The first day at BaselWorld 2011 closed with a rather eye-catching press conference by TAG Heuer.
The brand has a history of announcing very interesting concept models at the event each year, many of which, must be said, will take years to to get commercialised and put into limited or regular production. Last year they unveiled the Pendulum concept, in which the balance spring inside the watch was replaced with a set of interacting magnets. A very elegant solution for a problem that hasn’t really seen a new approach since the first watches were made. (To see what the balance spring does read this Wikipedia entry.)
This year TAG Heuer unveiled the Apollo Mikrotimer Flying 1000. The concept is a triumph in every sense of the word.
TAG Heuer and Zenith are some of the few brands that use movements with high oscillating frequencies. This means that the balance spring and regulator oscillates higher than the usual 5 hertz. I won’t go into the technicalities of the whole thing, but the idea is that watches with higher frequencies can measure time with greater accuracy. Zenith’s El Primero movement, for instance, can be used to measure up to one-tenths of a second. The technical challenge here is to make a spring that can oscillate at high frequencies without failing or losing accuracy over time due to wear and tear.
In Geneva in January TAG Heuer unveiled the Mikrograph Genesis limited edition piece which could measure upto 1/100th of a second and that too using the central second hand. I had a chance to briefly handle the piece then, and it was quite an experience. The Genesis has two balance wheels and the Chronograph had a real muscular feel to it.
The Flying 1000 is in an entirely different orbit. They played the promotional video twice during the press conference, and both times it ended with explosive applause.
CEO JC Babin said at the event that this was watchmaking’s equivalent of man going to Mars.
TAG has accomplished a slew of firsts to get the device to work. First of all the watch operates at two different frequencies. A slower one for the usual watch operations, and a high-speed one for the Microtimer. This is to both help with accuracy and to prevent wear and tear to the high-speed movements. Also the watch does not have a balance wheel. At all. (I haven’t had the time to go through the documentation. But I will eventually.)
TAG says that they have 12 patent applications pending as an outcome of this concept piece alone.
The sad news, however, is that no release date was forthcoming. Babin said that commercialisation could take anywhere from 3 years to 10 years. It would take that long to subject the movement to testing and certification. Given that the Genesis is a limited edition, the Flying 100 should be one too. Babin added that the price could be anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 CHF. (Which seems ridiculously reasonable for the piece, in the light of the prices out there.)
You can download a spec sheet from here.
The full video of the event is up on TAG’s Facebook page here. (I will embed the video in the post as soon as I get a small enough copy. Meanwhile you can see it on the product page here. Must watch.)
This one is definitely going into my BaselWorld highlights reel later. (I am speaking metaphorically of course.)
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A brief summary of tech specs is as follows:
354 components
Movement Dimension
Total diameter: 35.8 mm (15 ¾’’’)
Total height: 7.95 mm
Frequency
28,800 vibrations per hour/ 4 hertz (watch)
3,600,000 vibrations per hour/ 500 hertz (chronograph)
Jewels
53 jewels
Power reserve
42 hours watch power reserve
150 seconds power reserve
Property of display
Hours
Minutes
Central 1/1000th chronograph second
Chronograph minute and 1/12th of minute on central hand
Chronograph 1/10th of a second at 6 o’clock calibrated to 5 seconds
Mechanical features
1/1000th second chronograph function
High frequency mechanical regulating 500hz spiral for chronograph (patent pending)
(gives static stability and extremely high dynamism with limited dilation. Reduces gravity effects and shocks. Low amplitude increases the isochronous precision of the pulse)
Traditionnal balance wheel for watch
Automatic bi-directionnal rewinding movement
Stop second (when setting the hour)
