Smoothness of Sweep

[poopie]

I am a newbie who, over the past few years, have fallen in love with mechanical watches. I am now the proud owner of a few of these toys, including an Explorer II M and a SubC.

My passion is driven by the smooth sweeping hand of a mechanical watch. Somehow and on some level this connects with me, reminding me that time is a continuous and not discrete measure.

I'd like your opinion as to which watch/movement you believe has the smoothest second sweep. I'm not sure which technical attributes are at play here (#of vibrations, different balance wheels, etc.) but I seem to observe that my Breitling Cockpit has the smoothest sweep of my collection, even compared to my two rollies. Your thoughts?

Yih

[Caraptor]

The higher the beat rate, the smoother looking the sweep.

[GradyPhilpott]

As noted above, the "sweep" is not really smooth. It's just that the more beats, the more the eye is fooled into thinking that it's smooth.

Now, according to what I hear and read, among mechanical movements, Seiko's Spring Drive is a truly smooth sweep.

If I'm wrong someone will be along shortly to make the correction.

Here's a similar discussion.

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=126245

[Danand]

Also generally all else being equal a longer second hand will appear less smooth.

[dddrees]

The other option might be Zenith El Primero Striking 10th. It also has a very high beat at 36,000 vph.

Smaller second hand however.

[model7el]

Longines late 60's ultra-chron, first watches doing 36,000 vph

[Caraptor]

Modern Rolexes are at 28,800, right?

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by Caraptor

Modern Rolexes are at 28,800, right?

Correct.

Here's a comparison of Rolex and Seiko's Spring Drive.

It's in French, but it's clear what's going on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHF9W...eature=related

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

Correct.

Here's a comparison of Rolex and Seiko's Spring Drive.

It's in French, but it's clear what's going on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHF9W...eature=related

Very cool, excellent comparison Grady.

[poopie]

Many thanks everyone, especially to Grady who found that old thread (I swear I tried to find such a thread but failed).

I admit I also have a mental hurdle to get over re:Seiko (got one from a highschool girlfriend once, admittedly not a Grand Seiko). Without me doing the research, how many beats does the average IWC or Panerai do?

Yih

[Megalobyte]

Originally Posted by poopie

Many thanks everyone, especially to Grady who found that old thread (I swear I tried to find such a thread but failed).

I admit I also have a mental hurdle to get over re:Seiko (got one from a highschool girlfriend once, admittedly not a Grand Seiko). Without me doing the research, how many beats does the average IWC or Panerai do?

Yih

The average Iwc and Panerai use ETA mvts, so I'm guessing 28,800 like most watches.

[Mockingbird]

Spring drive and El Primero come to mind.

[ndb80]

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

Correct.

Here's a comparison of Rolex and Seiko's Spring Drive.

It's in French, but it's clear what's going on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHF9W...eature=related

Good find !
but i think the video is in japanese..defintely not french...

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by ndb80

Good find !
but i think the video is in japanese..defintely not french...

You're right, it's not French.

I was listening to some Johnny Adams on my computer and could barely hear the video and I thought the intonations sounded a little French.

Thanks.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by poopie

I am a newbie who, over the past few years, have fallen in love with mechanical watches. I am now the proud owner of a few of these toys, including an Explorer II M and a SubC.

My passion is driven by the smooth sweeping hand of a mechanical watch. Somehow and on some level this connects with me, reminding me that time is a continuous and not discrete measure.

I'd like your opinion as to which watch/movement you believe has the smoothest second sweep. I'm not sure which technical attributes are at play here (#of vibrations, different balance wheels, etc.) but I seem to observe that my Breitling Cockpit has the smoothest sweep of my collection, even compared to my two rollies. Your thoughts?

Yih

Most Swiss watches today use 28800BPH so the sweep should be all the same.Some use 36000BPH normally the faster the beat the smoother the second hand sweep.

[Nalk7]

This is the smoothest Ive ever seen on the flesh

borrowed pic

[ArcticMoose]

Originally Posted by padi56

Most Swiss watches today use 28800BPH so the sweep should be all the same.Some use 36000BPH normally the faster the beat the smoother the second hand sweep.

And, as already mentioned, the length of the hand, since the distance travelled in the same amount of time (one beat) is longer for a long hand. Guessing that my Sub's second hand is 20mm, it travels 20*2*3.14 / 60*8 = 0.26mm each beat, while my PAM 311's small second hand, which is only about 7mm, travels only 0.09mm. The PAM looks so mich smoother than any Rolex.

[DiamondJack]

Isn't the Spring Drive electronically regulated... so possibly a bit of a quartz hybrid ?

The Spring Drive clearly has mechanical components and gets it's power from an unwinding mainspring, but it converts some of its mechanical energy into electrical energy and uses it to power a quartz crystal for regulation. This IMO is not a true mechanical watch but am waiting to be convinced otherwise as it's a great looking watch.

If quartz is allowed, then the new Bulova Precisionist is apparently accurate to 10 seconds a year.

[le_baroudeur]

The springdrive seems to be a perfect combination of mechanical power and quartz regulation.. It is smooooth ! But i want a watch with multiple gaskets on the crown, just to be sure.. The mechanical sbdx001 does have one single gasket here, i don't know if the sbga029 is similar...