A. Lange & Söhne

Hi all,

First of all, please forgive my lack of technical knowledge and for potentially screwing up the terminology.

Now to my question: What is the purpose of the 'notch' in the regulator of ALS watches? I have highlighted this notch in the following two images (copywrite "SteveG"):





Please note that in SteveG's photos the notch is dead straight. However, in my own watch the notch is crooked when viewed with a 10x loupe (which provides roughly the same apparent size as Steve's photo). That is to say my notch does not appear to be intentionally machined; rather, it looks like a cracked line, a geographical 'fault' in some rock so to speak.  Maybe I'm crazy, but should I be worried?

I don't have a camera good enough to take a photo of my notch, but here is an artists impression:




So, to sum up:

1. What is the technical purpose of this notch?
2. Why is my notch 'cracked'? Should I be concerned?

And because no thread is complete without some actual watch photos, here is my 1815 Auf & Ab:

I guess during assembly the notch will be opened a bit, bend a bit to put all into place and to hold it securely after wards.

 

There is nothing wrong with your lovely Up and Down ... a very nice 1815!

 

Best

 

Moritz

Thanks for your reply.

It's interesting what you say about it being a sort of spring, or a least a means to widen and loosen the part to allow for fitting. It  makes sense. It would be nice if an expert could confirm or deny this.

Thank you also for the your kind comments about my Up & Down. My crooked notch doesn't seem to affect the timekeeping any and it is invisible to the naked eye, so it's probably not a big deal. Still, it's a bit disappointing when you look at photos of other watches and their parts are razor sharp with right angles, while yours is a little janky.

The whole thing is called swan neck regulator.

On the first pic you see the lever pointing to the left.

The little screw in the bottom will move the lever (called "Ruecker" in German) up if you crew in and down if you crew out.

This movement has also on impact on the notch: it will widen or close.

And this adjusts the length on the balance spring and hence it will swing faster if shorten or slowly if given more length.

 

Now you wonder why I did not tell this in the first post?

One easily forgets the basics, at times I confess with shame ...

 

Best

Moritz

This message has been edited by COUNT DE MONET on 2013-05-12 01:42:23 This message has been edited by COUNT DE MONET on 2013-05-12 02:13:08

To be clear, I do understand that the regulators in ALS watches use swan necks, and I do know what a regulator is for (it adjusts the effective length of the hairspring).

However, I don't understand what you mean by this:

"This movement (of the lever) has also on impact on the notch: it will widen or close. And this adjusts the length on the balance spring and hence it will swing faster if shorten or slowly if given more length."

I don't see how this would affect the width of the notch all that much, if it all. Also, the notch shouldn't have anything to do with changing the length of the hairspring, as that is what the spoke/lever opposite the swan neck with the pins holding the hairsping is for. When the screw of the swan neck is adjusted it moves the regulator as a unit, and therefore the spoke/lever with the pins holding the hairspring will move also. This movement of the spoke/lever with the pins holding the hairspring captive is what changes the effective length. At least this is my understanding.

In your first post you said that the notch was a means of holding the regulator secure in position, like a friction fit you can tigthen or loosen to install/remove the regulator. That is, you can open the notch a bit wide to put everything in place, then narrow it to secure everything. But your second post seems to say that the notch actually changes shape when the swan neck screw is adjusted, and that this is what affects the length of the hairspring, which I do not agree with.

I hope I am not misinterpreting your words but that is how I understood your post.

Help?

 ... I had to go into the text passage again to read about it.

The whole swinging system is made out of several pieces that have to be assembled together.

The notch in the regulator part will be like a spring as the component with the pins holding the balance spring has to fit into the regulator ring.

And as it has to stay in the regulator ring with a certain degree of friction, the notch will widen a bit when it is pushed in: hence it acts like a spring.

 

The notch is in any Lange movement, in any other movement in any other watch also that uses this way of adjusting the spring.

Nothing wrong there.

 

 

 

 

Moritz

 

Moritz, thanks for your patience in explaining and confirming the function of the notch to me.  Much appreciated.

I have looked at my watch's notch again with the 10X loupe and it is definitely crooked/jagged around the edges (like in my artists rendition). It has no ill effect on the performance of the watch and I can't see it with my own eyes, but the next time I have it serviced I will ask ALS if they think its appearence is normal. Another neurotic watch owner.

Simply enter " Lange close up" into the Forum Search function here and tick "images" first.

You will see: it is all fine, all of them have got it.

I could see it even with my bare eyes in my 1815 homage moon phase!

One more interesting note: if you compare the close ups of Langes without in-house springs (like your model) with Langes with in-house ones (like mine)

you will see that Lange uses a different way to attach the balance spring.

The two brass pins are no longer in use anymore and the regulator is just "round", without the lever of the spring fixator.

This was used first in the Double Split, also the first watch to have used the in-house spring by the way.

 

 

PS

I hope you do no mind if I say "Dr Monet" a you claimed yourself to ne neurotic about watches.

 

Best

Moritz

...I don't dispute that, it is plain to see in many photos of ALS watches.

However, if the notch is supposed to be straight and well-finished, as it seems to be in SteveG's high-res photos of both his 1815 and L1, mine is not. Mine is cosmetically damaged, albeit in such a way that it is not easily visible to the naked eye. I would take a photo if I had the means and ability, but all I can offer is my artists rendition in the first message.