its a cool bit of engineering, but why? its just a really interesting way to wear out components in a big hurry. I don't see the point in complications which serve no function. and I own 6 chronographs which get used regularly as part of my work.........
Well they are clearly proud of it since they focused almost the whole spot on the sundial. Cool novelty but what could you possibly do with it? waste of time, get it! LOL Probably an old joke, Im new here, give me a break)
Um, to time things to an eighth of a second, no? Not a novelty. The foudroyante has a history in horology. regarding utility, see above. I can think of more uses for this than a moon phase. http://www.watch-wiki.net/index.php?title=Seconde_foudroyante
And, lovely things that they are, they belong in history. If I'm timing things to that level I'll break down and get the electronic equipment out. Mechanical equipment that runs at that level is too fragile and too costly. (you can trust me on that one, I've seen the bills on servicing "working" watches that run that fast) Besides, your reflexes aren't fast enough to make that level of accuracy worth while, you still need to wire it into what you're timing with optical or electronic triggers to assure it triggers on time. What's the use of 1/8 of a second resolution when you're using 2 second resolution human reflexes for a switch. Never mind the effects of temperature on the lubricants, I've had equipment slow enough in the cold to ruin the results. (okay, so it was 25 below, my ass was getting a bit sluggish too!) But being a civilized type, for day to day work I still use my trusty Excelsior Park or Heuer timers thank you very much..... regularly run off against the navy's master clocks. And, as an added bonus.... the boss thinks their weird! But then.... he wears a Paneri
What? You don't know the critical use of moonphase function? It is to time when you have to be worry about your wife...........or ladies in general
no, you guys have that wrong - you can't measure time - since there is no start-stop button - it is NOT a chronograph ... its just to visualize the halfswings and have the jumping second hand ... IIRC - JLC and Rolex have/had similar systems in their offerings
Escape wheels rotate just as quickly and with the same massive jumps as the wheel attached to this complication and you don't see those wearing out in a few years. The hand is essentially attached to a large escape wheel.
I am with you - I don't understand the negativity. Most true collectors appreciate the "toys" that "belong in history" and it boggles the mind why anyone who appreciates mechanical watches in the first place would not appreciate this, at the very least on a technical level. No one is saying you must go out and buy it, and I for one appreciate this watch and in fact all the work that the Habrings do. They are extremely skilled and don't charge the moon for what are often some very complex pieces. Hell this doesn't even tell the time, but I would still love to have one, even though I'm sure the bills for servicing it would far exceed anything anyone here owns... In fact I would even take a simpler one just in a box...Reuge make some that are not priced completely out of this world... If any of this world made sense, we would all just be using our cell phones for everything or at best wearing a cheap quartz.