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Ning Yu
From Liaoning, Hamburg University of History Doctorate, the research direction for the European Union and Germany's China policy, wind and snow, flowers, birds, fish and insects, hobbies, clocks and watches are one of them, fortunate to meet a number of watchmakers and collectors in Germany, under the guidance of the predecessors to enter the room, immersed in a long time, a lot of experience, willing to share with your cousins, to cousins, a great joy in life.
█ Athens For cousins, the trilogy of enamel, Freak and astronomy is the symbol of the brand. On the day when the tourbillon was pulled off the altar, Athens was still unique with its enamel art dial, although other big cattle brands also had boutique launches, but with the combination of enamel + battleship theme, Athens' status was still unshakable. Almost every time Athens appeared on the cover of luxury magazines in those years, it was enamel color, and there was no need to look at the brand logo, and the enamel battleship was Athens. But today's theme is another pillar of Athens - Freak (Whim), since the end of last year, Freak has made great efforts, successively launching the "people-friendly version" of Freak X, the dial into a silicon inlaid disc face X, and the concept version of the technical striker Freak NeXt, so it is worth a big book.
In 2001, when the vast majority of people were still confused about the tourbillon, Athens launched the carosu mechanism Freek, and the materials used were unheard of by people of that era; it was also in 2001 that the Opus series appeared on the historical stage, "strange watches" became the symbol of the development of the watchmaking industry in the first decade of the new century, and the various mechanical toys and mechanical artworks launched by various heroes Haojie pushed the modern watchmaking industry to an unprecedented peak, even if it was not a cousin. You will not be unfamiliar with the endless stream of new and exotic watches, which occupy a variety of luxury goods and Lifestyle, media covers for business people, and set off the prosperity and joy of the internet economy era.
In 2001, Athens launched the first generation of Free
At that time, both the tourbillon and the carosu were the highest end of technology, but carosum's works have always been rare, and now in retrospect, Freak and Blancpain in Athens were the heroes who brought the carosu technology back to the world. At that time, the author and cousins everywhere, looking for information everywhere, inquiring about the news of exhibitions and stores, that era of German Internet or AOL, the speed is very slow, watching videos is impossible, there is no WeChat, friends between the communication is email and telephone, in fact, the main or telephone, and the domestic SMS (TEXT message) a dollar, senior table friends should not be strangers. Later, when I saw the real thing, I felt almost the same as seeing aliens, and the original watch could still be like this, and the respect for the brand was beyond words. Intuitively speaking, Freak is like a fish lying on the dial, the fish itself is the movement, the head and tail of the fish also have a pointer function, wonderful, continuously watched for several hours. As for the similarities and differences between the tourbillon and the carosu, the information on the Internet today is within reach, and it is no longer verbose.
The original Freak calibre UN-01
Several of Freak's features have been laid down from the first model, including a crown-free design, a silicon escapement (with the introduction of LIGA technology behind it), no lubrication required, and no need to worry about magnetization. Whether the cheap material of silicon material has entered the need of high watchmaking has set off a hot discussion between the watchmaking industry and watch friends, considering the high price of Athens, this problem is even more eye-catching. Until later, Supreme also joined the silicon material camp, and the big players should accept the silicon material.
For the next 18 years, Athens was like a tireless artist, and Freak emerged from generation to generation, each with eye-catching technological advances, some of which may not be apparent until years later.
Before InnoVision launched in 2007, Freak basically maintained the industry-leading advantage of launching a new technology in less than 2 years, but in InnoVision launched 10 new technologies in one go. Many of these technologies are due to advances in materials technology, the most notable of which is the Silicium Dual Ulysse escapement. The front silicon was added by the author to highlight the differences in the 2007 InnoVision edition.
Chronograph is the core of the watch industry, the escapement is the core of the chronograph, after the 1980s, with the development of coaxial escapement commercialization, the fork tile escapement of a thousand people on the side of the pattern was broken, do not consider the factors of after-sales maintenance, other kinds of escapement are quite interesting, this two-way escapement is also one of the technologies tempered in Athens for many years, the two-way escapement that appeared in InnoVision in 2007 is actually a fairly mature version, has undergone nearly 10 years of improvement. Double Dr. Ludwig Oechslin and Lucas Humair as early as 1999 based on the coaxial escapement proposed the design of the double escapement, the basic idea is to overcome the coaxial escapement in a shock cycle left and right imbalance problem, the two balance wheels symmetrical arrangement, extremely clever, reflecting the double Dr. Oechslin has always been a clever style. I believe that there must be many big cattle in the science and engineering category among readers, from an engineering point of view, the improvement of function is a system engineering, and it is by no means a simple structural superposition that can be done. The biggest difference between the first generation of the 1999 version and the subsequent version is the design of the escapement gear teeth, which is the most significant feature of judging several generations of two-way escapement. In addition, the material, this two-way escapement, can use silicon, silicon plus diamond plating, as well as nickel-phosphorus alloy, Freak as a window and test field for Athens to show new technologies, silicon material is naturally reasonable. Seeing silicon in 2007 is a bit like seeing Tesla on the street, new and full of doubts. The tooth design is special, and the number of teeth is also different, 18 teeth, less than the original version, more than the improved version, the core is only two points, improve the efficiency of energy transmission, and the rate, such a design, the rise angle is only 30 °, the frequency is increased to 4 hertz (28,800), the improvement of timing accuracy goes without saying, but it will continue to improve later, as mentioned earlier, involving profound engineering knowledge, estimating that there are changes in all aspects of the system, perhaps 2021 Free On the occasion of the 20th anniversary, a new two-way escapement will be introduced.
Installed in the 2007 InnoVision edition of the silicon two-way escapement
What makes Athens new technology possible is silicon material technology, two-way escapement includes a number of integrally formed parts, each of which is a strange thing in the previous technology, there are many details, no longer repeat one by one, but this two-way escapement brings together a lot of design ideas in it, friends interested in escapement technology recommend more research and more thinking, to ensure that the understanding of escapement can be further improved.
It is estimated that cousins have already discovered that the Freak carosu mechanism walks for 60 minutes a week, does minute displays, and hours displays, but there are no seconds hands. The tourbillon mechanism can be turned into a second hand simply with a pointer, such as the Greubel Forsey. Daily life still needs seconds to keep time, so this time Free Diavolo added a second display function, which is practical and quite ornamental. Red seconds arrows, red scales, quite a high-tech fashion sense, personal feeling and RM (RICHARD MILLE, Richard Mill) together can lead the high watch market technology tide.
However, this design has not been continued for some reason, perhaps it feels like the second hand design is dominated? unknown.
Freak Cruiser products are designed to be watershed, so let's talk about it.
From this work, the design of the bridge plate of the entire Carosu mechanism has changed: hollow and powerful lines, like a ship anchor, fit the brand's nautical theme and characteristics, and finally merged with the nautical design elements of other product lines, Freak has found his own feeling in the design. In addition, the outer ring of the watch has been redesigned, turning the original gear design into a decorative pattern, and the outer ring is replaced by several large wavy teeth, which makes the lines more refreshing and more marine.
Freak Lab further enhances the simplicity of the lines and is the most refreshing work at present. Technical aside, the design of this work, the author personally believes that even more than the current work, is very attractive. Lab's carosu mechanism has actually been redesigned to simplify the number of parts, which is also one of the design ideas of modern mechanical engineering - to minimize the number of parts, simplify complexity, of course, the precision of design and processing is higher, so technology must be the overall progress, the watch reflects, but also the overall level of industry. The redesigned Carosu mechanism and movement, which look like a row of gears in series working together in perfect harmony, are simple and least simple, and the wisdom of the watchmakers and the painstaking efforts of the design team behind them are awe-inspiring.
The Freak Lab dial at 4 o'clock is the calendar window
This is still the first work with a calendar function so far, and the previous second hand design, are temporarily no sequel launch, perhaps in the future when Freek adds complications, there will be a Free calendar or even a perpetual calendar, this is very tempting to think, I believe the brand will also have a plan.
Originally, InnoVision 2 was planned to write a separate article, because the brand rarely launched 10 technologies in this work in one breath, perfect perfection, ten martial arts, ten complete supplements... It seems that all mankind thinks the same. The details are not much to say, in this work, silicon material is the highlight, including glass, in fact, it is also silicon dioxide, or silicon. At that time, when I got the news of this work, it felt that it should be the biggest action of Free to date, and unlike Cartier's conceptual work, this feeling is more grounded and can be marketed quickly. In the next few years, it should be that each technology is reflected in the new model one by one, just like the aforementioned InnoVision 1 (also the top 10 innovations, and then 7 entered mass production). InnoVision 2, launched 10 years later, also echoes the meaning of its predecessor. In the past 10 years, Athens has carried the power of new materials and technologies, riding the wind and waves, and the excitement has continued.
Among the many new technologies, the most striking thing is that the display of time has become a binary system, that is, 1 to 11 and 11 to 23, which can be easily distinguished between noon am and afternoon pm, practical and fun, and it is necessary to be different. In addition to the highly recognizable time display function, the less obvious technological innovation is actually even more shocking. For example, the Gridr self-winding mechanism ("grinder"). This self-winding system looks like a square made of spring plates, and a little deformation on each side can be converted into potential energy, which is much more sensitive than the traditional automatic rudder system, of course, the price is much higher, in fact, the work of both is the 2019 Freak X, which will be described in more detail later. In fact, there is another place to increase the cost, that is, the Dual Constant power unit (Dual Constant), which is the device that adds to the double escapement, the silicon sheet acts as a spring, like a blade, and its stable physical characteristics ensure the stable output of power. In addition, the "strength" of this double constant power can be adjusted, the author has not personally tested, constant power adjustment belongs to the unprecedented technology, it is really fascinating, can only look forward to the opportunity to visit the Athens factory in the future, alone and engineers to communicate.
The silicon material balance wheel is light as nothing, in order to increase the momentum, the precious metal counterweight is added, and processed in the form of the brand logo, which is itself a chic work of art, and the author even thought that this balance wheel can be enlarged into a work of art, exclusively for die-hards to treasure (show off).
Personally, I think that Freak X and AP Audemars Piguet's Code 11.59 have a lot of similarities, from which we can see the understanding and understanding of the future market of The Swiss big names, the design is refreshing and vibrant, the technology does not pursue the highest, and it seeks a balance between technology and price, which is particularly attractive to young representative friends. Although it is the entry model of the brand, but this design has such a competitive price, it may only be a matter of time before it becomes the main force of the brand. The technically strong Vision and Out large prices of hundreds of thousands are really breathtaking, and there is one detail that is very interesting. Because of the high price, this work is quite cold and strange, so that people often wear the wrong direction. In the future, you can use this as a touchstone for senior cousins, is it that Vision is wearing the wrong direction.
The increased crown is actually the most recognizable place for this work, and it is also the most controversial place, whether it increases the ease of use, or becomes a sign of cheap products, in short, the abrupt watch will stir the heartstrings of many people. As for the technical level, it integrates the dual technologies of UN-118 (autopilot + silicon-based diamond crystal growth technology DIAMonSIL) and UN-250 ("grinder" automatic winding system, which is extremely expensive), and takes a "people-friendly" route that takes into account both technology and price (relatively speaking, of course), which is similar to the basic model of Hublot. In addition, there is a case in the Free X for Carbonium®, which is essentially a carbon fiber with a 7-micron structure, which belongs to the current new materials in the aerospace field, and takes the "black carbon head" era one step further. Because the relevant media reports have been overwhelming, it is no longer verbose.
In conjunction with the launch of the product, the brand also wrote a manifesto for X, indicating that X represents all unknown, non-specific or variable elements such as: Xploration, Xtraordinary, Transcendence (Xcess), Experience (Xperience), Passion (Xcitement), Limit (Xtreme) and Complexity (compleX), how, reading this, is there any impulse to start?
Silicium Marquetry, launched in the 2019 Free X series, is a stunning piece of silicon inlay, and thanks to its contribution, silicon is becoming art for the first time rather than a dry technology. About 120 pieces of silicon wafers cut by plasma accelerators, combined in a mosaic-like process, are as sharp as a cube, and as the angle of the dial changes, it presents a sparkling, angular visual effect, cold and a little mysterious. At that time, Hermès had a straw dial (of course, that grass has a big head, and will be discussed in detail later), and now it has a silicon woven dial, which is more and more attractive as a timepiece face.
Freak NeXt is a conceptual work, only one piece, the escapement system adopts another generation of the escapement system called "Silicium flying balance" by the brand, which can be compared with the second generation of floating tourbillons, as well as the brand's own flying anchor escapement, in fact, here the author still has to talk about flying, this translation is "floating" more evocative, It can accurately express the state of suspension in the air (of course, this is the author's family statement).
This wonderful escapement system fully excavates the physical characteristics of the silicon material, only elastic connection points, no traditional shaft, only a mechanical "virtual" shaft, naturally no friction, no lubrication, so it can easily reach a high frequency of 12 hertz, 86,400 times per hour, I don't know if there will be a slight hum, because the inside of the case is not a vacuum after all, a little air resistance should still be there. Maybe the next generation of Free X can see this new technology, and then it must be carefully studied.
From silicon escapements to silicon constant power, to flight anchor escapements (floating anchor escapements), to today's flying oscillators (floating oscillators), and even silicon inlays, Athens showcases the Swiss watchmaking industry's strong ability to innovate and liven up its vitality. The watchmaking industry emphasizes tradition, but does not refuse to embrace the future, understanding the past in order to face the future, Athens can be called an example. █