patrick_y
[PuristSPro Moderator]
33546
It is a natural escapement and it isn't a natural escapement.
It's debatable. Rolex calls it a natural escapement. The media has called it the same as well (journalists don't generally know the true exact distinction). While the argument can be made that it doesn't meet all the attributes of a traditional natural escapement (mainly it's not "directly driven" by the impulse itself over both wheels, but only one), over time, it's likely that the minor attributes will be forgotten and thus, the distinction will be minimized. Thus, as a futurist, I would say we should just skip ahead and call it a natural escapement.
While I agree with your last sentence. I don't think natural escapements will ever truly be normalized. Customers aren't sophisticated enough to ask for these minor details. Customer demand and customer request drives a lot of the changes. Or, the marketing team identifies untapped customer needs/wants and then asks engineering to integrate a feature into a future product. And customers are never going to ask for natural escapements en masse. So, I think we're in agreement there - although we're coming at the same conclusion from two different reasons.
Laurent Ferrier & Natural Escapements
Is LF moving away from natural escapement and back to Swiss lever? I noticed that all their new watches and movements utilize the Swiss lever including their latest moonphase and tourbillon. Presumably natural escapement is still reliable? Sounds like the...
As far as I know, they're not moving away from the naturel escapement,
just keeping it for the micro rotor movement. The Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue (LCF012.G1.NGE10) is a new model and it features the natural escapement. Best, Emmanuel ...
Hmm...
I don't know about LF's actions and why they're doing this. I have not conversed with them in a long time. On a slightly related but totally different string of the same thought... I wonder if the new Rolex Land Dweller with the Rolex version of a natural...
Good question
In reading more about the Landweller it’s not actually a natural escapement like LF or Breguet but a flavor of it since both wheels aren’t directly driving the gear train. Now that I read about it, I kind of want that watch. Sounds like Rolex is set up fo...
It is a natural escapement and it isn't a natural escapement.
It's debatable. Rolex calls it a natural escapement. The media has called it the same as well (journalists don't generally know the true exact distinction). While the argument can be made that it doesn't meet all the attributes of a traditional natural es...