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Seiko Springdrive

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cobra007

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Seiko Springdrive

Post02 Dec 2012, 00:02

I came across this new technology from Seiko some time ago. The first impression that I had was it is over-engineered.
The basic principal is like this. If you would take the anchor escape out of a mechanical watch, you would see the hands moving very fast. Suppose you have a balance wheel that has no spring but a toothed wheel coupling to the smallest gear, the balance wheel would become a gear wheel spinning very fast. Now, if you would let it spin inside a magnetic field, the spinning would slow down due to the lorenz force http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorentz_force. If this force was variable, one could then vary the speed of the "balance wheel" and as such vary the speed of the hands.

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Through clever technology, the balance wheel of the Springsrive also has the function of a dynamo, so that it can create a tiny bit of electricity, just enough to power an electronic circuit. This electronic circuit has a quartz crystal as timing reference and it has enough power to vary the magnetic braking force of the balance wheel. The speed of the balance wheel is then compared against the frequency of the quartz crystal divided by a number. The braking force is then adjusted so that the balance wheel has just the exact speed for time keeping. That is, about 1sec per day accurate.

It sure is very smart technology http://www.seikospringdrive.com/flash.html?soundOn=0. It reminds me a bit of the Bulova Accutron with tuning fork as it also has a smoothly sweeping seconds hand. Biggest difference if of course not using a battery to power the watch but the actual energy stored inside a mechanical spring.

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A great watch, a bit too expensive if you ask me (about $5500), but is it over engineered?
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ronaldheld

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Re: Seiko Springdrive

Post02 Dec 2012, 13:58

AFAIK, no spring drive watches are digital. How does it fit in this forum?
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cobra007

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Re: Seiko Springdrive

Post02 Dec 2012, 22:38

ronaldheld wrote:AFAIK, no spring drive watches are digital. How does it fit in this forum?


Well, I understand it might be confusing, but the whole circuitry to control the speed of the balance wheel is definitely digital. It is no less of a digital watch than a digital watch with hands powered by a battery. There's only 2 differences, 1 the battery is replaced by a spring and 2 the stepper motor is replaced by a servo motor. Apart from that, both systems use a quartz crystal (found in every digital watch) as a time reference.

So I really consider this to be a digital watch, or at least semi-digital or maybe hybrid :-)

Michel
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richard_uk

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Re: Seiko Springdrive

Post02 Dec 2012, 22:51

IMO a digital watch by definition needs to have a digital display, it can be battery powered quartz, or mechanical, but needs a digital display, otherwise it's an analogue watch.
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cobra007

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Re: Seiko Springdrive

Post02 Dec 2012, 23:05

richard_uk wrote:IMO a digital watch by definition needs to have a digital display, it can be battery powered quartz, or mechanical, but needs a digital display, otherwise it's an analogue watch.


Yes, I just realized this. For myself it's about the time circuit or the power source, not so much about the display. but indeed, I should probably have posted in the non-digitals.

That does leave some watches in a gray area.

Michel

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