I hope I can say thanks to you all, to the ThePurists, by posting some information about a little piece of my watch. The Click. In my opinion, the click is something like the signature of the watch designer. When you look at this component, you can see if the rules of mechanic are adhered to and if it is integrated harmonically into the movement or if it is even able to set a highlight. End of the 19th century, most watchmakers in Germany regarded the click made by the Glashuetter watch factories (e.g. Lange&Soehne et al…) as the best. Because they looked very elegant, allowed the ratchet wheel to move back after full wind (not common at that time), stressed the spring very little (overstressing the spring was often the reason for failure of the click) and passed the force directly into the plate (at that time, many constructions were designed to pass the force to the holding screw. Not the best way…)
Today, it seems that the variety of designs / scripts is reduced to one ore two standards.
OK. What happens when I lay out the VA?
When I came to the point, where I defined the dimension and the position of all wheels, I realised that I will get a little problem. Because at this phase of construction, the area in which to place a click was pretty limited. The red coloured field in the following picture.
But not enough. I have to place the gear train for the up&down indicator into this area. So the field was reduced again and I felt that I have to master a nice challenge. The following picture illustrates this.
But this picture does not show the whole truth. Underneath the plate are more and greater wheels, so that the area is in fact smaller in the picture above. In the following picture, you can see what is left. And for comparison, at the right side of the movement, there is to see the click of the Peuseux 7001. This click of an 24mm movement is to big to place into the VA.
It take me a lot of time and some sleepless night to realise, that I have to use the place underneath the ratchet wheel (Sperrrad). It take some endless hours more to find the “best” shape, the “best” arrangement…
I will not tap my self on the shoulder, but I really like click of the VA. First from the technical point of view. -It needs very few area to work. -It allow the ratchet wheel to go back more than 10 degree after full winding. -The force of the ratchet wheel is directly transmitted to the watch plate. -The screw of the click is only used for holding this part (there is no additional force to the screw). -The contacting area between the tooth and the click is relatively big, so that there will be no wear at this point. -Also one extreme point of contact is near the bottom of the tooth, so that the tooth is not overloaded.
From the aesthetic point of view: The visible part of the click is bordered by only two arcs. Nothing more! One arc has contact with the wheel and the other arc with the plate. In principle, the reduction of a click to the minimum - to 0.5 mm^2. (The part of the click which is normally seen, has only to guide the visible part. See next picture)
What happens with the click during winding up the watch is seen in the animated gif.
To go to the beginning: It seems that the click of the VA has not reached one aspect of the 'Glashuetter' click. At first view, it may not be as elegant because it is to small to notice
Thanks again,
Volker
P.S.: My special thanks to Dr. Bernard Cheong and Curtis D. Thomson.
[Edited for typographic corrections by moderator MTF]
This message has been edited by MelvynTeillolFoo on Oct 15, 2004 12:35 AM This message has been edited by bernardcheong on Oct 14, 2004 3:19 PM
Perdón por lo imprudente, pero alguien habla español. Es muy difícil charlar a ese nivel y entender todo lo de esta pagina es demasiado buena y siempre entro y trato de entender todo y recibir muchas lecciones. gracias de todas maneras y si alguien contesta será muy agradecido
pido disculpa por ser imprudente. desde ya muy agradecido por todo
For me this really defines beauty in watchmaking. . .
October 14 2004, 7:27 PM
. . .at least as I presently understand it. This sort of wonderfully imaginative elegant solution is what real watchmaking is all about, and is a hundred times more beautiful than any anglage or decorative bars, no matter how lavishly applied.
Beautiful work and a great series of articles. However, I am a bit confused. The ETA 28xx puts the click under the ratchet and looks similar in concept to the VA movement. How is his solution unique or different? Also, how do you relieve mainspring tension on the click to repair the watch? ETA added some additional metal beyond the click pin to help get a tool in there to release the spring. Looks like I would push directly on the pin, which could cause the click shaft to bend.
In the food chain of watches, I am an ameba compared to Volker. I admire his VA movement. I guess I don't understand why you would highlight the click since it seems to be the same as ETA's 28xx? What am I missing?
I don’t have written this small article to allege that the click in the VA is the first one witch is partial arranged under the ratchet wheel. There are a lot of movements in history where you can find this.
What I want to describe is the interaction between realising a problem, searching a solution and working out “the” solution. During this process (I can only speak for my self) you have to reinvent most parts/techniques. Without doing that, you will get a collage of combined given components. Maybe technically correct. But aesthetically?
>Also, how do you relieve mainspring tension on the click to repair the watch? ETA
>added some additional metal beyond the click pin to help get a tool in there to release
>the spring.
Please look at the animation and the last picture. You will notice that the main part of the click is to see. You can reach this with a pegwood (Putzholz) and let off the mainspring. A ritual witch is practiced for more than 100 years
When I read the article, I thought the focus was on a click as a signature piece which was forced by a solution in a finite space. I now understand the intent of the article. If available, I would love to see an exploded view of the VA movement.
Glad to know my pegwoods are called "Putzholz". Sounds like somthing my friends use to call me. You are doing some great things and I wish you success.
The click in the ETA 2892 is a simple wire spring that allows for no retrograde motion of the ratchet wheel (something that is not necessary in an automatic watch). It also serves to keep a sliding gear in contact with the manual winding train which decouples during automatic winding, so it's a pretty clever bit of engineering. It is hardly elegant or elaborate as Volker's click appears to be, rather being the bare minimum necessary to perform the job.
I can't recall off the top of my head what the click in the 2824 looks like however.
I was referencing the manual 28xx (2801, 2804, etc) which has a ratchet click. I believe this is also in the 2750 and 2660. You're right that the automatic is a different cup of tea.
El imprudente bajo del por de Perdón, pero
alguien español del habla. El difÃcil muy del Es charlar un
silicio bajo de los maneras y de los muchas lecciones. gracias de
todas del recibir del todo y de y trato de entender del entro del
siempre del buena y del demasiado del es del pagina de de esta del
todo del entender del nivel y del ese alguien todo muy del por del
agradecido del agradecido del será del contesta del pido del disculpa
del por del ser imprudente. del ya muy del desde
Thanks Dave...your question was very interesting and serves to highlight
October 15 2004, 4:43 PM
the intensity and the tremendous amount of thinking, both creative and technical, that is going into the VA.
That explains my interest in this piece and in Volker's work...which follows a question from above...as in my focus on very extreme cutting edge works...this being a prime example.
and a heartfelt congratulations to your watch and the obvious, and very well deserved, success of your watchmaking philosophy.
Your achievements again prove that consequent thinking and subsequent implementation of unusual ideas cab evoke waves of excitement, even with a 'simple watch'. One does not need the spectacular pieces...
Furthermore, I very much like that your construction really is a milestone of movement design and watchmaking technique, bringing really useful features.
It was a pleasure meeting you at Tempus and I am glad to see your watch is progressing well. I can only imagine what it will look like when it is complete.
He put so much effort to create something new that was not appeared in the history of horology. I am so impressed that only one man, not a huge company, create this unique watch that is so logical to have precise time keeping and duration. I am so happy to live with such great horologist in the same era.
