Marcus Hanke's interview with Chronoswiss founder Gerd-R. Lang from Baselworld 2009 offers a rare glimpse into the strategic decisions behind an independent watchmaker's move to in-house movements. Lang's insights into the development of the unique Sauterelle caliber, with its deadbeat seconds complication, underscore Chronoswiss's commitment to innovation and quality, providing valuable context for understanding the brand's direction.
Basel 2009: Chronoswiss - an interview with founder Gerd-R. Lang
by Tony P
PPro: Herr Lang, after thirty years as an independent watchmaking company, why has Chronoswiss made the decision to release a fully in-house manufacture movement?
GRL: Yes, we are independent. And we need to stay independent. Hence the move to a fully in-house movement.
When I started fifty years ago in watchmaking, I had no idea that I would end up creating such a large business. Our intention now is not to make more watches, but to make better watches.
PPro: What influenced your decision to offer such an unusual complication - centrally mounted deadbeat seconds - in your first commercial release (the Sauterelle) featuring this new movement?
GRL: Having decided to go in-house, I wanted to create something which was unique to Chronoswiss. Furthermore, this design pleases me personally. The layout and finishing of its bridges is influenced by a mixture of Swiss and German (specifically Glashütte) tradition. The overall shape, and the inclusion of a central dead-beat seconds hand, harks back to a 120-year-old German pocket watch which I particularly admire.
PPro: But isn't Chronoswiss, despite its physical location in Munich, dedicated to following the Swiss watchmaking tradition?
GRL: In the past, this was true. But our "100% Swiss-made" philosophy is not set in stone. Most important is the quality. We remain open-minded about where the best quality can be sourced. However, we will always limit this to countries with the strongest and oldest watchmaking tradition, such as Switzerland, Germany and France.
PPro: Tell us a bit more about your new movement.
GRL: Technically speaking, we have not cut corners with this movement. Firstly, the pinions and wheels are very hard - around 730 Vickers. This is very difficult to produce, but I am thinking long-term. Even after ten years, there should be no abrasive damage to the load-bearing surfaces, which will remain smooth and relatively frictionless due to their hardness.
I also thought carefully about the actual shape of the pinions, and have modified and optimised them in order to further reduce friction.
Had I taken the easy road with softer pinions, I could manufacture them in one process. Hard pinions, on the other hand, require three separate manufacturing steps: milling, then hardening, then polishing.
The mainspring is very thin. Again, this is more difficult to produce; but it has two advantages. Firstly, there is less torque, which means less wear. Secondly, we can fit more windings into the barrel, which means a longer power reserve. I have also devised a system to stop the individual coils of the mainspring rubbing against each other as the spring unfurls. It's quite ingenious!
The dead seconds complication looks simple, and produces a simple result. But the actual mechanism is quite complex, with some 30 parts. The second wheel, which is centrally-mounted (allowing the deadbeat seconds to be centrally mounted on the dial) of course requires exactly 60 teeth, which is more than double the number normally used in the deadbeat seconds mechanism. That's why the wheel is so large.
This movement has been designed to accept future complications. Also we can, if we choose, remove the deadbeat seconds complication.
PPro: speaking of which, Chronoswiss is among other things, famous for its chronographs. Will you be using this new movement as a base for a chronograph?
GRL: (chuckles) If you are willing to wait...of course!
This message has been edited by MTF on 2009-04-14 07:46:48 
