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 The butterfly effect

At Girard-Perregaux, now under the majority control of Kering (ex-PPR) and the leadership of Michele Sofisti, it took nearly five years to fully optimise another completely different concept, a constant escapement whose heart is neither a spring nor two magnets but a thin filament of silicon, one sixth of the thickness of a human hair.
The basic operating principle of this system is easy to understand: hold a business card vertically between your finger and thumb and press down to create the shape of an open bracket, then push the side and watch the card take the shape of the closing bracket. “Click, clack...”, the silicon filament, acting in the same way, transmits its energy to the regulating organ, the balance wheel.

It’s easy to understand but much more difficult to put into practice. This filament, which acts like a micro-accumulator of potential energy, must be armed as closely as possible to its unstable state so that a micro-impulse from the balance moves it instantaneously from one state to the other. During this transition, the filament releases one of the two escape wheels, each time releasing exactly the same amount of energy, instantaneously, constantly and continuously, without disturbing the balance (which in a lever escapement would be accompanied over a longer period). Here, the impulse is direct and fast, “like a slap”. (Europa Star will also come back to this innovation in more detail in issue 4/13.)
In its first guise, this innovative calibre, which answers to the sweet name of Calibre 09 100, supplied with energy by two barrels with two springs each (patent pending), inaugurates the new high-end Constant Escapement LM collection (in honour of the late Luigi Macaluso). Everything in this inaugural piece has been done to offer a maximum of visibility to the butterfly-wing shaped silicon frame that holds the vibrating filament in place along its median axis. For the spectacle, the filament vibrates at 3Hz (21,600 vibrations per hour), but although high frequency is not the stated aim, tests have already been carried out at higher frequencies. We can therefore look forward to new developments, especially since this escapement uses very little energy, which leaves a lot of torque available for future complications. One to watch very closely.
But Girard-Perregaux clearly has its foot on the accelerator pedal and also presented its first in-house integrated chronograph calibre with a column wheel and horizontal clutch. Developed on the basis of the 3000 and 3300 family of calibres, whose gear train it uses, this is a beautiful high-end movement that could not be more classic, comprising 312 components and fitted with a variable inertia balance and a minute counter with instantaneous jump, small seconds at 9 o’clock and a date window that can be positioned at 1, 3 or 6 o’clock.
With modest dimensions (25.06mm in diameter and, above all, a remarkable height of 5.40mm), it has been designed to allow “all sorts of future complications” to be housed on the dial side.
For its launch, it has been fitted into a very classic rose-gold case in the 1966 collection, with a 40mm diameter, and has a face of perfect legibility, on a silvered opaline or anthracite dial, with hour markers in relief, railway-style minute track and a tachymeter scale.
It is just one of 40 new references presented by the brand in Basel this year. But we must recall that one of Michele Sofisti’s tasks was to reduce the total number of references, from an excessive 700 to a more manageable 100.

 Silicon on every level

At Ulysse Nardin, they know about silicon very well, since they were not only a pioneer in the use of this material from the year 2000 but are also a co-owner of Mimotec, a company specialised in this field.
In Basel this year, Ulysse Nardin presented a series of new movements with escapements and balance springs in silicon, some of which had been developed and produced entirely in-house. One of these is the Skeleton Manufacture, with a very contemporary skeletonisation that reveals the manually-wound Calibre UN-170 movement, which was developed and manufactured entirely in-house. The silicon components in this beautiful piece, the balance spring, pallets and escape wheel, have been covered with a layer of artificial diamond which optimises their performance (the patented Diamonsil process). Taking inspiration from the sketches of the bridges for an antique pocket watch, the Skeleton Manufacture, with a very structured geometry (large balance at 12 o’clock above a flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock) is a limited edition of 99 in red gold and 99 in platinum (CHF 60,000).

Another new totally in-house movement, also with a silicon escapement, is the self-winding Calibre UN-310. Its key characteristic is that it was developed specifically for a feminine clientele, which is worried about breaking a nail or scratching nail varnish when pulling out a watch’s crown. This calibre therefore has a unique innovation: a small pusher at 4 o’clock can be used to select the functions of the crown (1-winding, 2-setting the date forwards or backwards, 3-setting the time) which then simply needs to be turned without pulling out. Easy to use and eminently practical, this movement is launched in a case set with jade (four lugs in green jade, bezel set with emeralds and diamonds) and a subtle mother-of-pearl dial. A completely different movement, again produced entirely in-house and fitted with a silicon balance spring, is the Calibre UN-150. This self-winding chronograph, with a power reserve of 48 hours, has 322 components and was developed on the basis of a Nouvelle Lemania movement, for which Ulysse Nardin bought the rights, transformed profoundly and produced entirely in-house. Hours, minutes, small seconds at 9 o’clock, date window at 4.30, central chronograph seconds, minute counter at 3 o’clock and hour counter at 6 o’clock are arranged in the clearest possible way on a magnificent grand feu enamel dial on which the hour and minute markers stand out (a limited edition of 150 pieces in rose gold, but the Marine Chronographe Manufacture is also available in rose gold with a silver dial or in steel with a black dial).