Horological Meandering

Kong
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The Alternative Regulator without Hairpring - TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept

TAG Heuer continues in its quest to rethink out of the box with another 'under the nose reinvention', after substituting the traditional pinion and gear transmission with a belt-driven mechanical transmission (which many thought it could not be achieved when it was announced in 2004, and started shipping last November)  with "the first mechanical movement without hairspring".

To celebrate its 150th anniversary this year, TAG Heuer announced a rework of the regulation system which was nearly unchanged since the creation of the Galileo-inspired hairspring by Christiaan Huygens in 1675, and a material improvement (Invar and Elinvar) reducing thermal sensitivity by Charles-Edouard Guillaume, winning him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1920.

Though this regulation system with the hairspring/spiral and balance wheel is still being used till today, it is understood to have inherent isochronal issues.

The alternative 6-Hz (43,200 VPH) regulation system of the TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept intends to tackle the typical regulation system challenges by removing the hairspring which is the lynchpin of every movements and also the controlling component which most watch companies have yet to be able to manufacture.

Instead of the hairspring, the replacement is with a 'virtual spring' derived from magnets.  A flash of the Seiko's Tri-synchro regulator (for more information, please click here) with electromagnetic braking is inevitable. 

However, upon watching the video, the TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept is without any electronics! 



The schematic of the Pendulum Concept Regulation unit


Extracted from the press material :

" ...The complete device forms a harmonic oscillator. The magnetic field, generated by means of 4 high-performance magnets and controlled in 3D through complex geometric calculations, provides the linear restoring torque necessary for the alternative oscillations of the balance wheel. The oscillating period of the TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept is resistant to changes from perturbing forces, which is what makes it an exceptionally good timekeeping device. The movement built with this revolutionary oscillator is fully mechanical and does not contain any electronics or driven actuators..."


The above statements are closely related to the topic of 'Q factor' of oscillator. 

A well written article by  Velociphile , touched on  the 'Q-factor' and also about  increased accuracy of high beat escapements on isochronism improvement , is a good read and relevant to the above concept.

The issue facing the Pendulum concept which TAG Heuer admitted is the magnet is sensitive to temperature.  The company will continue their R&D work with Integrated Actuators Laboratory, part of the Microtechnics Institute of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), hopefully to discover the magnetic equivalent of invar-elinvar.

This project will take the combined efforts of material scientists, engineers and watchmakers ....and I am eager to see TAG Heuer finalizing the alternative regulating system in the coming years.

For now, here are some pictures and videos of the prototype TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept Watch.

Enjoy!

Kong




A filmlet illustrating the alternative regulating system.  Please allow like 7 to 10 seconds to load.




Diameter was not in the specification, however TAG Heuer replied the diameter is 47mm.


 

 


The magnetic 'balance' at rest.  The small second at 4 o'clock location.




























 




The steel case design remains faithful to the GRAND CARRERA with polished angled edges ....


and curved facetted horns.





Have a look on the movement side ....


A pretty sizeable manual movement with diameter at 40.00 mm and height of  6.30mm. 







High frequency of 6 Hz or 43,200 VPH. 
The power reserve is 30 hours, and hopefully the production piece may have a power reserve indicator to alert owner.





















Rubber straps with  folding clasp.




Wrist-shots ...

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