Hello and good day everyone!
It's a privilege to ask questions to such a diverse group of collectors and watchmakers. I am excited about this forum and thank you Dr. Jon for moderating it.
I've read about how silicone components are such an improvement from the standard materials. For the most part, hairsprings seem to be the most popular silicone components. Touted to be more stable than their metal counterparts with magnetism (obviously) and temperature. Recently Dr. Jon showed us a watch where the escape wheel and the hairspring are made of silicone. The manufacturer, Damasko, has some promotional videos on this, but no explanation.. no how's or why's... A hairspring, I can certainly see the advantages, but an escape wheel? That was very interesting to me.
Much of what is read or viewed on the internet is promotional material created by the manufacturer. Marketing.
So I suppose I have a few questions.
Can someone elaborate on how exactly silicone is a better material for the job?
Are there any watchmakers here who have had real life experience with these silicone parts? How do they hold up in respect to wear? Do they become brittle with age? Maybe it's too new of a thing for discussions on degradation.
With a new forum on contemporary watchmaking a discussion about silicone had to come up sooner or later, and since it was on my mind I figured it would be fun to get the ball rolling. With this group consisting of such a diverse group of occupations, I'm excited to hear what everyone thinks.
From my own point of view, as someone who has been fixing things for a living (and for fun) for 20ish years... The world has become a throw it away and buy another sort of place... is this where silicone is heading? Will these new watches be around and keeping time in 100 years like the Elgin in my pocket?
It's a privilege to ask questions to such a diverse group of collectors and watchmakers. I am excited about this forum and thank you Dr. Jon for moderating it.
I've read about how silicone components are such an improvement from the standard materials. For the most part, hairsprings seem to be the most popular silicone components. Touted to be more stable than their metal counterparts with magnetism (obviously) and temperature. Recently Dr. Jon showed us a watch where the escape wheel and the hairspring are made of silicone. The manufacturer, Damasko, has some promotional videos on this, but no explanation.. no how's or why's... A hairspring, I can certainly see the advantages, but an escape wheel? That was very interesting to me.
Much of what is read or viewed on the internet is promotional material created by the manufacturer. Marketing.
So I suppose I have a few questions.
Can someone elaborate on how exactly silicone is a better material for the job?
Are there any watchmakers here who have had real life experience with these silicone parts? How do they hold up in respect to wear? Do they become brittle with age? Maybe it's too new of a thing for discussions on degradation.
With a new forum on contemporary watchmaking a discussion about silicone had to come up sooner or later, and since it was on my mind I figured it would be fun to get the ball rolling. With this group consisting of such a diverse group of occupations, I'm excited to hear what everyone thinks.
From my own point of view, as someone who has been fixing things for a living (and for fun) for 20ish years... The world has become a throw it away and buy another sort of place... is this where silicone is heading? Will these new watches be around and keeping time in 100 years like the Elgin in my pocket?