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2013 TIMEZONE WATCH OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
The 2013 TimeZone Watch of the Year finalists represent the best timepieces of the year. The winner is chosen exclusively by the TimeZone community, the world's largest community of wristwatch enthusiasts. Please post your vote here.
Breguet Classique Chronométrie 7727
The Classique Chronométrie 7727 is an ultra-modern chronométre in a classic design. The timepiece features three hi-tech innovations. The first is a 10 Hz oscillator that is more stable and resistant to low-intensity shocks. Despite its high frequency, the movement delivers a 60-hour power reserve. The second innovation is a lightweight, amagnetic balance spring, pallet lever and escape wheel all made of silicon for improved regulating performance. Finally, the third innovation is a patented magnetic pivot that improves the movement’s precision. By incorporating powerful micro-magnets on each end of the balance staff, Breguet designed a dynamically stable system the recenters and self-adjusts. Held in its own artificial gravitational field, the balance staff is unaffected by different positions and low-intensity shocks. The result is an average rate of -1/+3 seconds a day.
Reference
7727
Movement
Manufacture Calibre 574DR manual-winding mechanical movement, 45 jewels, 72,000 vph (10 Hz), in-line Swiss lever escapement in silicon, double silicon balance-springs at 180°, magnetic pivots, and 60-hour power reserve.
Functions
Hours, Minutes, Small Seconds, 1/10th second indicator, Power Reserve
Case
41mm 18-carat white or rose gold with fluted caseband
Dial
18-carat gold, silvered and engine-turned in six different patterns. Individually numbered and signed. Hours chapter with Roman numerals. Small seconds at 12 o'clock and 10ths of a second at 1 o'clock. Breguet open-tipped hands in polished steel.
F.P. Journe T30 Tourbillon
To celebrate 30 years of exceptional watch creations, François-Paul Journe interpreted his first pocket watch in the form of his T30 Tourbillon wristwatch. The T30 case is made of silver guilloché and enhanced by two 18-carat rose gold bezels. The sapphire display back reveals the classic tourbillon movement made in grained and gilded brass, identical to the original of 1983. Two parallel barrels distribute energy to the wheels train, arranged in the axis of the watch, which runs the one-minute Tourbillon. The lateral pallet escapement, which is more compatible with a wristwatch, replaces the original detent escapement, and the original key-winding and time-setting are now replaced by a crown at 3 o’clock. The movement is protected by a silver guilloché case back. The dial in grained silver is engraved with Roman numerals and a steel hour circle, identical to the original tourbillon of 1983. The hours are indicated by blued steel Abraham-Louis Breguet hands, identical to those of the original pocket watch.
Reference
Girard-Perregaux Constant Escapement L.M.
The Constant Escapement L.M. is a breakthrough in the field of chronometry with its contemporary architecture and patented escapement (3 different patents). The principle of the Constant Escapement is constant force, or the constant power delivery to the oscillator to achieve greater precision and regularity from the movement. To achieve this constant force, Girard-Perregaux integrated an intermediate device into the escapement consisting of a 14-micron thin silicon blade that compensates for the variable energy of the barrel by giving constant impulses to the oscillator. The extremely long, 145-hour power reserve is a result of an innovative, patent-pending double barrel system with a total of three meters of barrel spring. All these technical achievements are integrated into the Constant Escapement design, with the escapement and vibrating blade visible in the butterfly wing frame, the hours and minutes flanked by the two energy reservoirs shaped as the double barrels and the linear power reserve indicator placed at 9 o'clock.
Reference
Romain Gauthier Logical One
The Logical One is a precision timepiece that is subject to three pending patents for its flat chain-and-fusée style constant force system system, the method of fabricating the 34-jewel ruby chain and for its high-efficiency gear teeth profile. The Logical One also features a push button winding system integrated into the case side, dial-side visible balance, mainspring barrel with sapphire inserts, and a power reserve indicator on the reverse. Romain Gauthier conceived of and designed the Logical One dial in parallel and with equal emphasis on the art and science of horology. That is, the open dial on the left side exposes the timepiece's innovative technology and the right side is the grand feu enamel time display. Not only is this remarkable timepiece groundbreaking in its inventiveness, it is also exceptionally crafted and finished. By reinventing the chain-and-fusée, Romain Gauthier made it more robust, more efficient and more constant. Specifically, Romain Gauthier replaced the fusée with a slowly rotating snail cam visible at 10 o'clock. Since force is always transmitted in a straight line, the snail cam requires less than one revolution and only one layer of chain. The chain is made of 34 bigger and stronger links than a conventional chain-and-fusée system. Each link is made with a hard-wearing ruby separator. The chain rolls on these rubies around the outside of the wheels for an extremely low-friction and efficient system that results in a 60-hour power reserve. Numerous tests results confirm that Romain Gauthier's simple yet innovative system achieves a measurable improvement in chronometry and throughout the Logical One's 60-hours of timekeeping, its chronometric performance remains constant and unchanging.
Movement
Swatch Sistim51
Sistem51 is the first mechanical movement ever to be made entirely on a fully-automated assembly line. The modular movement construction is made from 51 component parts that are hermetically sealed within a plastic case to form a single assembly centred on a single screw. The self-winding, Swiss movement is made entirely of ARCAP, an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc with exceptional anti-magnetic qualities and the efficient design results in a 90 hour power reserve. The hi-tech escapement has no regulator and the rate is set at the factory with a laser to achieve a precision of +/- 10 seconds per day.
Movement
Zenith Academy Christophe Colomb Hurricane
The Academy Christophe Colomb Hurricane is an horological feat that combines three technical innovations aimed at improving chronometry: a patented Gravity Control system, a fusée and chain transmission, and a high frequency 36,000 vph. The Gravity Control system cancels the negative effects of gravity and works on the principle that maintaining the escapement in a horizontal position results in the best possible balance-wheel amplitude that yields optimal timekeeping precision. Zenith devised its patented “Gravity Control” carriage like a ship’s gimbal that ensures the escapement and balance are permanently kept in a horizontal position. To eliminate variations in isochronism, Zenith added a constant force fusée-chain transmission connected to the barrel. The fusée and chain compensates for the variations in the force of a barrel while it is unwinding.
Reference