Independent watchmaker François-Paul Journe is a member of the AHCI since 1987. For the second year, F.P.Journe is sponsoring the “Young Talent Competition”. The AHCI opened this contest to 47 international watchmaking schools in 14 different countries. The entry re- quirements were as follows:

• To be an apprentice watchmaker or to have completed an apprenticeship after August 31, 2014.
• To have independently conceived and constructed a watch, a clock, or a technical construction. 
• To send photos / videos of the watch, clock or technical construction
• To attach a description of the timepiece’s characteristics

34 watchmakers and members of the AHCI, from 11 countries, evaluated the most remarkable watch creations. The selection criteria were based on technical achievement, complexity, design and aesthetics.

The 2016 winners receive a diploma and a CHF 3,000 grant from Horotec, which will allow them to purchase watchmaking tools. They have the privilege of presenting their creation at the AHCI booth in Baselworld alongside renowned members of the Academy.

The “Young Talent Competition” rewards 3 watchmakers who have distinguished themselves by their technical achievement,
their search for complexity, and their sense of design and aesthetics.

The 2016 winners are:

• Anton Sukhanov – Russia - Clock with triple Axis Tourbillon
• Anna-Rose Kirk – England - The Horizon Clock
• Tristan Ledard – France - Clock with Linear Equation of Time

Anton Sukhanov
Clock with Triple Axis Tourbillon

Age 33 - Moscow - Russia
Graduate from Konstankin Chaykin in January 2016

Project_
Design, manufacturing and construction of a three-dimensional clock with triple axis tourbillon.

Technical characteristics_
Dimensions: 100 mm x 170 mm x 82 mm Movement: anchor escapement - triple axis tourbillon, tourbillion cages made of titanium, plates and other bridges made of nickel-plated brass, frequency 18000 vibrations per hour, 21 jewels Case: black nephrite, steel, nickel-plated brass, mineral crystal, 5 windows, 4 on the side and 1 on top Functions: hours, minutes, seconds Dial: silver 999, guilloche, hot enamel (white opal color) Specificities: triple axis tourbillon (inner tourbillion cage turns around in 71.25 seconds, middle tourbillion cage turns around in 114 seconds, outer tourbillion cage turns around in 180 seconds), 8 days power reserve, winding stop device in the shape of Maltese cross.

Testimony_
“I made the turning parts (axles, bushings, column, pins) by small lathe with a microscope. I made the cutting of teeth wheels by milling head with an index plate. The milling parts made on CNC machines, followed by manual processing. Bridges cages are made of titanium. Plate and other bridges are made of brass, nickel-plated. The anchor escapement, barrel with a spring, balance wheel, spiral balance spring, and some big wheels were taken from an old Soviet movement and I modified them.

I acquired a stone foundation case of nephrite from stone-cutters, I manufacture metal parts of the case and produced their installation. The dial was very time consuming, I used the help of three people: separately executed the guilloche, hot enamel and produced print.

The clock has 5 windows (four on the sides and one on the top). Through each of these windows you can see the balance. All windows coincide with the geo- metrical center of the 3-axial-tourbillon. The winding of the clock and adjustment of time will be made with the help through the same opening with different keys.”

Anna-Rose Kirk
The Horizon Clock

Age 27- Birmingham - England
Graduate from Birmingham University of Horology in July 2015 with 1st class honours BHI’s Diploma of Repair, Restoration and Conservation of Clocks/Watches

Project_
Construction of a Horizon Clock inspired by the Swahili Clock and researching Swahili time.

Technical characteristics_
Dimensions: height 1m20, 10 kilos Movement: brass and steel Dial: brass with cut out copper centre allowing a view into the mechanism, 25 cm diameter Specificities: circular wall clock, supported by a walnut wooden bracket covered with brass. A single gold plated hand indicates the time which rotates once a day around a 24-hour dial. Blue steel sunrise and sunset indication.

Testimony_
“The Horizon Clock was inspired by the ‘Swahili Clock’ and Swahili time-keeping. In Kenya, Uganda and surrounding countries close to the Equator, the sun rises and sets at the same time every day. The day starts when the sun rises where one o’clock is one hour after sunrise. Sunrise in this part of the world is so consistent that people set their clock by it.

The western way of telling the time has become so universal that it is accepted as the only way of telling the time; however, there are countless other ways, mostly linked to the natural cycle followed by Nature. This concept intrigued me and after further research, I was able to recognize the idea that western time is but a small part of the history of timekeeping and that only 150 years ago, when there was talk of changing to a universal time across the globe, it was declared that: The sun is the national clock. No other clock can supersede it, as it is the one ordained by nature to regulate man’s life.

The Babylonians started the hours with the rise of the sun and ‘Old Czech time’ or ‘Italian time’ began at the end of dusk or half an hour after sunset, giving workers an indication of how long they had before there was no light to work from. In England, people divided the sunlight hours by 12, meaning that an hour in the winter could be as little as 40 minutes and as long as 1 hour 25 minutes. In all cases, telling the time was completely reliant on the positioning of the sun in the sky. My goal was to portray these concepts and to reconnect timekeeping with the cycle of the Earth’s rotation and the cycle of the seasons.”

Tristan Ledard
Clock with Linear Equation of Time

Age 23 - Paris - France Graduate from Lycée Diderot in July 2015 Project_
Invention of a Linear Indication for a Clock with Linear Equation of Time

Technical characteristics_
Dimensions: clock diameter 110 cm, globe diameter 29 cm, construction diameter 36 cm, weight 2 kg Movement: brass Dial: brass, blast sanded at the centre and brushed on the outer diameter. Total diameter 110mm, indexes in brass with stainless steel hands Specificities: hour and half hour chiming, annual calendar, seasons, solstices and equinoxes and astronomical sign display on the clock, and world time on the globe.

Testimony_
“For my graduation work, i had to add the equation of time on a movement of Paris. I thus decided to invent a linear indication for the indication of the realization of this complication.

A wheel making a tour in one year supports an equation of time cam. A vertical feeler-spindle is in permanent contact with the cam thanks to gravity. (On a simple watch, a simple spring would be able to maintain a permanent contact with the cam.) This vertical feeler-spindle contains a cavity and pins and engages a pinion with 10 leafs. This pinion is solidary with a 30 teeth wheel. This last one meshes with a horological toothed rack.

The difference in between the extremities of the cam being only of 10 mm, the indication on the dial would have been too small to indicate 30 graduations. With the new multiplying ratio, the stroke of the horizontal rack is of 30mm. On the wheel that rotates once in a year, I added an annual calendar, seasons, solstices and equinoxes, and an astronomical sign display. Everything has been made with a Schaublin 102 and a Hauser jig boring machine M1.

I bought a classical terrestrial globe, built a cabinet in cherry wood, cut the globe in 2 and cut a round cherry wood plate to place the clock on top. Above the clock is a plastic ring with the engraved hours of the day and the night. In indexing the local hours, one can read the time everywhere in the world.”