IWC Schaffhausen

Sometimes topics tend to stray from the heading of the original post and the following is from a post about Porsche Design cases.

BY the way,
What the meaning of "chaton vissé"?
chaton=kitten
vissé=screwed

And some replies:

A chaton is...

The ring around a jewel. I believe a chaton vissé is one that is screwed in. Here, you can see that there are three screws around the ring holding the center jewel.

This is an old way of watch construction, and one that Lange is using today on their beautiful movements. It's my understanding (and I'm not a technician) that pressure fittings are easier to insert and remove during overhauls, and work as well with synthethic jewels.

Regards,
Michael

And:

Chatons and Jewels



Dear IWC friends

Screwed down gold-chatons were the standard for IWC pocket watches in the beginning of IWC for all "top" jewels. Approx. 1918 IWC changed the production from screwed to pressed chatons.
Only the optional minute wheel jewel remained in a screwed chaton. For the first real wrist watch movements as the c.75 (but not the c.64) IWC started directly with the new standard (pressed chatons except minute wheel)
The picture shows an old pocket watch movement with 16 jewels (4 screwed down chatons).

To the jewels numbers: Normally an IWC movement has at least 15 jewels:

4 bearings of balance
1 ellipse (the piece on the balance which moves the lever)
2 lever bearings
2 pallete stone on the lever
2 escape wheel bearings
2 seconds wheel bearings
2 intermediate wheel bearings

For 16 jewels:
1 jewel (often Chaton vissé) for minute wheel (top)

For 17 jewels
1 jewel for minute wheel (bottom);
later on wrist watch movements also as cap stone on escape wheel

For 19 jewels
2 additional cap stones for escape wheel.

For 21 jewels quite (rare for old IWC movements) IWC used a strange distribution:
1 jewel cap stone seconds wheel
1 jewel for roller

I hope watchmakers excuse the translated names in english. I just know the names (mostly french ones) in Switzerland, and I'm not a watchmaker.

best regards

Ralph

There is further discussion about chatons in another post (and worth reading it all)

http://www.iwc.com/forum-en/message/45931.html

But what about the use of chatons today:

http://www.iwc.com/forum-en/message/130976.html

Cheers from the cellar

PS Ralphs image is no longer in the archived post and I have reproduced it from file.

cellar@gregsteer.net

Last edited: 4 January, 2013 - 22:35

This one goes straight to my personal archive, very, very interesting.

Thank you Greg.

Regards,

Roberto

Regards,

Roberto

Last edited: 11 January, 2013 - 11:07

Thanks for these technical details Greg.

Regards

Heiko

Thanks cellar!

Informative as usual!

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf - Jon Kabat-Zinn

Last edited: 9 July, 2011 - 10:40

The great thing about "returning" to the forum on a Tuesday is a wonderful and interesting tour like this one! Thanks, Greg!

Best regards,
Jim

"We are the other people, we are the other people...you're the other people too!"
Frank Zappa

Last edited: 13 March, 2012 - 15:03