Thursday, April 9, 2015

Parmigiani Fleurier – TONDA Hémisphères Globo














Parmigiani FleurierTONDA Hémisphères GLOBO 

Free to create - an apt description of Parmigiani Fleurier's independent Manufacture.

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 Exercised in honour of women, this freedom takes on a specific nature, leading to the creation of an exquisite watch. Following on from the men's Tonda Hémisphères models, this new version illustrates the art of feminine travel, with a rare combination of technical mastery and finesse.


A complete, functional second time zone

Equipped with the self-winding Calibre PF 337, entirely designed and produced by Parmigiani, the Tonda Hémisphères features a complete second time zone, adjustable to the nearest minute, which reflects the quest for innovation so dear to the brand. This perfect synchronisation with the local time is obtained thanks to an ingenious mechanism (patented). The second time zone can be linked in full-hour intervals to the main time, or indexed to it with an interval of minutes. The Tonda Hémisphères can therefore be synchronised with destinations, with a half-hour offset - sometimes more - from GMT. The watch is adjusted using a beautifully simple mechanism. The first crown is used to wind the movement and adjust the date and main time. the second, positioned above, adjusts the minutes of the small time zone.

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Homage to the Earth

Until now, a small hand on each time zone has rotated around a counter divided into two parts, one black, one white, to indicate day or night. On the Tonda Hémisphères Globo, each time zone is represented by a domed disc, with a transferred image of the Earth, half in the sun and half in the shade. A red triangle indicates whether the time indicated refers to the day or night. It also features a striking representation of our planet, seen from above, with Europe at the centre. It offers a poetic vision of the majestic Earth, whose beauty shines out from the dial that serves as its universe.

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A vibrant, refined look


The opaline dial in Ivory, a silver tone with a slight yellow reflection, presents an exquisitely balanced view of the watch's multiple, beautifully readable indications: hours and minutes, small second at 6 o'clock, date at 9 o'clock, and the time zones. The Ivory shade captures the light and complements the brilliance of the bezel, which is set with 80 diamonds (0.8416 carats), creating a captivating effect.

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For all the sophistication of this model, Parmigiani Fleurier has designed it for the modern female traveller with a vibrant and confident personality. The Hermès strap in denim blue calf leather reflects this dynamism, elegantly underlining the Tonda Hémisphères Globo's modernity, the signature of this collection.

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Technical Specifications

TONDA HÉMISPHÈRES STEEL SET IVORY

References : PFC231-0060700-HC2822

MOVEMENT
Minute repeater & large date movement sounding the hours,
Quarter-hours and minutes
Calibre : PF337
Power reserve: 50 hours
Winding: Automatic
Dimensions: 15 ¾''' – Ø 35.60 mm
Thickness: 5.1 mm mm
Frequency: 4 Hz – 28’800 A/h
Barrel(s): 2 series-coupled barrels
Jewels: 38
Components: 316
Decoration: "Côtes de Genève", bevelled bridges
FUNCTIONS 
Date indication at 9 o'clock
Central hours and minutes
Small second at 6 o'clock
Day/night at 6 o'clock
Second time zone hour / minute at 12 o'clock
Barrel(s): 2nd time zone day/night indication at 1.30
CASE
Shape: 3-part round case
Dimensions: Ø 42 mm
Thickness: 11.15 mm mm
Material: Steel
Finishing: Polished
Bezel:
    Diamonds: 80
    Carats: 0.8416
Water resistance: 30 m
Glass: Anti-reflective sapphire
Crown: Ø 5.5 mm & Ø 7 mm
Back: Sapphire
Back engraving: Individual number
DIAL
Colour: Ivory color
Index: Rhodium plated appliques with luminescent coating
Finishing: Opaline
Hands: Delta-shaped with luminescent coating
BRACELET
Brand: Hermès
Material: Calf
Colour: Bleu Jean
BUCKLE
Type: Folding

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Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Ulysse Nardin – Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon















Ulysse NardinExceptional Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon Limited Edition NEW

The quintessence of mechanical technology timelessly arrayed in gold and enamel, this new model incorporates the constant Ulysse Anchor Escapement, a constant force escapement with a design that breaks completely with the traditional watchmaking approach. A break-away current, the kind of waters where Ulysse Nardin loves to sail.

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Driven by the unending quest for innovation that makes it one of the most dynamic Manufactures, in 2015 Ulysse Nardin dropped a new marker buoy on the capricious ocean of fine watchmaking. An undisputed world first, the new Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon is the quintessence of avant-garde mechanical technology, timelessly arrayed in gold and enamel. The outcome of eight years of research and development, the constant Ulysse Anchor escapement, made entirely of silicium, displays hitherto unknown architecture based on the principle of flexible mechanisms exploiting the elasticity of flat springs.

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This device, the culmination of the development work on the prototype version presented in 2014, represents the height of timekeeping sophistication today: first, no longer constrained by a pivoting staff, the pallet fork moves entirely without friction; second, the geometrical improvements made to the pallet fork, the escape wheel and the flat springs have resulted in a constant-force escapement; and to crown all of this, this new coinage in watchmaking is brought aboard in a tourbillon cage, the peak of traditional expertise.

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Ulysse Nardin has always been driven by a pioneering spirit: in 2001, the Manufacture was the first to develop an escapement made of silicium; it was the first to test a diamond balance spring in 2002; the first to use silicium for its Dual Ulysse escapement – a phenomenon in its own right – in 2005; the first to fit a watch with a diamond escapement, also in 2005; and lastly, the first to use silicium as a kernel for growing diamonds, DIAMonSIL.

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In collaboration with Sigatec, a co-owned company specializing in the production of silicium micro-components, the Le Locle-based company spent no less than eight years perfecting this mechanism, which today appears to be a paradigm shift in the approach to mechanical watchmaking. Challenging the principle of the traditional Swiss anchor escapement, the new constant Ulysse Anchor escapement features a circular frame with a pallet fork fixed in the center, supported in space on two blade springs less than a tenth of the thickness of a hair in diameter. Mounted perpendicular to each other, these are subjected to a bending force that curves them and maintains them in a bi-stable state.

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This complex structure, made entirely of silicium thanks to the DRIE deep etching technique, exploits the physical capacity of blade springs to become distorted along the left-right axis while remaining perfectly rigid along the up-down axis, thus reproducing the kinetic functions of a pivot. The impulse that issues from each alternation of the balance wheel thus transmits its energy to the blades, which snap from one stable state to the other, very much like a snap hair-clip. The pallet arms thus pivot backwards and forwards about a pallet staff that is purely virtual, without generating any frictional forces.

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But the best is yet to come: the redesigned pallet fork now possesses an integral resetting face. As the tooth of the escape wheel slides along this surface as far as the banking face, it will bring the pallet fork back every time to within just 3° of the center line – that is, the imaginary straight line between the center of the balance wheel and the center of the escape wheel which defines the system's equilibrium limit.

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Thus the effort that the balance wheel has to exert to push the pallet fork as far as its tipping point is less than the effort that is restored to it immediately afterwards by the bending of the blade springs. In this way, this positive energy balance is able to maintain the oscillations of the balance wheel at a constant rate. In fact, this interplay of forces is not influenced by the motor torque injected into the escape wheel, which only starts to move once the pallet fork has switched over.

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In a final touch of artistry, this astonishing construction is housed in a 60-seconds tourbillon, whose cage comprises 35 components but weighs no more than 0.4 grams.

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With its constant amplitude, irrespective of how much the two series-mounted spring barrels are wound, this exceptional oscillating mechanism is a major step forward in the field of chronometric accuracy. Visible through a large opening in the dial at 6 o'clock, it is encircled by the indication of its power reserve of at least 7 days on a 140° arc.

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This caliber UN-178 is housed in a rose gold or white gold case in the Classico collection. A setting with traditional lines enhanced with a white Grand Feu enamel dial created by the unrivaled expertise of Donzé Cadrans, a dial-making specialist company owned by Ulysse Nardin.

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Available in two limited editions of 18 pieces each, the Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon will be in the retailers' display windows from May.
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Technical specifications

Model: Exceptional Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon 
Carrousel Flying Tourbillon

Reference: 1780-133  18ct White Gold
Reference: 1786-133  18ct Rose Gold

Limited Edition: to 18 pieces

Movement:
Caliber UN-178
Manufacture Tourbillon
29 jewels, 18’000 V/H 
Power reserve: 7 days, slip-spring
Frequency: 4Hz (28,800 v/h)
Moment of Inertia: 8 mg cm2, adjusting over 4 screws
Hairspring: Silicium, exclusive Ulysse Nardin design
Escapement: 
Constant Ulysse Anchor Escapement in silicium
Orbite: 1 revolution in one hour
Winding: Manual winding
Functions:
Hours and minutes, power reserve indicator 
Case:
18ct Rose gold or white gold
Dial: Grand Feu Enamel
Diameter: 44 mm
Bezel: Unidirectional rotating bezel
Crown: Water-resistant. Screw-down security crown.
Crystal: Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Case-back: Open case back with sapphire crystal fixed with screws
Strap:
Leather with simple buckle

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