REVOLUTION 254 complication I m up, w w customer’s ministrations is the culprit behind any number of horological woes. woes. horological of number any behind culprit the is customer’sministrations the —which, fromawatchmaker’s perspective, isnearlyalwaysdesirable, astheham-fisted clumsinessofthe with interact physically to needs owner the which to degree the Secondly,reduces it it. address to order in centuries the and fuseé,toelaborate and(mostly)impractical constantforceescapements, havebeendevelopedanddiscardedover the rate ofthewatch—aproblemsignificantenough thatcleverinventions,fromtheremontoired’égalité tothechain in variation less means ) a or wheel balance a (whether oscillator the to power of source the of replenishing of themortalnoseatreality ofentropy. For awatchmaker, theideaisattractive fortworeasons.First, aconstant of theimpossibledreamperpetual motionintheidea;somethingthatrunsindefinitelyisa littledefiantthumbing timepiece. self-winding a of example known earliest the perhaps is This intervention. human never neededtobewoundbyhand,andwould,exceptfornecessary maintenanceintervals,runindefinitelywithout therefore, , The . the wound that levers of series a move to exploited was changes temperature to due metals two of expansion unequal the which in mechanism, bimetallic a had the of One remembered. better be to A self-winding clock or watch holds a powerful attraction for both and owner. and There’s watchmaker touch both for small a attraction powerful a holds watch or clock Aself-winding deserves event the to footnote almost-forgotten an but clocks, the with associated automata the vividly recalls History days for2,000goldpieces,andfoundplacesofhonorintheroyal palacesofMadridand Villaviciosa. success. BoththeKingandQueenweresodelightedwithclocks thatallwerepurchasedwithinafew wait foranappointment,totheKingandQueenofSpain. The riskyandexpensivetripwasaresounding him sixclocks,whichhepresented,afteramonth-and-a-half-long journeyandanotherfivemonths’ capable ofexecutingcomplexmovements,suchaswritingandplayingmusicalinstruments),broughtwith the celebrated creatorofsomethe18thcentury’s mostspectacularautomata(robot-likefigurines Jura, undertookalongandhazardousjourneyfromSwitzerlandtoMadrid.Jaquet-Droz,wholaterbecame n 1757, ayoungwatchmakernamedPierreJaquet-Droz,fromthetownofLaChaux-de-Fonds intheSwiss A HistoryoftheSelf-WindingW E i dmE was centuries in the making ByJackForster making the in centuries was motion of the owner’s wrist — but their story story their —but wrist owner’s the of motion do ceramics and cutting-edge engineering to to engineering cutting-edge and ceramics T wring every last drop of power from the the from power of drop last every wring oday’s automatic use high-tech high-tech use watches automatic oday’s n i d i d w

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REVOLUTION 255 REVOLUTION 256 complication Breguet Abraham-Louis Perrelet Abraham-Louis Pierre Jaquet-Droz known as “l’Ancien”. Hisclaimtothecreditforinventingrotor brutish andshort”, withgreatlongevity(1729-1826)andcametobe ofthe18thand19thcenturies: Abraham-Louis Perrelet. great the of one was winding automatic for mechanism rotor the of feed awindingmechanism.Butitisgenerally agreedthattheinventor slight to-and-fromovementitexperiencesisameagerdietonwhichto watch isinastaticpositionformuchofthetimeit’s carried,andthe perfection ofamechanismforwindingwatchesmechanically. greatest nameswasdevoted,forthenextquartermillennium,to watchmaking’s of some of ingenuity the as strange more the all is fell watchmaker namedStevenPhillips. The obscurityintowhichtheidea independent an by places, all of States, United the in revived was it to haveessentiallylainfallowfortwo-and-a-halfcenturiesuntil was appreciatedasearlythemid-18thcentury, theideaseems evidence thatthepotentialoftemperature changetowindamainspring wa t Perrelet invented ag A I Who InventedteRotor? t Perrelet was gifted, at a time when life was still generally “nasty,generally still was life when time a at gifted, was Perrelet h b ’s g e ree r tch

aham-L rotor ener d t ha a -w ll oui t y oun It’s intriguing that despite early early despite that It’sintriguing s d because the pocket pocket the because century. was 20th This any numbersuntilthe in made watch of kind only the essentially were which watches, pocket particularly suitedto not are systems winding Rotor-operated Rotor-operated

Images courtesy of Antiquorum seems somewhat lessplausible.) 15 minutes’ activitycouldwindeightdays’ reserve intothemainspring that Breguetandothersderived theirdesigns.(However, theclaimthat with completeaccuracy, mostsourcesagreethatitwasfrom Perrelet can’t established date be the Though automatic. rotor-wound the of written andhistoricalaccounts allnamePerrelet asthefamousinventor of Arts ofGenevaisdated 1776, andnumerousothercontemporary watch.” Society Saussure’s the de to from report excerpt brief This to astopwork,continuationofthewalkingmotioncannotdamage the 15 minutes’ walkingsufficestomakethewatchruneightdays.Owing such awaythatitwindsitselfinthewearer’s pocketashewalks; in watch a made watchmaker,has Perrelet, “Master wrote: Saussure de Horace-Bénédict Du Bois. and Philippe Jaquet-Droz, Recordon, Breguet, Louis Abraham- including contemporaries, illustrious most his of studied bysome were boughtand self-winding watches his and day his in celebrity his righttotheclaim.Perrelet wasa in London.” were boughtbyBreguetandLouisRecordon kind this of watches first The wrist. the of ‘self-winding’ watch,whichiswoundbythesimple We givehimthecreditfor inventingthe ‘perpetual’ or colleagues. his with sharing by Locle Le of industry provided considerable impulsiontothewatchmaking of exceptionalintelligenceandgreatsagacity, and his lengthycareerinLeLocle.Hewasawatchmaker Perrelet, calledtheOldOne(1729-1826),professed of theSwiss Watch : “Abraham-Louis finality inTechnique andHistory Chapuis, stateswith Alfred historians, grise of horological the éminence than authority No lessan unassailable. considered is generally Few aspects ofhorologicalhistoryare withoutcontroversy, though. backs evidence contemporary Considerable

of its efficiency by de Saussure; certainly, the weight of plausibility is plausibility of weight certainly, the Saussure; de by efficiency its of the watchatall(this instartlingcontrast tothecontemporary account “unsuccessful”, requiringthewearerto “virtually run” inorder towind Antiquorum catalogue, recently returnedtotheMeyer Museum ofIslamic Art). The Habsburg around 1782(whichisnot,ofcourse, thefamous “Marie-Antoinette” earliest known surviving Breguet No. 2, made for Marie Antoinette in or Some ofBreguet’s earliestwatcheswereself-winding,including the platinum bob,whichisrestrained initsmotionbyabufferspring. heavy a carrying pendulum a by replaced is — Chapuis) by him to attributed watch the in employed (or, Perrelet by least, at employed apparently — rotor central The watch. pocket self-winding the of form standard the represents design the respects, many In workshop. his called “perpétuelles”, formedasignificantfraction oftheoutput watches, self-winding his them; of fond was Breguet systems. winding 19th centuries,therewasagreatdealofexperimentationwith self- about thedebateoverinventionofleverescapement). that periodinindustrialhistory, canbeconsideredtodefinitively What is certain is that at the end of the 18th and in the early early the in and 18th the of end the at that is certain is What steal aphrase fromhistorianKenneth Ullyett,whowaswriting deprived ofthepleasuregettingangrywitheachother” (to to beconclusivelyanswered, “many keenhorologistswouldbe be finalized—perhapsallforthebetter, aswerethequestion establish primacyofplace,it’s unlikelythattheissuewillever The Perrelet’s as Art of disparages Breguet , design self-winding watch, not a perpetual calendar) calendar) perpetual a not watch, self-winding of Chance(theterm “perpetual” referringtoa claims tohaveuncoveredevidencethat by A. L. Breguet L. by A. watch (self-winding) Early perpétuelle the inconsistency with which patents, at at patents, which with inconsistency the one HubertSarton,awatchmaker Antiquorum in April 1993. Given Given 1993. in April Antiquorum from Liège,wasthereal that was auctioned by by auctioned was that inventor oftherotor- according toFlores) wound automatic Perrelet (erroneously, Perrelet , watch, pocket by Chapuisto Perpetuals, Wheels Wheels Perpetuals, Flores, authorof Historian Joseph citing apatent complication watch attributed attributed watch document from from document respects tothe 1778, which which 1778, in crucial describes an identical claims is automatic system he winding

REVOLUTION 257 REVOLUTION 258 complication watch that was wound by the respirations of the wearer, the of respirations the by wound was that watch resistant todust would needtobecleanedlessfrequently asthecasewas watches the that claiming point, selling a as this used Breguet and sealed, completely be could movement no provisionmadeforkey-winding. Thus, the had perpétuelles first the Interestingly, could. and modifiedasmanyfromthefirstbatch he recalled Breguet repeaters). all were perpétuelles explosion” (andanexpensiveone,astheearly fully wound,andtheresultwasoften “a major tension onthemainspringafteritwasalready continued prevent to inadequate was perpétuelles Breguet early the for stopwork the that notes Clutton made. being constantly were improvements course, Of design. practical a for made have and amoreefficientgearingforthewindingsystemseemsto watches inanyquantity, andhisuseoftwomainspringbarrels catalogue). the of side the on more rather Over the years, other developments included a pocket pocket a included developments other years, the Over The bookWatches by GeorgeDanielsandCecil Breguet wasalmostcertainlythefirsttomakeself-winding bridle mainspringbyPatek Philippe The originalpatentdrawingforaslipping and moisture. Museum collection from thePatek Philippe complex pocketwatch, Vittorio Emanuele The Coatof Arms of and huntercasedpocketwatchesinwhichthemainspringwaswound by theopeningandclosingofcover. Buttheself-windingpocket watch remainedsomethingofacurio,despiteBreguet’s initial have significantimplicationsforautomaticwatches. This wasthe output. slipping bridle mainspring, patented by Patek Philippe in 1863. 1863. in PatekPhilippe by patented mainspring, bridle slipping There was,however, one19th-centuryinventionthatwasto the modernautomatic watchasweknowittobe developed. allowed — slip to that’s free bridle a of pressure the by there maintained rather but wall, the to attached physically not is mainspring the of coil outer the which in — mainspring was fullywound,buttheinvention oftheslippingbridle One of the challenges in designing a self-winding watch watch self-winding a designing in challenges the of One would preventwindingfromoccurring afterthespring is topreventthewindingsystemfromputtingexcessive The solution, in general, was to use a stopwork that that stopwork a use to was general, in solution, The tension on the mainspring after it’s already fully wound. wound. fully it’s after already mainspring the on tension addition, the constant tension may break the . spring. the break may tension constant the addition, The firstrotationofunwindingisundesirable, asthe each othertendstoproduceerratic powerdelivery. In to knock,andthefrictionofspringcoilsagainst power outputistoohigh,whichmaycausethebalance

Image courtesy of Patek Philippe east, onewest longitude, onesideis XXXXstrip markszero wristwatch automatic A Harwood and simply use the springs themselves). themselves). springs the use simply and bumper designs dispensewiththese mounted shock absorbers (manylater at theextremesofitsswingbyspring- restrained is and arc, 300-degree a through swinging circle, a of portion a through moves rotor the which in system, asit’s sometimescalled, “hammer” or “bumper” winding 106583, developedaso-called he sharedthepatentnumber whom with Cutts, Harry partner business his and he and Berne, in office patent the to him with prototypes working two brought Harwood 1923, In ideas. his for support find to Switzerland to go century, hefounditnecessaryto 20th the of watchmakers English Born ontheIsleofMan,likemany successful. commercially entirely not modern automaticwatch,albeitonethatwas first the invented he that is certain is What suggested. dirt andmoistureonwatches,assomebiographers have might wellhavehadanappreciationfortheeffectsof First Worldthe trenches, the in Warserved having and, in fought Harwood spectacles. horn-rimmed thick, his by exaggerated myopia nervous of air an with fingered, Dr. MortimerinTheHoundoftheBaskervilles:thin,long- resemblance toSir Arthur ConanDoyle’s descriptionof Englishman JohnHarwood,inphotographs, bearsastrong Pa tent No.106583andtheRiseofCrown

Image courtesy of Antiquorum Hans Wilsdorf

A. SchildandFortis,A. andBlancpainalsoproducedsome initial success.Movementsweremadeandfinishedby winding train. when activatedforhandsetting,disengagedtheautomatic crown, thewatchwasinsteadsetwithaturningbezelthat, of oneandahalfcenturiesbefore;intheabsence Breguet’s innovationwithhissealed-case perpétuelles crown. The casewascompletelysealed,inarepriseof Harwood’s designalsoeliminated thekeylessworksand The Harwood Self-Winding an WatchHarwood was The Company the cal.4130 Daytona uses Cosmograph Oster Perpetual The Rolex its waterproof case and screwdown crown, crown, screwdown and case waterproof its half of what had started out as Wilsdorf & as Wilsdorf out started had what of half law in 1905 and which, after 1919, was known known was 1919, after which, and 1905 in law Davis, whichhe’d startedwithhisbrother-in- as the Rolex WatchRolex the as Company.moved Wilsdorf Wilsdorf, of course, was the Bavarian-born Bavarian-born the was course, of Wilsdorf, Hans Wilsdorf. one of notice the escaped not was tolivetill1965. revived again,eventhoughHarwoodhimself and wentoutofbusinessin1931,nevertobe Depression Great the survive not did company Harwood’s ad), print a in Crawford Joan of endorsements (includingtheappearance later.) years three expired he when fortune her senior, her and years 50 nobleman a marrying by she’d title timing: her by great come had lady (The 1929. in Zeppelin Graf airship circumnavigation oftheworldbyGerman who woreaHarwoodautomaticduringthe Hay, themagneticandseductiveadventuress Lady Grace MargueriteHayDrummond- including American Hearststarjournalist people werephotographed wearingthem, watches totheHarwooddesign.Fashionable the companytoGenevain1912order practical watches. The RolexOyster, with The success of the design, however, had design, the of success The celebrity and success early despite But man andhewasinterestedinmaking as well. Wilsdorf wasapractical escape export duties and taxes, and and taxes, and duties export escape many English manufacturing industries industries manufacturing English many have beenanEnglishcompany— it’s interestingtoreflectthatunder different circumstances,Rolexmight other English watch companies, but but companies, watch English other it wouldhavegonethewayofnotonly it’s one, likely stayed it had although to perfectit. With anaccurate system winding automatic an of addition the only needed it world; technical wristwatchesinthe foremost the of one already was complication

REVOLUTION 259 REVOLUTION 260 complication minute repeaters andrattrapante such arcanaasthe repairof discusses he it, In Their Repair. winding systems),publishedComplicated Watches and Chapuis onthelatter’s definitivehistoryofautomatic historian, DonalddeCarle(who collaborated with and writer, watchmaker horological British great proliferation ofmovementtypes.In1956,the designs. the ancestorofallmodernbidirectionalwinding is system other. the simple with This contact into other direction,thearmwouldcarrygear the automaticwindingtrain; whenitswungthe in wheels main two the of one with engagement one direction,thearmwouldcarrygearinto in swung rotor the arm. When pivoting a of end the the rotorwasgearedtoanotherwheelattached itself. The mainwheelattachedtotheundersideof winding since,buttheBidynator’s systemwassimplicity been anenormousvarietyofschemestoeffectbidirectional automatic movementtowindinbothdirections. There have Felsa the “Bidynator”,first the was implies, name the as which, company ofGrenchen,Switzerland,introducedanhistoricmovement: The GoldenAgeofthAutoma established. outlines ofthemodern,practical sportswatchasweknowitwere winding systemintothefirsttrulymodern,sealedwatchcase, that swungafull360degrees. With theincorporation ofanautomatic bumper automatic,theRolexOysterPerpetual’s movementhad a rotor Harwood’s Unlike aside. swept was design Harwood’s pioneering and 1931, in Perpetual Oyster Rolex the became Oyster Rolex the case, movement, anautomaticwindingsystem,andahermeticallysealed The subsequentyearssawabewildering uses thecal.3135 Perpetual Sea-Dweller The RolexOyster tic W a tch In 1942,theFelsa automatic windingsystem model isintrouced.” “... Almosteveryweekane In the1950s,DeCarlewrote, a favorable environmentconspiredtodowhatitalwaysdoes—create with combined pressure oldster,evolutionary an and of habit stubborn as thepocketwatchfinallyfadedintoeitherafoppishaffectationor the wristwatchreachedanunprecedentedlevelofpublicacceptance, automatic movements,which,bythen,hademerged.Duringthatera, chronographs, butthebulkofbookisdevotedtoplethora of Vintage IWCPellaton ingenious, andthere appearstobenothing[going] wrong.” with edges broken and polished... the action is simple and and simple is action the polished... and broken edges with receive such an accolade)... the steelwork is straight-grained, straight-grained, is steelwork the accolade)... an such receive “The qualityofthemovementissuperb(the onlymovementto “The few movements that de Carle goes out of his way to praise: praise: to way his of out goes Carle de that movements few Patek Philippecal.12-600 AT, whichisanother oneofthe system, wellconstructedandbeautifully finished”;andthe an efflorescent diversity of forms worthy of an unmolested unmolested an of worthy forms of diversity efflorescent an de Carle describes as “a simple and most ingenious ingenious most and simple as “a describes Carle de model isintroduced”. tropical rainforest. As brands soughttoevadeone de Carlecouldwrite, “almost everyweekanew systems, innovationfollowedoninnovation,sothat another’s patentsandintroducetheirownunique director Albert Pellaton, which the usually reticent reticent usually the which Pellaton, Albert director of all time find themselves in his book — movements movements — book his in themselves find time all of which arestillprizedbycollectors,andwhose Some ofthegreat,classicautomaticmovements winding system,namedforIWCtechnical innovations, inmanyinstances,arestillwithus caliber 85family, withitsdualpawl “Pellaton” 1000 and1500movements;theIWCautomatic series Rolex the another: or form today, one in vintage automatic Patek Philippe’s cal. 12-600 AT 05 03 07 01 05 —equationoftime geartrain;06—moonphase train;07&08—fullyassembled movements 01 &02—movement schematics;03—perpetualcalendar geartrain;04—sunrise/sunset geartrain; Classic complication: Audemars Piguetcal.2120/2808, foundintheJules Audemars Equationof Time 08 06 04 02 necessary notto useafullrotor, butrather a thinner. even are To made ever flatter, was go it automatic, thetwo flattestautomaticmovements Piguet Jules Audemars Equation of Time. the Audemars in 2120/2808used the including Oak Jumbo)andasthebasisfor complications, both seenasthecal.2121withdate (intheRoyal give themovementitsuniqueappearance. Itis which rollers, and rail a by periphery engineering achievement;therotorisborneat with athicknessof2.45mm,isremarkable as the Audemars Piguetcaliber2120,which, automatic movementsiscurrentlyinproduction ever created. The kingofflat,full-rotor movements automatic flattest the of some were them among and appeared, had automatics of in watchmaking,wasadrawback. refinement and elegance signified flatness when manual-wind counterparts—which,inatime in manycases,significantlythickerthantheir were, they that was had generation postwar first the of automatics disadvantage only The convenient. wear. also of were point They major of dirtintothecaseanddramatically reducinga manipulating thecrown,therebyreducingentry constant. Automatics reducedthenecessityfor remain to tended also amplitude balance result, delivery curveremainedfairlyconstantand,asa unwound toitslastcoupleofturnings,thepower —sincethemainspringwasnever automatic windingsystemactedasakindoftrain watches werenumerous.Indailywear, the wound manually over movements automatic of advantages The understood. well were winding widely adopted. the movement,suchsolutionswerenever reasons, includingtheincreasedcomplexityof various for but wound), fully becomes mainspring (in whichaboltblockstherotorwhen stopworks incorporated Felsa and both LeCoultre controlled lubricationtoworkwell.Jaeger- precisely very needs and wear considerable cause can barrel the of inside the against bridle the of friction the — desired be to something leaves slipping bridle,likemostengineeringsolutions, the problemofautomaticsoverwinding. The movement) —experimentedwithsolutionsto LeCoultre andFelsa (initsrare “Inversator” as well,andatleasttwobrands —Jaeger- While thecal.2120isflattest full-rotor generation next the 1960s, However,the by By now, thebasicprinciplesofautomatic addressed be to Technicalcontinued problems complication

REVOLUTION 261 REVOLUTION 262 complication task ofcrafting industriallyproduced movementscapableofexcellent legendary reliability aretestimonytotherefinement ofthechallenging modern automatics, andtheirenormousnumbers combinedwiththeir The millionsofETA 2892s,2824sand7750sformthevastmajorityof reliable. ubiquitously and ubiquitous both are landscape horological The FutureofthAutoma today’s microfabricationmethodsandhigh-techmaterials? to pushtheenvelope,though,whoknowswhatmightbepossible with to bringthewholemovementastop.Ifmodernfirmwere to decide enough flex actually to tendency a had it thin, so was it — automatic flat almost certainlyrepresentsthefinaldevelopmentofart theultra- Lemania asthecal.2010. The cal.2000,atathicknessof 2.08mm, by time a for produced was which 2000, cal. improbable the created created wasnotmadeuntil,surprisingly, 1978,whenBouchet-Lassale perform well.However, theall-timeflattestautomaticmovementever build quality, assuchextremelyflatmovementsareoftenchallengedto its to testimony a — rate excellent an holding of capable movement incredible proportions,the12Phasareputationforbeingreliable its 12P, Despite cal. mm. 2.3 Piaget of the is thickness a at production current in automatic micro-rotor thinnest The plate. and train the of micro-rotor design,inwhichtherotorisonsameplaneasrest tic Movement The tractors of today’s of tractors The ultra-flat Piagetmanual-windcalibers o i day, Wit mayyetsomedaycometopass. after all,isaparasite ontheowner. The dreamofatrulyself-sufficient movements will finallyfreeusfromthetyranny oftherotor, which, of theuniverse.Perhaps thenextgreatadvantagesinself-winding death heat the towards inexorably progress we as cosmos greater the energy tobeharvested,asclosed systemsgradually leaktheirorderinto to belanguishing,forgotteninonly afewyears. Yet theworldisfullof licensed andbroughtintoserial production,andtheideanowseems wind themainspring.Sadly, Phillipsdiedbeforehisinventioncouldbe that achangeinambienttemperature ofaslittleonedegreewould efficiency such with temperature in changes harvested strip bimetallic the sametechnologyasJaquet-Drozclockofcenturiesbefore —a the Eternal Winding System. A strangely beautifuldevice,theEWSused and inearly2003,StevenPhillipsshowedaprototypeofwhat he called temperature; ambient in changes slight the harvesting by itself wound past. Oneoftheearliestself-windingclocksbyPierreJaquet-Droz m f ady prove micro-rotor cal.12Pshownwith The ultra-flatPiagetautomatic h ne t h e n w ma a d am uto per i c f teri f ma

or uture eye to both the distant and recent recent and distant the both to eye though, withoutcastingawistful its past. assured ofafutureasdynamic is day, automatic every the bringing improvedperformance automatic. With newmaterials innovations tothedesignof to bringdramatic, eye-catching Bethune andURWERK continue such asRichardMille,De experimentalists and automatics, a hugerange ofin-house Vacheron Constantinproduce Rolex, Patek Philippe,Piagetand Piguet, Audemars LeCoultre, Brands suchasJaeger- movements. and components key on Group Swatch the by held monopoly overwhelming) to concernoverthe(nowless and brand, self-respecting any is increasinglyanecessityfor that anin-housebasecaliber perception the both to response in own, their of movements years havebroughtoutautomatic manufacturers inthelastten Many performance. long-term a ti ma It’s not possible to close, close, to It’spossible not l c s b is ass n H c g rin e

ever ure g g in y d rose gold(left) in yellowgoldand Equation of Time in The Jules Audemars The casebackofthewatch reveals cal.2120/2808 hand-engraved rotor and theskeletonized, complication

REVOLUTION 263