OMEGA hat heute eine Uhr präsentiert, die einer magnetischen Induktion von 15.000 Gauß widersteht – ein Leistung die bisher noch keiner Uhr gelungen ist und Uhrmacher seit Jahrhunderten beschäftigt.
Das Uhrwerk wurde am 17. Januar auf einer Pressekonferenz in der Cité du Temps in Genf von Raynald Aeschlimann, Vizepräsident & International Sales Director von OMEGA und Mitglied der erweiterten Konzernleitung der Swatch Group, vorgestellt.
OMEGA hat heute eine Uhr präsentiert, die einer magnetischen Induktion von 15.000 Gauß widersteht – ein Leistung die bisher noch keiner Uhr gelungen ist und Uhrmacher seit Jahrhunderten beschäftigt.
Das Uhrwerk wurde am 17. Januar auf einer Pressekonferenz in der Cité du Temps in Genf von Raynald Aeschlimann, Vizepräsident & International Sales Director von OMEGA und Mitglied der erweiterten Konzernleitung der Swatch Group, vorgestellt.
Jean-Claude Monachon reminded the attendees at the press conference of OMEGA’s long history of technological innovation, showing slides of highlights going back to 1894. He went on to point out that magnetism has always been an issue for watchmakers, adding that magnets are now more present in our daily lives than they have ever been before. Watchmakers have to deal regularly with the issue of magnetism, as it is necessary for them to demagnetize mechanical watches whose performance has been compromised by exposure to magnetic fields, a problem that will be solved with the new movement.
He explained that G. N. Hayek, the CEO of Swatch Group, challenged OMEGA to create a totally non-magnetic watch and announced that OMEGA, with engineers, scientists and metallurgists from its sister companies had met the challenge.
Michel Willemin’s presentation focused on issues of magnetism in daily life. He gave members of the press a brief primer on magnets and magnetism and pointed out that the evolution of the strength of permanent magnets was a key motivation behind the development of the movement.
Thierry Conus explained how magnetism had been dealt with previously, including inner cases designed to limit the effect of magnetism. He pointed out the limitations of the approach including the facts they couldn’t handle the challenge of the increased strength of permanent magnets and that, from an aesthetic standpoint, they block the view of the movement. He then showed a short film showing how a conventional mechanical watch exposed to high levels of magnetism stopped immediately and dramatically lost its accuracy. The OMEGA prototype was subjected to even higher levels of magnetism (15,000 gauss) and continued to perform. Testing showed that the watch was as accurate after its magnetic exposure as it had been before.
A live demonstration was then made that offered compelling and conclusive evidence that OMEGA’s new >15,000 Gauss movement is a landmark development in watchmaking.
OMEGA expects to present the technology at the Baselworld trade fair in April. The new movement, the OMEGA Co-Axial calibre 8508, should be introduced to the market in 2013.
The following pictures are also available:
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Quelle: OMEGA The Swatch Group ; http://www.omegawatches.com