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Resumo da Biografia
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There are several components in a mechanical watch that to name them all would take hrs. And with many different watch manufacturers, just about all with a long history and tradition of watchmaking, every movement differs in complexity and arrangement, additional increasing the variety of pieces.
The history of some, such as the balance wheel and escapement, go right back to the origins of watchmaking - they are the basis of a calibre. Others, such as jewel bearings, are not essential to the day-to-day workings of a watch, but for high-class models are a key feature to ensure accuracy and longevity.
The idea of using hard jewels such as ruby and sapphire was first approached in the 1700s. The friction caused by metal rubbing against metal in the many metallic parts rotating on pistons had been found to cause inaccuracies, replacing the metal bearing with jewel equivalents not only resolved the initial rubbing problem, but it was found these precious components did not wear down as quickly either, radically increasing the durability of the watch. However , this idea did not spring into common utilization overnight. Quite aside of the substantial expense of using these precious stones, the difficulty in actually shaping these the tools available at the time meant that will only the most luxurious clocks had any, and even then only in the most crucial bearings, such as the balance wheel pivots.
Nearly two centuries afterwards, in 1902 Auguste Verneuil created a method of synthesizing sapphire and ruby. This made jewel bearings considerably less expensive initially, and the improvements in shaping techniques over this time experienced meant that they were now probable on a grander scale. More and more watchmakers began to use them in their movements, and the number of bearings that were to be 'jewelled' in each calibre also improved. A full complement was usually decided to be 17 jewels, or 21 if capstones were added to the four vertical bearings.
However , because watch accuracy increased throughout the twentieth century, it became harder for watch houses to claim advantages more than their competitors. The painstaking, but subtle work that went into the last adjustments on a movement were more difficult to promote than impressive sounding 'jewelled bearings' containing rubies and sapphires, and so watch companies began to draw attention to the number of jewels the calibre contained. rather inevitably, this lead to spiralling numbers of jewel bearings being used in watch mechanisms. After a point, nothing of these bearings served any real function, and many didn't actually contact any moving parts.
The trend reached its height in the 1960s, with the most infamous being the Waltham 100 jewel watch, which in fact contained an ordinary 17 jewel motion, with 83 minute synthetic rubies embedded decoratively in the automatic disc. There was even an empty space, where one jewel had been left out from the potential 84 holes (42 upon each side of the rotor), most likely to leave a nice, even quantity for the marketers to promote.
This kind of consumer deception could not last, but it was only in 1974 that it ended, when the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) published a standard which flatly banned manufacturers from including any kind of non-functional jewels in their advertising or sales campaigns. This did not stop manufacturers from going over the restrict of useful jewels (which increased to about 27 with the development of self-winding watches in the 1950s, and the improved complexity of the movement that they required), but it has meant that the marketed jewels are at least jewel bearings, and they certainly won't have an adverse effect on the watch.
The extension of life that jewel bearings provides mechanical watches has had an outstanding effect upon them. No longer are older watches an inferior product; one which is wearing out. With regular providing, a mechanical watch could run for centuries without sacrificing accuracy.
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