This is a record broken by the Swiss watchmaker Omega: its new automatic watch Speedmaster Super Racingsold for 12,500 euros, boasts a certified accuracy of 0/+2 seconds, which means that it never lags or advances by more than two seconds per day.
For comparison, Rolex managed to get -2/+2 seconds, while the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing (COSC) certifies below -4/+6 seconds.
To give you an example, Rolex and its “superlati chronometer” manages to obtain a precision of -2 / +2sec per day, which is already high precision. The COSC certification being -4/+6 seconds per day.
— Spleen (@Ietemps) January 28, 2023
As a reminder, automatic watches are mechanical watches, devoid of electronics, equipped with a system that allows them to be recharged using wrist movements and to increase their autonomy (they must nevertheless be wound manually every two or three days).
In addition to the design and the materials used, the mechanism is one of their main attractions for buyers of high-end timepieces. On the other hand, mechanical watches, automatic or not, are less precise than electronic quartz watches.
Grave fou!
To achieve this unprecedented precision, Omega has developed an unprecedented spiral balance wheel: the “Spirate”. The hairspring balance is the “heart” of a mechanical watch and is responsible for its precision: “It performs a circular back-and-forth motion and divides time into equal units.”
The Spirate spring is made of silicon, which has very interesting characteristics for watchmaking (anti-magnetic, stainless, etc.).
But the material is so fragile that the watchmakers in charge of maintaining the watches (a mechanical tocante that needs to be serviced regularly) whose balance springs are equipped with silicon springs are normally not allowed to touch it.
However, on this new system, it will be editable. This will achieve insane precision.
The fixed part is the one in blue. The part that will be used to adjust the rigidity of the hairspring is the one in red. pic.twitter.com/sDFbuAzZfE
— Spleen (@Ietemps) January 28, 2023
Gold, Omega, using the technique of deep reactive ion etching, hitherto mainly used in micro-electronics, has succeeded in manufacturing a spiral balance spring in silicon that can be modified – and therefore adjustable – by a watchmaker. So that, over successive revisions, the Omega Speedmaster Super Racing never lags behind.
