The Originator Of The Independent Timing Mechanism, Fake Swiss Watches

What is a jumping second?

The word “jumping seconds” may be a literal translation from its English name, “Jumping Second.” In many places, it is also called “Dead Beat Seconds,” True-Beat,” Dead Seconds,” etc. The most prominent feature of jumping seconds is that the second hand on the dial jumps every second instead of the traditional continuous “sweeping seconds.” The two need clarification since they resemble the running second’s style of quartz watches. In addition, around 1675, astronomer Richard Towneley invented an escapement system, which was also of the Deadbeat type but essentially differed from this jumping second. Fake swiss watches.

Although jumping seconds is a particular function, it is even classified as complex in many classics. This is due to the differences in internal mechanisms. The jumping seconds are fun to watch but could be more practical. In layperson’s terms, they change the direction of the second hand. But many watch friends don’t know that it is inextricably linked to the most common complex function today – timing. At the same time, it has also played an essential role in history, so many brands are still pleased to use it. Take it out and innovate again.

Where do jumping seconds come from?

The originator of modern chronographs began with the timer invented by Louis Moinet in 1816. In 1821, the well-known timer was born, specially invented by Mr. Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec for Emperor Louis XVIII to watch horse racing. However, the mechanical structure of timekeeping can be traced back further. In 1720, the famous British clockmaker George Graham invented a device with a pendulum that could display seconds and divide one second into four parts (i.e., one second is four). Jump).

Graham tourbillon pocket watch, mid 1720s

In the second half of the 18th century, independently driven second hands appeared and were installed in pocket watches (before this, most watches had only two hands to display due to accuracy issues). Watchmakers used this in their movements Th.e time is recorded briefly, but there is no way to stop the timing manually; it can only stop naturally. In 1776, Jean-Moïse Pouzait of Geneva published a report proposing a second-hand system independent of the transmission gear train that drove the hour and minute hands. It could start and stop at will. This was the original complete jumping second system. However, watchmakers noticed that it could not be reset to zero. It was not until the 19th century that the zero-reset function was invented, and the accurate clock was born.

By the 19th century, the jumping seconds structure became increasingly mature, and three different jumping seconds mechanisms were gradually derived:

The first system adds an additional pinion. This gear is connected to the mainspring and moved by a hairspring. The advantage of this independent jumping seconds system is that it does not affect the operation of the main drive train, thus not affecting the accuracy of travel time, and it can be started and stopped at any time.

The second system is to derive a second wheel next to the escape wheel. This second wheel is restrained by a hairspring and has 60 teeth. Since the second wheel and the escape wheel are directly connected, this system has a great impact on the accuracy of the travel time.

The third system is the so-called “single-frequency escapement.” To advance once per second to achieve a jump second, this escapement system deliberately “waits” for the balance wheel to run for two cycles before advancing.

In the first half of the 19th century, mechanical timepieces, especially pocket watches, needed more technology and craftsmanship and had few complex functions. Therefore, jumping seconds mostly appeared alone. In the year’s second half, with the development and implementation of many complex functions, jump seconds were often combined with other mechanisms. Excluding the few “hidden” watches that may still exist today, in the late 19th century, several famous watch manufacturers such as Louis Audemars and Jaeger-LeCoultre produced large-complexity jump-second pocket watches. At the same time, some brands produced some that were not very popular. Complex jumping seconds pocket watches like Henry Moser, Patek Philippe, Lange, Vacheron Constantin, etc.

Late 19th Century Jaeger-LeCoultre Grand Complication Jumping Seconds Pocket Watch

Therefore, a mechanical clock’s chronograph’s core mechanism is an independent set of second-gear trains in the movement. This idea is precisely derived from the seemingly useless function of jumping seconds. Therefore, jumping seconds The stopwatch is considered the forerunner of modern mechanical chronographs. Patek Philippe has held an exhibition on the development history of the brand’s timepieces, including the jumping-second pocket watch produced by the brand in the 19th century.

Patek Philippe PPM 1224 jumping seconds pocket watch from the second half of the mid-19th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, watches were gradually recognized, and due to the promotion of war, watches slowly replaced the market dominance of pocket watches in the 19th century. Due to the smaller size, the movement and mechanical structure were required to be smaller. Subsequently, the continuous improvement of precision and component accuracy requirements follows. At this time, due to the immaturity of micro-machining technology, complex functions have not been realized on watches. Until the mid-20th century, with the rapid development of industrialization, in addition to complex functions such as timing, automatic winding, and tourbillon, jumping seconds once again entered the stage of history and were installed into small watch movements. Franck muller replica.

Moser watch equipped with Chezard 115 series movement.

Chezard, a famous Swiss movement factory, should be one of the earliest manufacturers to apply jumping seconds to watches. The Chezard 115 movement was developed as a jumping-second movement without a stop-second structure. Later, it developed The Chezard 116 with stop seconds, the Chezard 117 movement with day and night display, and the 7400 movement different from the 115 (7402 is the calendar version). The launch of the Chezard 115 jumping seconds movement has been loved by many brands, including Candino, Doxa, Moser, Rogers, Werba, etc. Inspired by the Chezard movement, Omega and Rolex developed their jumping-second movements, leading to an exciting story.

Omega caliber 372 jumping seconds watch

In 1952, Omega produced a batch of Caliber 372 movement synchro beat watches that passed five-position calibration and temperature difference testing. They were exclusively sold in the U.S. market. According to the promotional poster, the price was $375. There are different opinions on whether this watch was produced for two or four years. Public information shows that 1,000 pieces of this movement were made, but only 17 are on the market. A senior overseas collector pointed out that this model watch was recalled from the market after 1954 because Omega believed that the movement was too fragile and did not meet the standards of the brand’s commercially available watches. However, there are far more than 17 pieces in the market.

For this reason, the antique watch-collecting community has also done this. There have been many arguments. Omega did not display this watch or movement in the museum. Jean Luc Miranda of the museum once said that this was Omega’s failure.

Rolex 6556 “True-Beat” watch

Interestingly, Rolex launched the brand’s first watch model with a jumping-second function in 1954, Ref. 6556. This is a scarce watch model. According to current auction records, The existing production years of Ref.6556 are concentrated in 1955 and 1956, and there has also been a Ref.6556 produced in 1964. This model is the general name for Rolex’s “True-beat.” There are many kinds of dials. The words “True-beat” are also at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock. There are also jumping-second watches Rolex produces for Tiffany, and more are rare. This watch model was equipped with the Caliber 1040 automatic movement, improved based on the famous Caliber 1030 movement. It was also the first self-winding movement with a jumping seconds function. However, it was unsuccessful then, so that has yet to be discovered.

IWC knew about itnieur Constant Force Tourbillon Watch

Not long after that, the “quartz crisis” broke out. Many movement factories either closed down or were annexed. Swiss brands also had no time to care for themselves, and mechanical jumping seconds were silent for a long time. The fierce battle between Swiss watch brands in the 1990s gradually revealed the modern group watchmaking landscape. The market finally stabilized with a new balance, and many almost-disappeared mechanisms were discovered and used individually. Jumping seconds have also been re-enabled. Especially in the past five years, watches with jumping seconds functions have appeared frequently, giving this once complicated function another opportunity for watch lovers to see its elegance. At the same time, the help of today’s more mature micro-computer technology, Mechanical engineering, CNC machine tools, CAD design, etc., allow this function to be presented more magically and interestingly more magically and interestingly.