When it comes to watches, especially mechanical watches, there is no denying that they are incredibly complex miniature machines. Have you wondered how those watches are designed and validated before the first piece of metal is cut? This used to be entirely done by hand with drawings and slow prototyping. However, starting in the 1990s, the watch industry has moved toward using design and engineering software to create everything from cases to movements.
SolidWorks is a software suite that many high-end watch makers rely on to design and test movements digitally. In a recent video we can see how a Franck Muller Watch 2014 Replica movement design can come together, such as the Giga Gong Tourbillon we’re seeing in CAD.
The situation is quite big. At 44mm broad, 53.7mm long, and 15.8mm thick, so it is going to wear quite prominently on most wrists. All the better to observe the dialup, which is sure to catch people’s attention with its applied, oversize Arabic numeral hour markers and large hands fitting the case color. The dial color varies as you’ll see in the images, and my personal preference is that the grey dial that I believe gives the best background for the other elements to stand out against.Cutting off the six o’clock marker is a small, circular date window which is guaranteed to bug a lot of people. It doesn’t quite match the rest of the watch’s aesthetic and could have been better managed. In contrast, the strap has been quite well done. A deployant clasp allows for easy wearing and removing.As Ariel also said in his hands on with the Vanguard Glacier, “. . .don’t judge any one of these watches fully before you place one on your wrist.” With that in mind, I will say that I look forward to getting a hands on with the Franck Muller Watches 2015 Replica Vanguard Chronograph, judging from the release images and information, I think it is the more exciting and balanced of the Vanguard models. The Franck Muller Vanguard Chronograph is priced at $15,800 and if you’re one for bold watches, it can be well worth viewing the watch for yourself and taking a peek into Franck Muller’s world of “Pure Imagination.”
Frankly, after watching something like this, it seems almost indescribable that watchmakers were able to advance the craft as they did before the advent of tools like this. Of course, it probably involved a lot of trial and error, and fiddly modification of parts – in other words, quite a bit trickier than what we have today.
Even though software makes things easier, nothing is complete until the movements and cases are produced in real metal. Software still isn’t able to account for everything, especially how different metals and materials react to one another or age. So even though technology makes the design of mechanical movements much more efficient, brands still need to verify and test everything the old fashioned way.
It’s with tools like these that we’re able to see the leaps in functionality and design that modern watches have brought to the table. So if you’ve wondered why the last two decades have seen watches historically never possible, this is why. With increasingly advanced 3D modelling tools added to the arsenal of watch creators, there’s no telling what we might end up seeing coming down the line. franckmuller.com