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The Power Reserve War
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The Power Reserve War

Monday, 19 August 2013
By Julie Mégevand
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Julie Mégevand

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3 min read

Watchmaking brands have launched an all-out war against each other with regard to one of the industry’s more problematic areas: the power reserve. An overview of the latest records achieved, between true performance and marketing one-upmanship.

The Illustrated Professional Dictionary of Horology defines “power reserve” as the “Duration which a time-measuring instrument can operate on its own power reserves without external power.” Until recently, it was common for a mechanical watch to operate for about forty hours before needing to be wound—or worn in the case of a self-winding model. This represents an average autonomy of barely two days which, as an example, is the standard autonomy of several ETA movements (such as the 2892) currently used in a nearly innumerable number of Swiss watches throughout the world.

Days and Weeks

Over the last several years, however, a race for performance has been on. The most prominent fine watchmaking brands have alternately introduced increasingly extended and sometimes quite remarkable power reserves. In fact, some power reserves can last for days or even weeks without the crown ever having to be touched! Besides being undeniably practical, these (very) large power reserves undoubtedly serve as an excellent marketing tool and selling point for those swayed by such performance.

 

It should be noted that the more complications a watch has, the greater the demand on the power reserve.

Among the latest arrivals with a large power reserve, the Ulysse Nardin Skeleton Tourbillon Manufacture has an autonomy — described as “exceptional” by the Maison — of 170 hours, which is slightly more than seven days. The recent Girard-Perregaux Constant Escapement boasts the same autonomy which, in other words, is much greater than that of standard calibres. It should be noted that the more complications a watch has, the greater the demand on the power reserve, which is more likely to become depleted.

Equally exceptional, the Patrimony Traditionnelle 14-day Tourbillon from Vacheron Constatin offers, as its name would suggest, two weeks of autonomy. This large power reserve is made possible by the presence of four barrels mounted in pairs. All four barrels are linked together and unwind simultaneously, but four times more slowly than a single barrel. The Master Grande Tradition Minute Repeater from Jaeger-LeCoultre, another prestigious watch manufacturer, is equipped with two barrels which provide 15 days of autonomy. Two other watches made the news a few years ago by offering 31-day power reserves. These were the Lange 31 by the German manufacture A. Lange & Söhne, and the Quenttin by Jacob & Co., which aligns seven barrels along a horizontal axis.

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Article published in WtheJournal.com

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