is one of the most mysterious objects in the history of civilisation. Nowadays it is renowned and studied in great detail by the scientific community, but when it was first discovered back in
, its great historical and technical value remained a mystery to be uncovered.
The very idea of a "machine" created in Greco-Roman Antiquity did not enter the conceptual framework of the specialists of the time. Thereafter, obscurantist statements from non-scientists claimed that the artefact from
, where the remains of what is considered to be the oldest "astronomical calculator" in the history of humanity were discovered, is the subject of a second underwater archaeological expedition.
Like a spacesuit or a futuristic aqualung…
Led by the diver and archaeologist Brendan Foley, this expedition
boasts a very valuable asset: a cutting-edge dive suit, akin to a
"submarine suit of armour", developed in the US, which allows
diver-archaeologists to combine the flexibility of a dive suit with the
resilience of a submersible. Known as the
EXOSUIT, it can be used to
depths of 1000 feet (300 metres). It sports the
Hublot colours, in
recognition of the brand's support for the expedition.
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Two metres in length, weighing 240 kilos and made entirely from
aluminium alloy, the diving suit has water thrusters and 18 rotating
joints, which make it relatively flexible. This allows it to combine
mobility and resilience at depth. Carbon dioxide is chemically removed
and oxygen supplied according to the diver's metabolism "at both working
and resting rates".
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With a maximum autonomy of 50 hours, it hugely
expands the possibilities for exploration. With the atmosphere kept at
normal pressure, the diver does not have to work with complex
combinations of gases, as found in diving cylinders. Due to its advanced
technology, this equipment carries a price tag of $1.3 million.
At this time, just one
EXOSUIT has been manufactured for the company J.F. WHITE, who kindly allowed the equipment to be used for the "Return to
Antikythera" expedition. A second suit, also for J.F. WHITE, is currently being produced.
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Hublot and the Antikythera adventure
Hublot has been involved with the
Antikythera project since
2011,
firstly by lending its support to an exhibition at the Musée des Arts et
Métiers in Paris, then by partnering a major project at the
Archaeological Museum of Athens which, thanks in no small part to
Hublot, was able to create a special
Antikythera room with a giant
armoured, earthquake-resistant display case, manufactured in Switzerland
to
Hublot's order, to showcase the remains of the mechanism.
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There, alongside the remains of the mechanism,
Hublot's "Tribute to
the
Antikythera" watch is displayed amongst the other exhibits. This
rebuilt, miniature movement adds a new time dimension to the
Antikythera
mechanism. This exhibition has been extended several times, and has
received record numbers of visitors. The Minister for Culture attended
the museum to open the exhibition and discover this astoundingly
beautiful treasure - the pride of the Greek nation and its history - for
himself.
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The OCEANOGRAPHIC EXO4000 dive watch, able to be withstand
the pressure at depths of 4000 metres, is a tribute to the work of the
entire team of scientists behind this incredible adventure.
Whilst space missions are aimed at discovering far-away environments,
there is one part of our planet that we know very little about: the
ocean floor. To enable explorations at ever-greater depths, engineers,
inventors and technicians work tirelessly to keep pushing the boundaries
of the rational and the possible.
Hublot has also pushed boundaries to
create a watch which is resistant to extreme pressure, as found at
4000
metres.
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It is a genuine instrument, equipped with the most highly-developed technology, ergonomics for efficiency and ease of handling.
It took 18 months of research, development and tests throughout 2010
and 2011 before the first
Oceanographic 4000 was unveiled at the Monaco
Oceanographic Museum.
Almost all the features of the
Oceanographic EXO4000 are
exceptional, in terms of design, development and manufacturing. To be
described as a "dive watch", resistant to the pressure exerted at the
record depth of 4000 metres, the watch had to meet the exacting
specifications of the international standards of Swiss watchmaking
(NIHS).
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Starting with its water resistance, tested in the
Hublot manufacture
in a Roxer tank, submerged and pressurised to the equivalent of 5000
metres. To ensure the watch is water resistant and can withstand this
pressure, the synthetic sapphire crystal is 6.5 mm thick. This is
thicker than normal, but is reasonable for this level of resistance. The
case back is screw-down, essential for reaching such depths. It is made
of grade 2 titanium, an extremely strong stainless material.
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As its case is made of titanium, a material prized for its extreme
lightness and with technical features appropriate for the
specifications, the
OCEANOGRAPHIC EXO4000 is still light on the wrist -
although its diameter of 48 mm and its volume are substantial.
ALL Photos ►► ✪
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In terms of brightness, the time and elapsed time measured by the
flange must be legible from a distance of 25 cm in the dark. To meet
this requirement, the dial, flange and hands of the Oceanographic have
been optimised to have a larger surface area treated with
SuperLuminova™, a luminescent material that emits a red colour.
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The reading method has been made as safe as possible, using an
internal rotating flange which is unidirectional and rack-driven, with a
dive time indicator. The dive time indicator being placed as close as
possible to the dial minimises the risk of inadvertently altering the
dive time. It also makes the dive time easier to read. In accordance
with the standard, the
Oceanographic 4000 has a minute scale on which
the five-minute periods are clearly highlighted.
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The watch is fitted with two screw-down crowns (a protective measure
that helps ensure water resistance by compression of an O-ring seal).
The flange crown which sets the dive time is placed at the 2 o'clock
position for easy access and more comfortable use. It is unidirectional,
again for safety reasons, with a bayonet fitting, and protected by an
oversized crown guard, for extra safety and easy operation when handling
diving equipment. The second crown, for winding and setting the time
and date, is positioned at 4 o'clock to avoid obstruction.
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Finally, the
Oceanographic EXO4000 has a helium valve, a feature
essential to any diving watch capable of descending to great depths. An
essential feature when the watch is used in diving chambers, the helium
valve allows gases that have infiltrated the watch during the descent to
safely escape during the ascent. It is made from stainless steel,
positioned at 10 o'clock, visible from the left-hand side lug.
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The watch comes with two tongue and buckle straps ("Town" &
"Diver"). This type of fastening is more secure than a folding clasp for
this type of use, and is also easier to handle and close when wearing
diving gloves. The "Diver" strap, a blend of rubber and nylon, longer
than a standard strap, has been developed to be worn over a diving suit
up to 8 mm thick. The length of the strap designed to be worn with the
EXOSUIT is actually 50 cm!
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The Antikythera: 82 fragments which the X-ray scanner has
revealed to include toothed wheels eaten away by corrosion and numerous
gears invisible to the naked eye.
The fragments of this "machine" were only analysed in-depth, taking a
multidisciplinary approach, at the beginning of the 21st century. This
work enabled the complexity of this extraordinary mechanism to be better
understood. We now know that this "astronomical instrument" dates from
the 2nd century BCE (between 150 and 100 BCE). Originally, it served as a
"calculator"; its bronze gear trains were housed in a wooden box
measuring approximately 33 cm x 18 cm and its case was sealed with two
bronze plaques covered with inscriptions.
Only 82 fragments of this "machine" still remain; some minuscule, all
corroded: they are now forever protected in the National Archaeological
Museum of Athens. A state-of-the-art tomography study (using an X-ray
scanner) has provided images which can be used both scientifically and
archaeologically, revealing numerous internal gear trains which are
invisible to the naked eye, toothed wheels and new inscriptions
hidden under the concretions: less than a quarter of the ancient Greek
lettering of this text engraved on the "machine" has been successfully
deciphered, but it is believed to be a sort of "instruction manual" for
the mechanical calculator, also thought to show the movement of some
major planets. The gears were driven by what is believed to be a side
handwheel – but the possibility of an auxiliary hydraulic system has not
been ruled out.
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On the trail of the great Archimedes...
It is now accepted that this machine could have been designed in
Rhodes, home to a community of astronomers including Hipparchus, as well
as "mechanical engineers" such as Posidonios. A new hypothesis has been
sketched out: this machine is probably closely linked to Syracuse, in
Sicily, the city of the famous mathematical genius Archimedes, then a
prosperous Corinthian colony. The
Antikythera mechanism could have been
designed there before its eventual shipwreck off the coast of the island
whose name it came to bear.
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According to current knowledge and based on the inscriptions which
have been deciphered, the
Antikythera mechanism could show the different
cycles of the sun, the moon and (in all likelihood) the planets,
relating these to the civil calendars of several large Greek cities
(Corinth, Delphi or Olympia), and showing the dates of the different
games in these cities....
The study of the
Antikythera mechanism – only very recently
begun – is far from being finished, but it has given rise to a great
wave of reinterpretation and reassessment of our knowledge of Antiquity.
The reality of the mechanical knowledge held by these Greek scholars is
a fantastic field to explore. It may even be that a record is found, in
the texts or in the hidden reserves of museums, of other "machines"
like the
Antikythera mechanism.
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Mechanical gear trains which express a mathematical vision of the cosmos
The
Antikythera mechanism is not a clock capable of showing the time:
the ancient Greeks did not experience time as we do. A genuine
cosmograph (a machine to describe the cosmos), and more precisely a
selenograph (a machine to describe the movements of the Moon), the
Antikythera mechanism was highly accurate and could show multiple
astronomical cycles, including the Metonic cycle (named after the Greek
astronomer Meton: it runs for 19 years, equal to 235 lunar months) or the Callippic
cycle (named after the Greek astronomer Callippus: it runs for 76 years,
equal to 940 lunar months or four Metonic cycles), correcting any
inaccuracies. The
Antikythera mechanism also showed the Saros cycle (223
lunar months covering just over 18 years), as well as the Exeligmos
cycle (equivalent to three Saros cycles, or 54 years) which served
especially to predict eclipses.
The volume of astronomical data compiled to create a mathematical
model able to summarise such cycles using mechanical gear trains is
astonishing evidence of the conceptual abilities of the scholars and
engineers of Antiquity. Given that a computer can generate data other
than that entered into it, the
Antikythera "machine" really is the first
mechanical computer known to man. It was a good thousand years ahead of
the first astronomical clocks created on a whole different scale in the
main European cities in the Middle Ages.
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The first watch ever to be inspired by an archaeological find
In 2008, the revelation by the scientific journal, Nature, of
tomographic analyses performed on the fragments of the machine certainly
fuelled the imagination of some less conservative
watchmakers. Mathias Buttet, current Director of R&D at the
Hublot manufacture, wanted to pay homage to the historical legacy that
this first mechanical masterpiece represents. A technical tribute and a
miniature recreation of the entire
Antikythera mechanism as revealed by
scientific analysis, crafted to fit perfectly on the wrist. It is also a
homage to watchmaking, as it adds a new dimension to this astronomical
calculator: that of a timepiece in its own right, capable of accurately
measuring the time.
It is the first time in the history of watches that a watchmaking
development office has taken direct inspiration in this way from an
"archaeological" mechanism dating back to Antiquity. It is also the
first time that a watchmaking team has worked hand in hand with a team
of scientists bringing together leading international figures in
archaeology, epigraphy and historians of mechanical engineering.
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The watchmakers helped the archaeologists better understand some gear
trains and confirm some hypotheses relating to the mechanics, while the
scientists shared with the watchmakers technical solutions hitherto
lost in Antiquity (in particular circular gears with non-linear
cycles).
The sheer ability of the mechanical engineers of Antiquity to create
such efficient bronze gear trains opens up new horizons in their
philosophical relationships with technical progress and with the place
of machines in their conception of the world – which can only in turn
make us question our own relationship with modern-day machines and
"gadgets"...
Faithful reproduction of the astronomical indications of the mechanism conceived by the ancient Greeks
The challenge facing Mathias Buttet's team was to integrate a
watchmaking movement in a miniaturised reinterpretation of the
Antikythera mechanism, respecting the architecture of the original, and
in particular its double-sided display. The team's first task was to
create in a few cubic centimetres what the mechanical engineers of
Antiquity had developed over several thousand cubic centimetres,
ensuring their creation was perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the
original mechanism, both in terms of its accuracy and the legibility of
its indications.
The hours and minutes are displayed in the conventional manner, at
the centre of the movement recreated by
Hublot and presented for the
first time at the Musée des Arts et Métiers de Paris (the Museum of Arts
and Crafts in Paris), as part of its exhibition entitled "
Antikythera,
the enigmatic machine which arose from the depths of time". This
watchmaking movement is regulated by a conventional tourbillon whose
"cage" at 6 o'clock completes one revolution in one minute.
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The various known indications of the
Antikythera "machine" have been
faithfully reproduced on its modern-day counterpart, both on the front
and on the back. The primary face of the movement shows: the calendar
for the Panhellenic games (which designated those cities hosting the
games), the Egyptian calendar (12 months each of 30 days, with the
epagomenal, or additional, days), the position of the sun in the
constellations of the Zodiac, the phases of the Moon (with a
magnificent hand and aperture which shows the position of the Moon in
the zodiac throughout the synodic month), as well as the sidereal year.
The back of the watchmaking movement shows the Callippic cycle, the
Metonic cycle, the Saros cycle and the Exeligmos cycle.
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A modern micro-mechanical tribute to the mechanical engineers of Antiquity
This is the first time in the history of timepieces that these cycles
- a legacy from Antiquity – have been studied, reproduced and displayed
mechanically: to create some of these gears, the
Hublot team had to
develop a highly innovative concept of noncircular telescopic hands,
capable of pointing to the spiral discs of varying diameters.
The
Hublot "
Antikythera" watch housing this watchmaking
movement, a concept devised in Antiquity, was presented at the
Baselworld watch show in Spring 2012.
