Not sure if I can post direct links to YT video's but having just viewed this video from Watchfinder I am left in awe at what can be achieved within a very small object attached to one's wrist, not a battery, chip or circuit board in sight, just a selection of mechanical parts put together in a way that produces something magical. What I don't understand is how this watch loses money rather than gaining value, lost for words.
I had one of Journe's first Resonance pieces from 2001, at that time he was using a brass movement, but the resonance effect worked, once the seconds hands were synched they kept time with each other. It's a very interesting phenomenon. It's one of those watches I kind of regret selling to fund something else.
I remember someone mentioning this sort of effect in a thread years ago and the idea being dismissed as a sort of urban legend. I had heard of this effect when I was just a youngster but couldn't vouch for it being true or remember where I heard of it. This reminds me of another effect . I have an old book around here somewhere that has plans for a simple device that uses wind passing over the mouth of a copper tube to refrigerate liquids that the other end is immersed into. IIRC it has been used to cool down fuel tanks on high speed aircraft. I remember a Grandfather Clock in the home of a friend' Grandparents that had a most interesting and somehow comforting resonance. The entire case seemed alive somehow. It was a very old specimen with astronomical complications. I can believe its vibrations affected rhythms of everything in that house. " My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf So it stood ninety years on the floor It was taller by half than the old man himself Though it weighed not a pennyweight more It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born And was always his treasure and pride But it stopped, short never to go again When the old man died Ninety years without slumbering His life seconds numbering It stopped, short never to go again When the old man died My grandfather said that of those he could hire Not a servant so faithful he found For it wasted no time and had but one desire At the close of each week to be wound And it kept in its place, not a frown upon its face And its hands never hung by its side But it stopped short, never to go again When the old man died It rang and alarmed in the dead of the night An alarm that for years had been dumb And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight That his hour for departure had come Still the clock kept the time with a soft and muffled chime As we silently stood by his side But it stopped short, never to go again When the old man died Ninety years without slumbering His life seconds numbering It stopped short, never to go again When the old man died"
@Martin_J_N ... This is truly fascinating, sir. Thanks for posting. Also, I engaged the Google machine and located some additional information at the F.P.Journe site...
Vortex tube - common piece of industrial equipment. http://www.exair.com/index.php/products/vortex-tubes-and-spot-cooling-products.html Can be used with compressed air to heat or cool. Drawbacks are that they are noisy, and compressed air is the most expensive utility, so they are not cheap to run continuously...
I personally can't stand the hand design on his watches...but that's just me. Anyway, the phenomenon is well known and studied, and is demonstrated quite well in several videos, using metronomes... Shorter version with just 2 that may be less annoying to listen to... It's value in a wrist watch in terms of performance is unknown to me. The fact that both movement stay "in sync" is almost meaningless if they are both running fast or slow. The video in the OP suggests this watch is "self regulating" but no performance numbers are given...
You join a watch forum and learn about metronome synchronisation, what the.......... Totally fascinating thanks @Archer
I think it is a modern watchmaker's masterpiece (in engineering terms, a convoluted, complex and ineffective solution to a non existing problem ). Quite impressive anyway.
Looks to be the same principle though not the same name. The old book I have suggested it was used to cool down fuel in high speed aircraft, early jets I suppose since the book was from the forties and only air friction at extreme high speeds could counter the effects of high altitude cold. Might also have been useful at lower altitudes in tropic climes. Using the air flow over the aircraft would be pretty much free energy. No moving parts to wear out in the early design so it looks to have been a win -win situation.
A very enjoyable and educating read, just a shame the watches are considerably out of my price range until i win the lottery
What a beautiful movement. Steven Strogatz's book "Sync" is a great read and shows nicely just how pervasive this and related phenomena are. He covers some related ideas in this presentation... (ironically, the video is sponsored by Rolex)