Okay, so, today I wanted to mess around with imitating a Jaeger-LeCoultre JLC Duomètre Sphérotourbillon. It all started when I was browsing some watch forums online and stumbled upon some discussions about the Duometre mechanism.
Apparently, this thing was invented and patented back in 2007. The idea is that it has two barrels and two separate gear trains, one for keeping time and another for other complications, but they’re both linked to a single escapement. Pretty neat, huh? I got pretty excited, and I thought I could try to build something like that on my own, just for fun.
First, I started looking up information about Jaeger-LeCoultre, or JLC as the watch folks call it. They make a whole bunch of different watches, some with super complicated movements. I found out that they have over 1,200 calibres and like 400 patents. That’s a ton of watchmaking know-how!
- I spent hours looking at pictures of different JLC watches, trying to understand how they’re put together.
- I noticed that a lot of the variations in their watches come from different materials, gems, and dials.
Getting My Hands Dirty
Next, I started sketching out some ideas. I’m no watchmaker, but I figured I could at least try to understand the basic principles. I imagined how the two gear trains would work together and how they’d be connected to the escapement. It was a bit of a headache, to be honest, but also kind of fun, like solving a puzzle.
After I had a rough idea, I started looking for parts. Obviously, I wasn’t going to make a real, working watch, but I wanted to see if I could build a model or something that resembled the Duometre mechanism. I checked out some online stores for gears and other watch parts. Man, some of those parts are expensive! I found some cheap stuff that I could use to put together a simple model, and I ordered them. This process was long and boring.
Putting It All Together
When the parts arrived, I cleared off my desk and started putting things together. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Those tiny gears and screws are a pain to work with! I spent a whole weekend fiddling with the parts, trying to get them to fit together. It was frustrating at times, but also kind of rewarding when I finally managed to get something that looked like a watch movement.
Finally, I had something that kind of resembled the Duometre mechanism. It didn’t actually work, of course, but it was cool to see the two separate gear trains side by side. I could see how they would, in theory, work together to power the watch and its complications. I was pretty proud of myself for actually building something, even if it was just a simple model.
In the end, I learned a lot about watches and about JLC in particular. It’s amazing how much engineering goes into these things. I have a whole new appreciation for watchmakers now. Maybe one day I’ll try to build a real, working watch, but for now, I’m happy with my little Duometre-inspired model.
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