The Rolex Forums   The Rolex Watch

ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX


Go Back   Rolex Forums - Rolex Forum > Rolex & Tudor Watch Topics > Rolex General Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11 December 2007, 05:10 AM   #1
Solar
"TRF" Member
 
Solar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: North America
Watch: their hands, baby.
Posts: 1,116
Divine Number the Reason?

Mathmeticians point to phi, the number of the divine proportion.

Phi is: 1.618

Phi is said to appear in:
The proportions of the human body;
The proportions of many other animals;
Plants;
DNA;
The solar system;
Art and architecture;
Music;
Population growth;
The stock market;
The Bible and in theology.

The Greeks recognized it as a"dividing a line in the extreme and mean ratio", and reportedly built the pleasing lines of the Parthenon upon its 1.618 ratio.

The Renaissance artists knew it as the Divine Proportion and used it for beauty and balance in the design of architecture and used it for beauty and balance in the design of art, even giving balance to Da Vinci's "Last Supper" (see below).

It was used in the design of Notre Dame in Paris (see below)

Is the Rolex sport line designed with the use of Phi as the common denominator to create curves, balances and forms that are just pleasing to the eye? Another post recently made me think this, since the poster said he can look at his Rolex a thousand times, and never get tired of its lines. Me neither. So are the Rolex designers more clever than that?

Or is it just simple good luck on jewellry and timepieces?

Gotta stop reading mathmatical history.......................

Chris
Attached Images
     
Solar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 05:28 AM   #2
f16570
"TRF" Member
 
f16570's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Real Name: F
Location: Scotland
Watch: Exp II White Face
Posts: 4,272
You do realise we will all be measuring our watches and our respective spouses will think we are nuttier than ever
Thanks for posting.

f
f16570 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 06:49 AM   #3
Solar
"TRF" Member
 
Solar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: North America
Watch: their hands, baby.
Posts: 1,116
Yep, plastic calipers, muttering to ourselves, working out figures with a sudden, shouted:

"Its 1.618!!!"

Yikes.

Pray fer me...............

Chris
Solar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 07:26 AM   #4
dfn8tly
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Real Name: Richard
Location: The Villages, FL
Watch: GMT-II
Posts: 396
Chris;

I don't in any way dispute your premise regarding mathematical proportion. However, my understanding is:

Phi is the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet.

Pi is equal to 3.14159265+

Where did you get 1.618?

Am I confused?
dfn8tly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 07:58 AM   #5
rjw0501
Banned
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Annapolis, MD
Posts: 215
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solar View Post
Mathmeticians point to phi, the number of the divine proportion.

Phi is: 1.618

Phi is said to appear in:
The proportions of the human body;
The proportions of many other animals;
Plants;
DNA;
The solar system;
Art and architecture;
Music;
Population growth;
The stock market;
The Bible and in theology.

The Greeks recognized it as a"dividing a line in the extreme and mean ratio", and reportedly built the pleasing lines of the Parthenon upon its 1.618 ratio.

The Renaissance artists knew it as the Divine Proportion and used it for beauty and balance in the design of architecture and used it for beauty and balance in the design of art, even giving balance to Da Vinci's "Last Supper" (see below).

It was used in the design of Notre Dame in Paris (see below)

Is the Rolex sport line designed with the use of Phi as the common denominator to create curves, balances and forms that are just pleasing to the eye? Another post recently made me think this, since the poster said he can look at his Rolex a thousand times, and never get tired of its lines. Me neither. So are the Rolex designers more clever than that?

Or is it just simple good luck on jewellry and timepieces?

Gotta stop reading mathmatical history.......................

Chris
With all the lines that are on the pictures, it looks like you could make phi just about out of anything.
rjw0501 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 08:04 AM   #6
Tareg
"TRF" Member
 
Tareg's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: LNDN/Turks&Caicos
Watch: Sea-Dweller
Posts: 212
Phi is also known as the golden ratio which is hard to explain by text...

Basically if you divide a line into two there's a unique proportion of the two lengths where the ratio of the whole line to the larger of the lengths, is the same as the larger length to the smaller length...

........................./.............
a b

so (a+b)/a = a/b

that ratio is unique and is 1.618.....

this ratio's found a lot in nature including sea shells and other patterns that are found in nature and historically this ratio has been used in classical architecture.

i doubt that it has been used for the rolex sports models however!!! something with an eccentric dial like glashutte or frank muller would come to mind
Tareg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 08:46 AM   #7
Solar
"TRF" Member
 
Solar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: North America
Watch: their hands, baby.
Posts: 1,116
Or the Zenith Extreme!


Sorry, I should have said Divine Ratio. It is a ratio, as Tariq correctly points out.

Maybe the lug width is a ratio of the case diameter using the Golden Ratio.

Or not............

Chris
Solar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 11:04 AM   #8
Rawhyde
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Real Name: Craig
Location: NW Georgia
Watch: Blue Sub+Tud Chron
Posts: 834
Solar. have you been reading The Da Vinci Code? The divine propprtion is discussed at length in that book.
Rawhyde is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 11:25 AM   #9
Tools
TRF Moderator & 2024 SubLV41 Patron
 
Tools's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Real Name: Larry
Location: Mojave Desert
Watch: GMT's
Posts: 43,516
Mmmmmmmm..

I love phi..

Tools is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 02:04 PM   #10
Ken Cox
"TRF" Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Real Name: Ken Cox
Location: Bend, Oregon, USA
Watch: GMT Master II
Posts: 469
Fibonacci's series:

1 + 1 = 2

1 + 2 = 3

2 + 3 = 5

3 + 5 = 8

5 + 8 = 13

8 + 13 = 21

13 + 21 = 34

21 + 34 = 55

======

55 / 34 = 1.61764...

======

34 + 55 = 89

======

89 / 55 = 1.61818...

======

If one then takes each successive number and divides it by the preceding number in the series, he will get a number that alternates above and below 1.618, ever getting closer but never arriving.

======

Some other interesting things:

In the equation x^2 = x + 1, only phi satisfies x.

In other words, 1.618 squared equals 2.618.

In a pentagram, or a five-pointed star, each long arm of the five triangles describing the five points corresponds to one, and the short arm corresponds to .618, so that, from point to point, the long way across the star, a five-pointed star equals 2.618 units.

In the Great Pyramid of Giza, the height of the pyramid corresponds to the square root of phi, or 1.27272...; the face corresponds to phi, or 1.618; and, half the base, or the whole base of the right triangle describing the height, face and base, corresponds to one.

It goes on an on, and one finds it everywhere in nature.

People try to attach some mystical meaning to it, but I think it represents just another naturally recurring proportion, like the proportion of a circle to its diameter, 3.141592...
We just don't understand it very well, yet.

For further reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

It makes for interesting reading to those so inclined.
Ken Cox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11 December 2007, 03:46 PM   #11
HYDROMAROC
"TRF" Member
 
HYDROMAROC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SAN DIEGO, CA USA
Watch: me pass...
Posts: 1,111
My head hurts now...
HYDROMAROC is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

OCWatches

Wrist Aficionado

My Watch LLC

WatchesOff5th

DavidSW Watches

Takuya Watches


*Banners Of The Month*
This space is provided to horological resources.





Copyright ©2004-2024, The Rolex Forums. All Rights Reserved.

ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX

Rolex is a registered trademark of ROLEX USA. The Rolex Forums is not affiliated with ROLEX USA in any way.