Horological Meandering

Synopsis: What micro rotor is your favorite and why? Patek Philippe 240 caliber, first debuted in 1977. Photo from Patek Philippe. WHY MICRO ROTOR: Micro rotors are amazing automatic winding movements. They were initially pioneered to help make a watch th...  

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That one winds exceptionally well - probably because it's so large and heavy and benefits from significant centrifugal force. Although, personally, oddly, all the Langes I've ever coveted were manual winds.

...but the Saxonia Annual Calendar is one of my favorite Langes, and it comes with a version of this movement...

Despite the microtor, it’s one of the thickest time-only automatic wristwatch movements ever made at 6.86 mm.

And yes, it's not very thin at all.

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I agree, this is a GORGEOUS movement. Mine doesn't wind well. I'll wind it up with 70 turns of the crown, set the time, put it on my wrist, and after four active days (each day I'm walking over 10,000 steps, according to my phone's step counter), the watc... 

Movement designers have to actually allow for a tiny amount of play in the crown to avoid the jumping of the minute hand when you push in the crown. If the crown mechanism is "too tight" there is a higher chance that there will be a small jump. Kind of ir... 

So they sent it to the factory, I paid for the service, but it’s still the same as new. 🤷🏻‍♂️

And now the movement isn't so tight and thus less likely for the minute hand to jump.

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I agree now 👍

Many other worthy contenders, of course: the Laurent Ferrier not least among them: But the Chopard always feels and looks more social ultimately - the 90s is “my” era, the dogged spirit of “let’s just lock a few people in a room and build a movement from ...  

But I personally find the FBN 229.01 of Ferrier, Barbasini and Navas a little more attractive and extraordinary in terms of design and finishing. Best, Emmanuel

….smashing it out of the park recently: the Daniel Roths have been great (and look great in the metal). Ferrier is Ferrier - I have nothing to add there, his watches are a dream. Love the finishing on Grönefelds too - very different style but a feast for ... 

….because I Might Be About To Do A Thing…. 🫣 Will post photos if I get it!

They are very cool watches!

I'll hand-wind the watch with 70 turns of the crown, set the time, and then put the watch on and wear it every day. After about four very active days, where each day I'm walking over 10,000 steps (according to my phone which has a step counter), the watch... 

Will keep an eye on it!

I always try to wear the same watch for a week at a time - especially if I travel somewhere and it's my only watch. That's a great time to assess the watch. But remember to wind the watch fully, put it on your wrist, have active days, and see if the watch... 

Apparently they fixed it now, and the movements look slightly different which is good. But it basically wasn't winding before even when I tried to wind it manually.

My Bulgari Octo Finissimo doesn't wind especially well neither. I often use it as my sole watch. And it will often stop in the middle of the night - despite having very active days continuously. I define an active day as having more than 10,000 steps a da... 

Have to say, I just love all of those watches even if they aren’t potentially as efficient.

The first Patek Philippe that I met was the 5000 and 6000 models. I really liked the 240 caliber within and its micro rotor. The movement aesthetics, the architecture, and the finishing really spoke to me. And eventually, a 240 caliber was the first watch... 

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Good to know! Thank you for opening my eyes!

When thinking about those you can't see

Even if the 240 and the 1.96 are great calibers with a rich significance, I think my personal favorite micro rotor movement is the FBN 229.01 from Laurent Ferrier, Enrico Barbasini and Michel Navas: architecture, depth, finishing, everything is superlativ...  

I must say, I too am extremely fond of the LF movement. Although I don't own one.

Always a great pleasure to look at it. Automatic movements, though, whatever the rotor, micro or central, don't need to be wound daily, which deprives the owner of this great daily pleasure (for me, at least)!

I do like manual wind watches! But only if they feel good to wind - like Lange.

I really like the Laurent Ferrier micro rotor too. Beautiful architecture and execution. Cheers, John

That LF is indeed extremely beautiful. Especially with the large bridge, which allows the rotor to pivot/spin more freely, as there is no friction from the rotor being only mounted on one side. It should be a very good movement! Although, I don't know for... 

Insight Micro-Rotor 😊 ...  

So much to admire in this watch - even the S-slot screws.

There are many hand-finished elements in this movement 😊

Is the Cal. 4.96 in the Chopard LUC Sport 2000. It works well enough, even if it doesn’t wind particularly efficiently. At the same time one thing you cannot unnoticed once someone points it out is that it is relatively loud, when compared to other watche... 

Yes! My Chopard 96 series movement is very loud! I can hear it on the winder, moving about 120 degrees at a time. Universal Geneve - I did mention it in my initial posting. And the Universal Geneve watches are not well known; not many were sold/produced b... 

Including Chopard and Patek, IIRC 👍🏻

Obviously JLC supplied a lot of whole movements, base plates, and partial movements to many brands including top-level brands like Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, and more. I didn't know that Universale Geneve was a significant supplier at the high l... 

Also beautiful - and that architecture is extraordinary - just maybe a touch less so than the original 1.96, for me. But as I mentioned above, I’m a sucker for a story - the caliber that relaunched a house etc….

That would be the 1.98 IIRC. The 4.96 is a derivation of the 1.96 with slightly less finishing and a tungsten rotor for sportier applications 👍🏻

Slightly different regulator system (aka fine tuning system). But otherwise a very nice movement!

240 calibre. Not sure if it is my favorite, but I like it a lot. Nicely finished, and all works well with no issue over the years.

I haven't had any problems with the movement itself neither. Although one is in need of a service.

(picture from watchesbysjx.com) ...  

I don't happen to own a Piaget and I have little to no experience with them.

So nice to see this type of post. Inspirational. Will see if I can post something more than just pictures. Claus

Thank you for reading!