patrickmaniac
3104
This is going to be a controversial one. Use of Silicium in movement.
For now, silicium or more commonly known as just silicon is used in escapement. While the benefits of its usage in watches are known ( low friction ect) not many know the flaws.
Silicium is very brittle and delicate. The cost to create a piece of silicium escape wheels is very much more than using metal.
Thus for now the cost of owning a piece of silicium watch might be expensive (taking in consideration repair cost especially after warranty)
Is it a flaw design? I think yes for now. But if silicium is able to be produced at mass economic price, it would be another story.
cheers
PAt
Flawed Designs
MTF's Journian woes raised an interesting question in my mind, just how many new designs have actual flaws in them? There are some obvious ones: UN Freak 1 Escapement Chopard 4.96 Date Advance Patek 5004 split-second pinion For this I'm really only thinki...
I think the Moser Perpetual hat problems with the date disc
from what I read development of the Opus 3 did not exactly go smoothly either. Early MIH watches apparently had problems with the second hand but that is not really a design problem per se since a Valjoux 7750 base was used? Best Andreas
The moser date disc issue has been ratified by now
I thought they held back on deliveries until they manage to solve the issue? I have one, and I was initially apprehensive...but after a year of ownership, it hasn't caused any problems for me yet, though I must confess I have worn the watch less then 10 t...
that is my understanding as well
talking to the representatives at the recent Munich watch fair. I did not mean to knock the Brand or model in any way, I think the watch is fantastic, you are fortunate to own one. Just thinking of examples where I read or heard they had to tweak the mech...
When I bought it, I was aware
Of the problems they had. Names of vervain watchmakers were also dropped as those who came in and "rescue" the watch. But my desire for the watch, and I bought with seriously very little discount - the AD told me they have a wait list, as usual, overcame ...
Material flaws
It may not necessarily be a design flaw, but an unexpected material flaw. There was a flaw in the metal used to make a ratchet and date wheel in a number of Journe Octa RdM's built in 2001. This was acknowledged by the Manufacture and repaired under warra...
Octa Chronograph...
I've never met an Octa Chronograph which works... i think it was a too ambitious watch: the will from Journe to keep the same case thickness for a chronograph lead to a non-working solution... I don't answer to your question which is very precise but I wo...
Functional versus dress watches ...
This relates to a discussion I had recently with pplater on the distinction between 'sport' and 'dress' chronographs. Click here to read . Andrew
This is going to be a controversial one. Use of Silicium in movement.
For now, silicium or more commonly known as just silicon is used in escapement. While the benefits of its usage in watches are known ( low friction ect) not many know the flaws. Silicium is very brittle and delicate. The cost to create a piece of silicium...
That's a possible durability issue
but not really a design flaw. It's a trade-off, the advantages of silicon upfront, but with an unknown lifespan. A
GMT II date setting
You have to do a lot of crown rotating to rotate the date on a GMT II. I never liked this an stick to my GMT master because of this, which has no such issues. Also, the new ceramic GMT II has another issue, the bezel rotates in click increments (if you kn...
UN 160
I am convinced there is a movement problem - owned two, both had the same problem and was contacted since by other owners who also have had issues. I guess it is not a common watch and perhaps not too many owners but something is amiss with that movement,...
U.N Freak 1.0 comes to mind, and mine was no exception to the rule.
You can add the Panerai 8 Dayq movement, the one on the Pam 233, " in house ". But the thing, the most important, is to know if the watch companies manage to solve these issues. Best, Nicolas