Slow Runner
Antoine Martin wants to give time to the passing time
In essence, what is new horology? The only difference from traditional horology is that, generally, new horology is made of strong-minded independents who want to express their art without concessions. For this to happen, ideas and creativity are indispensable, two ingredients that the Antoine Martin factory does not lack.
By Eric Othenin-Girard
Specialised journalist
Before entering the technical field, some historical explanations: to begin with, one has to know that the Antoine Martin workshop is a new-born company as it was introduced in the Basel fair exactly one year ago. Secondly, and this is rare enough to be mentioned, this young manufacture is established in Alpnach, a very small city of central Switzerland, where one expects meeting shepherds and their flocks but no watchmakers.
Thirdly, the company is born from the union of two talents: the watchmaker first, Martin Braun, born in this very central Switzerland and who possesses a 30-year experience. Then, Bruno Jufer, the executive director of the factory, who has a long experience in the field of horology, punctuated by his presence in the boards of Maurice Lacroix, Jaquet Droz, Zenith and Carl F. Bucherer, he has been called to direct the new company. Obviously, such an association had to lead up to some surprises. The amateurs have not been disappointed.
It has been noted, the watchmaking soul of the brand is Martin Braun. Bruno Jufer states: “Martin founded the MHO AG (Manufacture Horlogère Obwalden) company in 2009 whereby the objective was to materialise a movement which he has wholly conceptualised, most notably equipped with a lever escapement which he invented himself. After two years of hard work, the first Antoine Martin watch is finished. This product integrates a manual winding, perpetual calendar, large date and a power reserve of 6 days. The second self-winding movement was finished in mid-2012.
Those two watches constitute a true feat in terms of watch mechanism as they reveal an unprecedented technicality, under the exclusive banner of the new brand.
According to Bruno Jufer, the vision that the brand wishes to convey is very clear: “We have the intention to establish Antoine Martin as a world-renowned manufacture in luxury watchmaking. The brand means to be a reference for its technical creativity in terms of horology movements and its unequaled aesthetics”. With Martin Braun, the entrepreneur Antoine Meier is one of the founders of the company to which they gave their name. The decision not to relaunch an already existing brand was a deliberate choice. “Entirely oriented towards the future, our approach wants to use the accumulated know-how to draw from it our today’s qualities. We do not rely on an historical tradition turned towards a bygone and faraway past. Our creations, current and future, reflect our independence in the technology and design fields”, indicates Antoine Meier.
Antoine Martin .. original watches
One has to admit that Antoine Martin has presented rather original watches. The very first piece, presented last year in Basel, was a perpetual calendar with large balance of 17,5 mm in diameter. It was one of the largest balances ever implemented in current wristwatches. The watch housing was equally original, in particular its case designed with removable horns, in order to profit to the maximum from the subtle game of surfaces sometimes polished, sometimes satiny. It has been possible to polish the cavities and to give them a glittery aspect, while the top remained matt. The characteristic flanks are individually fixed in four points. The demarcating sign of Antoine Martin: it’s crown winding which reminds the Bauhaus classical style. This case is composed of 84 pieces. The dial is a modern interpretation of the classical guillochage in the centreand an entirely revisited style of appliques.
The vertical layout of the day and month display as well as the leap year display at the 12 o’clock position, have required some technical tricks in terms of the calendar mechanism.
The movement stages its animated heart, the balance. Highlighted, this high-tech grade 5 titanium component, whose main task is the stabilization of amplitude, is 17,5 mm in diameter. Without regulator, its regulation device equipped with a freely oscillating balance-spring allows tuning via two little gold screws. This balance is at the same time one of the largest implemented balances with this type of escapement. The balance does 18 000 semi-vibrations per hour (2.5 Hz). From a technical point of view, the large size is completely justified: it creates more kinetic energy. Furthermore, if a shock shakes the movement, a large balance preserves the desired amplitude better than a small balance and thus allows preventing the shock from modifying the running.
After this original start, highlighted by an automatic version presented in mid-2012, Martin Braun had to do it again. Since he has very precise ideas, he is convinced that the rapid oscillators and the small balances do not represent the quintessence of mechanical horology. In terms of frequency and miniaturisation, quartz is unbeatable. Thus, he reckons that it is completely unnecessary to get into competition ! He further highlights that in mechanical horology, at an epoch that is anyway too agitated, it is not about accelerating. Mechanical horology should aim to “slow down time”. It has, so to say, to accomplish the mission of bringing time back to a rhythm that would identify with nature and man by being appropriate for both. For example, the movement “slow food” has been developed as a counterweight for “fast food”; the mechanism has to mark a net counterweight in front of the agitation and the stimuli overabundance of our time. What counts in a watch is not rapidity but rather the possibility that it offers to live time.
The slowness technique by Antoine Martin
The brand explains: “This quantum jump of the quietude is no trickery with a return of additional transmission gear, as it is alas too often the case with the so called “1 hertz” watches. It is first and foremost the theoretical result of a deep and complete mathematical analysis of material proprieties as well as the friction process. On the practical side, the experiences carried out with the HPE (High Performance Escapement) silicon escapement developed by Antoine Martin, which is henceforth tested, are added. Martin Braun understood that new materials, such as silicon, offered new possibilities to mechanics. Apart from the silicon escapement, a silicon balance-spring is now used”. He further specifies: “Advantage: this new balance-spring is much more “stable” than the classical steel balance-spring. Essential point: a balance-spring having 24mm in diameter generates so much kinetic energy that the latter is not irritated by small shocks or brusque movements”.
That being said, Antoine Martin did not only base himself on silicon and an unusual size during the development of the new horology movement. Through targeted interventions at the level of construction, Antoine Martin and his engineers have been able to optimise isochronism. Without forgetting some technical details, for example,
- The balance-spring presents two mass screws for the setting (instead of the traditional key and index).
- The manufacturing process of the silicon balance-spring has made it possible to optimise the interior pinning-point and the balance-spring bend.
- The balance-spring felly is in grade 3 titanium; it oscillates above a bridge beneficiating from a complementary shock-absorber and six ruby cabochons.
These precautions have allowed a remarkable stability and power reserve. Loyal to the objective pursued by the manufacture, namely throwing a bridge between traditional horology and the modern times, the engineers have moreover further developed the toothing on the skew, seldom implemented, for the winding wheels.
Finally, the AM36.001 obviously does not give up on everything which has proved itself on the most ancient Antoine Martin movements, on his perpetual calendar and the tourbillon: the limitations of the adjustable pallets in parallel, the “home made” toothing technique, the wheels and chamfered sinks and the threaded sockets in hardened steel. This entirely confirms the attachment of Martin Braun to time’s authenticity.
Technical characteristics of the Slow Runner
36mm in diameter, high performance escapement (HPE). 8,6 mm movement height. Shock-absorber Kif. 7.200 VpH. Complementary shock-absorber: six ruby cabochons. Set in 5 positions, non-deformable steel balance-spring bridge. Freely oscillating balance-spring. Silicon escapement (pallets, escape-wheel and ellipse). Fine setting by mass screws. Silicon balance-spring. Grade III titanium balance. Wolf-tooth winding wheels. Power reserve of 96 hours with display. All the pieces are in “locked polish” and chamfered.
