A friction-fit joint for a horological movementPositioning and stability are fundamental to watchmaking, and the value of any invention that can ensure both will be proportional to its simplicity.One point in a watch where problems of positioning arise is in the crucial interface between the movement on one side and the wheel train and hands on the dial side. The connection between these two areas is the cannon pinion, a tube which fits friction tight over the center arbor (drive shaft) from the movement.The cannon should follow the axis of the arbor, but in conventional designs there is always a gap and some play between the two. This can result in the hands crossing, or wear in the wheel train.Patek Philippe's design for a snap-on cannon eliminates virtually all play and ensures that the cannon is exactly on the axis of the center arbor in three coordinates. These opposing forces ensure that the cannon is trued flat and positioned exactly on the axis of its arbor.It's ingeniously simple, yet it makes a crucial difference to the quality of a watch.
1996: The Annual Calendar (685585)
A calendar mechanism indicating the date in an aperture, as well as the day, the month and the 24 hours, requiring no adjustment for months of 30 days.Until 1996, there were only two types of calendar available in a watch: plain or perpetual.The plain calendar has a disc displaying the date,
and sometimes the day, through a window in the dial. The advantage is that it is easy to see. The disadvantage is that you have to remember to reset the date when the month has fewer than 31 days.The perpetual calendar takes care of that by showing the right date "perpetually" (until February 2100), coordinating the cycle of long and short months with the leap years. The cost of this facility is a complex mechanism of cams, jumper springs and ratchets that puts a load on the movement, and the perpetual calendar out of reach of most watchmakers. The date, on a subsidiary dial, can be hard to see.Patek Philippe's annual calendar combines the best features of the plain and the perpetual by sacrificing the leap year cycle and putting the date in a window. The mechanism distinguishes between months of 30 and 31 days, and only needs to be reset once a year at the end of February, instead of five times a year.The beauty of this mechanism is that it is entirely rotary, dispensing with the reversals and discontinuous movements of cams and springs in the conventional perpetual calendar.It is due to this mechanism that our watch Ref. 5035 watch was named "Watch of the Year 1996".
A calendar mechanism indicating the date in an aperture, as well as the day, the month and the 24 hours, requiring no adjustment for months of 30 days.Until 1996, there were only two types of calendar available in a watch: plain or perpetual.The plain calendar has a disc displaying the date,
and sometimes the day, through a window in the dial. The advantage is that it is easy to see. The disadvantage is that you have to remember to reset the date when the month has fewer than 31 days.The perpetual calendar takes care of that by showing the right date "perpetually" (until February 2100), coordinating the cycle of long and short months with the leap years. The cost of this facility is a complex mechanism of cams, jumper springs and ratchets that puts a load on the movement, and the perpetual calendar out of reach of most watchmakers. The date, on a subsidiary dial, can be hard to see.Patek Philippe's annual calendar combines the best features of the plain and the perpetual by sacrificing the leap year cycle and putting the date in a window. The mechanism distinguishes between months of 30 and 31 days, and only needs to be reset once a year at the end of February, instead of five times a year.The beauty of this mechanism is that it is entirely rotary, dispensing with the reversals and discontinuous movements of cams and springs in the conventional perpetual calendar.It is due to this mechanism that our watch Ref. 5035 watch was named "Watch of the Year 1996". Tags: replica watch, replica rolex, replica rolex airking, replica Rolex Daydate , replica rolex datejust, replica rolex daytona, replica rolex prince, replica rolex GMT, replica rolex explorer, replica rolex Milgauss, replica rolex seaDweller, Replica rolex Yachtmaster, replica rolex submariner, Replica Zenith , Replica RomainJerome,
Replica MontBlanc, Replica Rado, Replica VacheronConstantin
Replica MontBlanc, Replica Rado, Replica VacheronConstantin
