"New" escapement drawings by Rolex...

[el-piloto]

fellow friends!

Now, most of you know by now that I'm sometimes more intrigued with the
"inner values" of watches (read= movements)...
(now that was an understatement... !)

Well, with my interest being focused on the technical aspects of the "insides"
of our beloved & coveted watches, I was absolutely stunned a couple of weeks
ago when I "discovered" information about something Rolex seems to have been
working on for years... the most important aspect of a mechanical watch: its
escapement!

I just posted this as a short addition to a reply on another thread here, but
I do think this is interesting enough for a thread of its own...

And I hope it hasn't been already posted here, if it has, I apologize about
posting it again...

Almost 10 years ago Rolex filed a patent for an amazing new escapement!!
Unfortunately the document is only posted in French (or at least I was only
able to find it in French) so other than the brief introduction on the first page,
the main document is not in English... But still... it is one of the most
amazing & interesting pieces of horological achievement I came across in the
past years...



You can download & read it here:

European Patent Office link 1 (full document)

It is some sort of a "constant force" escapement, much like the one
Girard-Perregaux is using in their "Bi-Axial" Tourbillon...

If Rolex ever decides to really go for it and test it and industrially produce its
escapement, this would really turn the horological world upside-down!! And it
will probably blow the Co-Axial escapement away in a heartbeat!!! (You all
know how much I adore Omega and its history as well, so no offense meant)

And while we are at, there's more interesting thoughts from Rolex regarding
possible escapement ideas... have a look here:

European Patent Office link 2 (full document)

Rolex has been extremely active over the past decades and has patented a
great many wonderful & interesting developments and ideas... This makes
Rolex as "future-proof" as ever before!!!

That doesn't mean that they will actually venture into producing any of these
ideas... but just the information that ideas & designs like these have been
firmed-up & patented is exciting enough... Don't you think?

Oh, if they ever decide to produce "their" escapement... that would have an
immense impact!!!

Wow... exciting times ahead...

Oh well... I hope you found these 2 links interesting...

All the best

Petros