Why This Obsolete Mechanism Makes Watches More Expensive | So Expensive | Business Insider

This spring is thinner than a strand of human hair and is a vital part of the one-tonne

mechanism

found in the world's most

expensive

watches

. A collector purchased

this

one-ton watch for $5.8 million at a Chris auction in 2023. The complications of

this

watch are quite extraordinary and this piece costs $476,000. The torom

mechanism

was created to counteract the effects of gravity on vertical pocket

watches

, making them

more

accurate, but it no longer improves the performance of the watches, so what

makes

these watches so

expensive

and why do customers pay

more

? for a watch that doesn't work best To answer that question you need to understand what a ton is in a mechanical watch, there is a balance wheel attached to a spiral hairspring that allows it to rotate back and forth.

This movement causes another wheel called an escapement wheel to advance tooth by tooth at regular intervals creating the characteristic ticking sound heard in a clock on a t. However, this entire mechanism called an escapement is placed inside a metal cage that also rotates constantly. This additional rotation is what counteracts the pole of gravity in Pocket Watches Today, pocket watches have been replaced by modern wristwatches that are mainly placed horizontally, so they do not require Aon for their accuracy, but For some reason it is not only highly sought after, it often takes pride of place and can significantly increase the cost of a watch.

It's incredibly difficult to master and doing so will add significant cost to the watch, so you can see, you know, a watch that is a simple watch, just one piece, jumps 20,000 30,000 sometimes 100,000, how difficult it is, just ask Remy, calls a 26-year-old man. -Former independent watch manufacturer specializing in all parts of the manufacturing process. His studio is located near Lake Ani in France, about 30 miles from Geneva, the watch capital of the world, where top brands like Philip and Rolex are based. Him and his colleague Clemon. TI is in the process of creating Remy's second 36-piece watch collection.

He says it takes about a month to complete a watch from start to finish, so Remy and Clemance will be working on them for the next 3 years, one of the reasons for these watches. What it costs is the large number of parts necessary to make the watch work. The entire watch consists of approximately 200 parts in total, 50 of which make up the ton and each of them must be extremely precise down to the thousandth of a millimeter. The Remy ton is made from components cut from brass and steel. He sculpts the raw materials into the basic shapes himself, using a CNC to cut the various sprockets and wheels precisely while automating it.

Machining all these small parts takes a long time, between 15 and 20 minutes for each of the smallest parts and over an hour for the most complex ones. Remy must then compare each individual component to the initial design on the computer to ensure that it meets specifications exactly and that there is nothing out of the lines for each part; he has to readjust several settings. such as cutting speed and this can sometimes take longer than the actual machining. The cut metal needs to be heat treated several times to strengthen it first. This happens through a process called quenching where the steel is heated and then quickly cooled with charcoal powder and then you heat the piece again, quench it, which changes the color from yellow to brown to blue.

From now on, it requires a careful eye and a steady hand to turn this regular Sur piece into a mechanical gear, then you'll have to manually cut each of the 80 teeth on the base Remy often stacks 10 of them together to save Time Remy and Clemance are graduates of Lis Edgar en morto France, a school renowned for training and passing on some of the best young watch makers to the large Swiss watch companies. He briefly worked for Gral Forc in Switzerland before establishing his own brand in 2019 and Clemance worked at Optical Philip before joining him. She is Ramy's first and only employee and has been with the company for about a year.

Where is all this passion and attention for training? For more obvious details, this stage known as beveling is also one of the most time-consuming parts of the process in which each edge is meticulously beveled not only for aesthetic reasons but also to reduce friction and prevent any unintentional resistance with the p. polished and coated with metal such as gold or rhodium to prevent oxidation and add a colorful yellow, pink or gray shine, depending on the coating used. Remy will first experiment with different test pieces to make sure the colors are as desired. There are several types and styles. one ton, single axis, triple axis and even a flying ton, which are only mounted on one side, some cages make a complete rotation every 60 seconds, as is the case with Remy's watch, some are slower and others faster, but the faster the rotation, the more fragile the mechanism. which is already extremely fragile, especially when it comes to the spiral, on any particular day, the tasks of glor may differ today.

She is assembling the pieces that Remy has already prepared in the ton cage. She first tests the balance of the balance wheel and then cuts the spiral. correct length to match, you use an eyepiece known as a loop to shape the curve and make a slight lift of the outermost coil known as top coil B, when you are in the right spot you will assemble it all into the cage using a variety Small pliers and other specialized tools take several days to assemble the tin, then they will check everything and place the movement into the Platinum watch case.

They will do some final check tests and make sure it is hermetically sealed and waterproof before scanning the watch one last time. any speck of dust goes into making the T movement so much time and effort and customers are willing to pay for it, but why else does it make watches more accurate every time you pick up a watch regardless of the price? Looking at a piece of art is really about buying what you love and buying what speaks to you; Often even highlighted with a single sapphire crystal on watches from Switzerland, one of the world's largest luxury watch retailers, customers can find Doon watches at most of the big names, but Kelly Yu, who has been In the industry for 28 years, he says it's also his job to show collectors the wide range available from independent makers they may not even have heard of, but it's up to us to educate the public when they walk through our doors to know what other things you should have in your collection.

I love anyone who takes the time to really build a piece of art like this from start to finish. I truly believe that if you love what you do, you will appreciate someone. like Remy, wholeheartedly take this very detailed Year of the Dragon theme from B, for example, it's one of only 12 new pieces for 2024 to sell for around half a million dollars. I think what's really important for Showcase is also the back of this watch. because you're really looking at something that takes someone so many hours to make and this is a true work of art flipping that surveillance and really looking at the Art and how much work goes into decorating the movement, it's extraordinary and the geeky side of I sat and he probably stared at a turbon for hours on end.