HIROTA, Masayuki
23
What is inside the black box?
Thank you, Ken-san and PuristS.
The “Black box” captured my attention, so I gave some questions to Mr. Gomilla.
MH : Is that a sort of regulator system used in Minutes Repeaters? Bulgari uses very refined regulator system,
which verifies inertia moment with only spring. And Seiko uses precise air regulator for its repeater. I guess you also adopted it in Time Writer II.
BG : Yes, the role is the same, the system also can adjust speed with drive train’s speed. But the construction is not the same as current repeaters.
MH : Do you mean that is not variable inertia regulator and air regulator?
BG : Right. But cannot tell what is inside now.
In theory, it is difficult to carry Bulgari and Seiko`s modern regulator in Time Writer II cause of space and torque.
At least variable inertia regulator needs huge spaces though it has high efficiency.
So we can imagine what is inside the black box? Classical contact-type regulator?
But I could not hear the noise from the regulator…
Regards,
HIROTA, Masayuki "Nika"
Chronos Japan
This message has been edited by HIROTA, Masayuki on 2012-09-01 18:46:33
Time Writer II - Mr. Gomila talks about his world of 1/1000 sec.
Time Writer II - Mr. Gomila talks It is the time for the Annual "World Watch Fair" at Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tokyo. As with last year, one of this year's biggest events was by Montblanc. As for last year, it was Montblanc's "Ecrire le Temps" Exhib...
Great report Ken!
I had not heard of this model until now... very cool looking but not sure how much use other than to have it as a great novelty someone else does not have! What size is the watch as it looks quite big on your wrist and any idea of the price? Thanks for sh...
Size is...
.. as far as I remember, around 44mm? At first Mr. Gomila thought of 47, but MB thought it would be too big.... The price... I saw Japanese MSRP, but you should check with your local MB :-) Way out of my league, for sure! Ken
Very nicely done Ken. I am looking forward to
getting my hands on this one. My chronograph lust continues! Many thanks, Tim
It will take sometime to deliver the first one...
Hi Tim, For the first unit, almost all the parts must be made by Mr. Gomila himself and he was really not excited by the prospect of how long it will take the first commercial unit - may take a year or so. The second will be another 6 months or so. Be pat...
Wow! A true 1/1000th counter!
Two escapements, a traditional escapement for the watch, and a chronograph escapement system with 100 beat per minute escapement with a 10X multiplier-gear for true 1000th of a second accuracy. That's amazing. I'm starting to see Villeret almost like a Ha...
Totally separate
Watch mechanism, btw 5 days PR is amazing by its own right, and chrono mechanism is totally separate including of course the barrel. Crown winding - clockwise winds the watch and counter-clockwise winds the chrono. But visibly fun to see the both balance ...
Thank you for prying that picture
away from MB. I have been wondering how the heck they did this since I first read the print article on it. It works similarly in principle to the leveraging indicator on a machinist's dial test indicator, from what they have still left us to figure out. I...
It will be made public....
.. after the patent has been granted, which is, according to him, 2 years away. I, too, am anxious to know more about the idea! Thanks! Ken
Redundant but Desired
Thanks Ken, Mr Gomila and Mr Hirota for the Interview. This "impossible" mechanical achievement is completely redundant in modern world of precision electronic timing. Yet, the mere existence of such a true mechanical time-stopper is sufficient to make it...
Yes, it means a LOT..
... to achieve this by the traditional mechanical watch making. Seriously "Purist" approach, indeed! Ken
As I'm learning more and more about this piece every day...
I'm learning more and more about the incredible accomplishment this piece has and the 20+ patents involved. I second that nomination for the PuristSPro Purity Prize.
Thanks for the fabulous report Ken!
I really hope Montblanc makes more than 36 pieces of this 1/1000th sec chronograph, especially in different color variations. I would absolutely love to see Villeret release a NEW sports watch case which houses this new mechanism. Now that would be rockin...
My pleasure...
... this mechanism in the affordable sports watch line would be awesome. But that may be years away..... Ken
What is inside the black box?
Thank you, Ken-san and PuristS. The “Black box” captured my attention, so I gave some questions to Mr. Gomilla. MH : Is that a sort of regulator system used in Minutes Repeaters? Bulgari uses very refined regulator system, which verifies inertia moment wi...
Regulator....
... Thank you, Hirota-san, for your "guess". That "regulator" must eliminate "ticking" of the 1/1000th sec gear (for the "constant" speed). Converting the ticking to smooth constant speed must be some sort of "regulator" or "governor" type, I tend to agre...
thank you for post and reply...
Ken-san, Yes that’s the real mystery. No need to accelerate drive train if the black box can give stable rotation on “Mobile de milleme” a.k.a 1/1000th wheel. But the rotation of 1/1000th wheel is not stable as shown in this figure (that the reason why F....
It's very cool...
...to see your video of the Time Writer II running and understand a little bit more about the magical insides of the watch. I'll be really curious to learn more about the 1/1000 homogenization mechanism in the future hopefully. Thanks for the great post, ...
