Breguet

Going train please help
Jul 19 2008,20:32 PM

The message posted on July 16th showing all the different gears of the going train in the 'La Tradition' has a "???" pointed at a gear under the center wheel. that gear is a transfer gear of sorts to the power reserve on the back side. the pinion goes through the base plate and is linked to the gears of the reserve. At least thats what I think it is.

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Deceptive complexity…
Jul 20 2008,05:33 AM

Dear XXMLEXX,

 

Welcome; nice to see that your first PuristS post is on the Breguet Forum.

 

That’s a good observation and it is a lot of fun to examine both sides of the main plate of the La Tradition to see where screws, pivots and pins go, because they are all beautifully placed in there own recesses.

 

I don’t, however, agree with your conclusion. While that transfer wheel (labelled ???) transfers energy from the mainspring barrel to the centre wheel, its pinion can be seen in the jewel just under the bridge holding the power reserve assembly on the back of the watch.

 

The other end of the pinion of that pinion gear that you mention, which is part of the power reserve display, is separate and can be seen under the transfer gear at the front of the watch, just peaking out from the edge of the mainspring barrel. [I hadn’t noticed this till you pointed it out and I have spent some time with a loupe going over this watch … playing with watches is another activity that can send you blind!]. You can also verify this by measuring the distances to these pivots from the edge of the case.

 

For a watch with so much empty space, the La Tradition is a rather complex little creature, isn’t it?

 

Wouldn’t it be great if Breguet set up a Master Class for this Cal. 507DR, just as JLC have done for the Reverso Cal. 875? Wishful thinking perhaps?

 

We will have to post an image of the back of the La Tradition and see how many components we can identify! It would also be great to have an exploded diagram of the La Tradition, but I have never seen one published.

 

Thanks again

 

Andrew

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I'm already on it
Jul 20 2008,15:29 PM

While you were writing this lovely explanation, I took a pair of photos, one of the front and one of the back, and have been trying to layer them precisely, so we can see the pinion pairings
-a

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That would be brilliant - I look forward to it. Thanks. [nt]
Jul 20 2008,15:35 PM

No message body

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Neither pretty nor perfect
Jul 20 2008,15:40 PM

but i think it gets the job done

I'm working on a labeled version next, but that'll be slow
A This message has been edited by aaronm on 2008-07-20 15:42:52

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A roler coaster ride for the brain...
Jul 20 2008,15:49 PM

Hi Aaron,

Fantastic service from across the continents...

It is a bit disorientating at first and It's going to take me a while to get my head around that image.

Could you post it again with higher resolution to see more of the fine detail?

Thanks

Andrew

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just click through
Jul 20 2008,15:56 PM

that image should be linked to a webpage, with a link to higher res, which I've linked in here. It's really too large to just inline (2.3k x 2.3k) HUGE IMAGE
a

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I think I have a headache…
Jul 20 2008,18:24 PM

Thanks for all your work Aaron,

 

I had to think about it for a while (and take some paracetamol) but like Rubik’s cube, it is starting to make sense.

 

Your image is very useful when looking at the back of the watch to determine which jewel each pivot coming through from the front fits into, as well as the general architecture of the movement.

 

It also confirms the positioning of the transfer wheel and its separation from the power reserve mechanism.

 

I hadn’t noticed before that the power reserve hand on the front lines up with the pointer on the reverse or that the pinion of the hour hand has the largest jewel at the back of the watch.

 

Seeing with new eyes.

 

Now, if I could just understand how that power reserve mechanism worked … perhaps another thread when my headache has improved.

 

Andrew

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two more
Jul 20 2008,20:19 PM

These are the same basic image stack, just using different algorithms to combine the two layers:
(click either for a huge version)






A

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