Romain Gauthier -“Logical One”

January 17, 2013

Romain Gauthier -“Logical One”

By martinpulli — Leave a comment

Romain Gauthier -LOGICAL ONE IN DETAIL

The majority of machines run on constant force: Cars and planes don’t start running more slowly as fuel runs low and machines receive the same voltage no matter how much electricity is produced. Yet, the power that runs and regulates most high-precision mechanical timepieces varies greatly according to the state of wind of the mainspring.

Constant force, or constant torque, is one of the holy grails of horology and with Logical One, Romain Gauthier has reinvented the chain-and-fusee − one of the oldest methods of supplying constant force to a horological movement − making it more reliable, more effective… and more constant.

Logical One’s pioneering, multi-patented in-house movement features Romain Gauthier’s 21st-century reinterpretation of a traditional chain-and-fusee style constant force mechanism, on display to the left of the hour-minute subdial.

Gauthier’s invention contains an innovative snail cam connected to the mainspring barrel by a ruby-link chain. With the snail cam and mainspring barrel configured so they are ‘flat’ – i.e. on the same plane – force is transmitted in a straight line for an ultra-efficient transfer of energy.

The relatively short length of the chain allows it to contain strong, generously sized links in steel featuring rollers made from low-friction, hard-wearing synthetic rubies. The chain is joined together via a smart snap-clip system.

To eliminate potential uneven friction within the mainspring barrel, Gauthier has placed the mainspring between synthetic sapphire plates. Sapphire has a low coefficient of friction with steel making it the ideal material to use.

Winding Logical One is a veritable tactile pleasure thanks to Romain Gauthier’s innovative push button winding system, with the pusher set into the caseband at 9 o’clock. Another demonstration of Gauthier’s clever engineering, the pusher efficiently transmits force to the barrel on the same plane. That the pusher protrudes just slightly from the caseband and follows the curve of the case is an aesthetic tour de force.

Virtually every component of the movement bears Roman Gauthier’s distinctive touch: The highly visible balance wheel with curved arms and calibrated eccentric weights; the curvaceous balance bridge; bespoke gear wheels with graceful circular arms for maximum strength; hand-decorated bridges; high-efficiency profiles of the gear teeth; polished screw heads with s-slot for more length; and Romain Gauthier-invented triangular pallet lever for maximum rigidity. All these elements can be admired dial side, while more of the movement can be viewed through the display back.

Logical One’s movement was conceived, developed, produced, decorated, assembled and regulated at Manufacture Romain Gauthier in the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. The spectacular decoration includes hand-created and hand-polished rounded bevels, hand-frosting, snailing, straight-graining, circular graining as well as hand-polished jewel countersinks.

So accomplished is it that Logical One was awarded the prize for Best Men’s Complication watch by the jury of the 2013 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève – the Oscars of watchmaking.

Logical One Titanium, black finish ALL BLACK with grand feu black enamel dial with red micro detail. IN STOCK NOW