tom_hanx
127
Does size matter: Balance Wheel Size in a movement
Hello fellow Purists,
This is a question which does not get much coverage and I am wondering if this is 'cause size of balance wheel does not matter, or because few consider the movement, or something completely different...
So, the NOMOS Encyclopedia reads:
Rules of thumb in watchmaking
1. Big movement equals big balance wheel equals great accuracy.
2. The more smoothly the pendulum or the balance wheel swings, the more accurately the watch ticks.
link here:
www.nomos-glashuette.com
So, if you have two (very different) watches, like the IWC Vintage Portuguese with a huge balance wheel beating at 18,000 and a Portofino 8days with a mini balance wheel beating at 28,800
I would love to hear what you guys think of the balance wheel conundrum...



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my guess is that
By: donizetti : August 1st, 2011-11:15
assuming that the balance wheels are poised equally well, a bigger and more rapidly beating wheel (as well as one that is more massive) should have the higher angular momentum, a conserved quantity, and should therefore be less easily disturbed, and thus ...
Bigger is never faster
By: aaronm : August 1st, 2011-11:30
The size of a balance wheel is a tradeoff between size, which gives you stability, and speed, which allows errors to be corrected more rapidly and have less effect on timekeeping. Neither is "better" or "worse" they are different approaches that attack th...
correct
By: donizetti : August 1st, 2011-11:32
but if what I say is true and angular momentum is the important quantity, then you can calculate the moment of intertia of the two wheel sizes and the angular velocity corresponding to the frequency, multiply (which gives you angular momentum) and compare...
from what I have read...
By: aditya : August 12th, 2011-20:00
.... (smaller balance wheel+ higher beat rate) = (less easily disturbed + more sensitive to improper service/ lubrication) & the other way round. So, I suppose, movement design is all about compromises Also, I would assume it would take a lot of power...