a second.
When
the first watches were made with second hands, watchmakers attempted to create that same stop-start second effect. A few different approaches were tried; however,
most of these had either a detrimental effect on timekeeping or the added complexity did more harm than good to a stable rate.
In
the Tourbillon Souverain, Journe has very cleverly mounted a natural dead-beat seconds system off the release mechanism of the remontoir d´égalité
This method means that the dead-second system has no adverse effect on the precision of the watch and allows the wearer to see the seconds tick off one by one.
Putting
the tourbillon, remontoir d´égalité and dead-beat seconds together gives us a technical ballet in miniature. Another work of art from François-Paul
Journe.
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