Automatic Watches
Jewels in the Crown: Why Rubies are Used in Watch Movements
By Argos Watches
Have you ever looked closely at a watch movement? You might see tiny, bright red dots. These are called jewels. Jewels are very important. They help watch parts move smoothly. They reduce friction. Friction happens when metal rubs against metal. Over time, this can damage tiny parts. These parts are called pivots and bearings. The oil that helps parts move also breaks down. So, watchmakers use hard stones. They put these stones where parts rub. These hard stones last much longer than metal.
For a mechanical watch movement to truly live and breathe, its countless tiny parts must move with remarkable ease, minimizing any resistance that could slow or hinder its delicate rhythm. This natural flow, so crucial in advanced designs like the Carl F. Bucherer Peripheral movement, hinges on a deep understanding of how to reduce friction, allowing the mechanism to perform with effortless grace.
For a mechanical watch movement to truly live and breathe, its countless tiny parts must move with remarkable ease, minimizing any resistance that could slow or hinder its delicate rhythm. This natural flow, so crucial in advanced designs like the Carl F. Bucherer Peripheral movement, hinges on a deep understanding of how to reduce friction, allowing the mechanism to perform with effortless grace.
Watchmakers needed something harder than metal. So, they started using jewels. Diamonds, sapphires, and rubies are hard enough. Sapphires and rubies cost less than diamonds. Also, people learned to make them in labs. Rubies are used most often. Their hardness is very much like diamonds. (The Mohs scale measures how hard a mineral is. It is based on how well it resists scratches.) Today, most rubies in watches are made by people. They work very well. It was hard to make and place these jewels at first. So, many jewels in a movement once meant high quality.
Jewels in Movements: For Function, Not Just Looks
The number of jewels in a movement depends on its design. It also depends on how many special features it has. These are called complications. Some brands use jewels to make movements look better. But most brands use jewels only for their purpose. They are for function.
In most watches, jewels are used at all the pivot points. These are in the gear train. Jewels are also used in anti-shock systems. As watches got more complex, they needed more jewels. Jewels became easier to produce and place. Also, watch marketing got better. So, some watchmakers started adding jewels where they were not even needed. They used many jewels to make watches seem better than they actually were. So, if you see watches with, say, 85 jewels or so, you might be seeing something for show.
The First Jewels in Movements
Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, Peter Debaufre, and Jacob Debaufre started using jewel bearings in watches. This was way back in 1704. They even got an English patent for the idea. It made a lot of sense. Many gemstones are much harder than metal. Diamonds are very hard. Sapphires and rubies (which are corundum) are also very hard. They are the same in makeup, just different colors. They are also smoother than metal. This means they protect weak areas. They also help parts move more smoothly, causing less damage.
The back of a mechanical watch often shows the number of jewels used. Sometimes the dial shows this too. Different movement designs need different numbers of jewels. An automatic movement will have more moving parts. These parts need more jewels to reduce friction. Automatic movements work under heavy wear and tear. The rotor spins almost all the time. It sends power to the mainspring. So, it needs more protection.
How Tough Are Watch Jewels?
Jewels may look fragile. But they give movements the strength they need. They add years to how long a watch works correctly. This happens before it needs service. Sapphire is a crystal. Its nature allows it to be polished very smoothly. The sapphire surface holds oil and lubricant very well. Sapphire is also very hard. This makes the bearing very strong against wear.
A good example is the Bulova 21-jewel automatic watches from the 1950s and 60s. They showed how reliable jeweled watches can be. They have worked accurately for over 50 years, even without being serviced. In 1974, 270 years after the first patent, how functional jewels are used was made standard.
Why Jewels Are Essential in Watches
A mechanical movement has many moving parts. These include gears, wheels, and pinions. These parts spin on pivots. Pivots are like vertical axles for the wheels. Think about the fourth wheel of a watch. It spins once every minute on its axle. That is 1,440 full spins a day. It makes 525,600 full spins a year. So, even if the wheel is small and light, the forces on its axle are huge. This is why putting the axle directly into the movement's main plate is harmful. Metal rubbing on metal causes friction. Even with modern oils, the axle can slow down the wheels. This ruins the watch's accuracy. At some point, the wheels might even stop. The answer is jewel bearings. They allow very little friction with metal pivots. They also stay stable in different temperatures.
The pivots and jewel bearings of the balance wheel are very delicate. They often get hurt from impacts. This was a main reason for watch repairs. Now, anti-shock systems protect them. The jewels sit on springs. This lets them move a little to absorb sudden hits. Incabloc, Kif, or Etachoc are common shock protection systems for Swiss movements.
Where Jewels Are Used and How Many
The most common jewels in a watch are:
- Doughnut-shaped jewels that fit around the gear axles.
- Flat-cap jewels placed at the end of the axles.
- Brick-shaped pallet jewels. These alternately touch and release the escape wheel.
- A roller jewel on the large balance wheel. This wheel swings back and forth.
Complex Watch Jewels
The more complex a watch is, the more jewels its movement will have. You can see jewels in the tourbillon cage of a Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grand Tradition watch. Extra jewels are often needed for automatic watches. They help these watches efficiently use the small power from a wrist's movement. This power winds the watch. More jewels are also used for stopwatch functions (chronographs). They are used for time repeater chimes. They are also used for date and day displays. Very complex watches can have over 40 working jewels.
Quality Over Quantity
In short, jewels help a watch work longer. It does not need service as often. They also greatly reduce damage to parts that wear down fast. Some brands now use "chatons." This is a difficult technique. Small brass or gold settings hold the jewel into the movement plate. Sometimes, placing jewels is like an art form.
Lastly, remember this. The number of jewels in a movement used to show its quality or complexity. But today, this is not very true. Watch collectors are less interested in the number of jewels now. This is because jewels are easy to make and include. They are also made from man-made materials.
Lastly, remember this. The number of jewels in a movement used to show its quality or complexity. But today, this is not very true. Watch collectors are less interested in the number of jewels now. This is because jewels are easy to make and include. They are also made from man-made materials.
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