Montres Breguet S.a.

The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd

Eta Sa Manufacture Horlogere Suisse

Nakis Karapatis

Davide Sarchi

Jérôme Favre

Alain Zaugg

Michel Willemin

Jean-Claude Martin

Jerome Favre

Sylvain Marechal

Jean-François Pesenti

Stephane Beugin

Jean-Jacques Born

Jean-Luc Helfer

Pierre Cusin

Marco Verardo

Thierry Hessler

Baptist Wyssbrod

Fabien Blondeau

Younes Kadmiri

Benoit Junod

Lucien Germond

Fabio Sciascia

Sylvain Maréchal

Jèrôme Favre

Jérome Favre

Brice Robin

Sylvain MARÉCHAL

Piotr Mazanowski

A coiling limitation device for a timepiece barrel includes at least one non-return notch arranged to cooperate with a sliding flange of the spring of the barrel, which is integrated in a watch including a resonator cooperating with an escapement mechanism. This device includes an acoustic device for the acoustic monitoring of the coiling of the barrel of a watch positioned on a receptacle included by the device, which acoustic devices are arranged to identify a click noise during each start of cooperation between the sliding flange and a notch. The device includes piloting devices arranged to stop the coiling of the barrel at the instant of the perception of the click noise or the repetition of the click noise.

Coiling limitation device for a timepiece barrel

A one-piece arbor of a pivoting movable timepiece component, the one-piece arbor being made of one or more aligned parts. The one-piece arbor is magnetically inhomogeneous.

Arbor of a pivoting movable timepiece component

A writing instrument including: a body extending longitudinally along a central axis; a resilient element fixed to at least one portion of the body. The resilient element of the at least one portion of the body is in one piece and is made of at least partially amorphous metal alloy.

Writing instrument

A protective element for a writing tip of a writing instrument including a cap extending longitudinally along a central axis and configured to be fitted onto a body of the instrument, and a clip extending substantially parallel to the central axis from a first end fixed to the cap to a free end. The clip and the cap are in one piece.

A timepiece mechanism including a movable component oscillating about a rest plane passing through a pivot axis. An arbor of the movable component includes a main protruding portion which forms the largest radius of the movable component about this axis. The protruding portion is delimited by two surfaces defining a profile inscribed in a rectangle whose shape proportion is greater than 2 wherein the direction of the length defines a main axis, which occupies a determined angular position with respect to the rest plane in the rest position of the movable component. The mechanism has a preferred direction of magnetization that is substantially orthogonal to the main axis of the arbor in the rest position.

Timepiece mechanism comprising a movable oscillating component with optimised geometry in a magnetic environment

The musical or striking watch is provided with an acoustic radiation arrangement. The watch includes a watch case, formed at least of a case middle and a back cover removably fixed to the case middle, and at least one crystal for closing said case. The acoustic radiation arrangement includes a connecting support part fixed in the case back between a back bezel and a back crystal. The back bezel includes several lateral openings. A cavity is defined between the connecting support part and the openings in the back bezel.

Musical or striking watch provided with an acoustic radiation arrangement

Escapement mechanism () for a watch movement including a pallet lever () with a fork () and a roller device () with an impulse-pin coupled to a balance (). The fork includes an entry horn () and an exit horn (), the impulse-pin including a first cam portion () configured to engage the entry horn, and a second cam portion () configured to engage the exit horn. The first cam portion includes a first cam surface () configured to engage the entry horn on a first level (), and the second cam portion includes a second cam surface () configured to engage the exit horn on a second level (), the first and second levels being staggered in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation (A) of the roller device.

Escapement mechanism for a watch movement

A timepiece including a first resonator oscillating at a first frequency and connected by a main gear train to a main energy source via a main escapement, a second resonator oscillating at a second frequency which is lower than the first frequency and cooperating with the main escapement in order to synchronize maintenance of the first resonator to the second frequency.

Oscillators synchronised by an intermittent escapement

A method of fabricating a reinforced silicon micromechanical part includes: micro-machining the part, or a batch of parts in a silicon wafer; forming a silicon dioxide layer over the entire surface of the part, in one or plural operations, so as to obtain a thickness of silicon dioxide that is at least five times greater than the thickness of native silicon dioxide; and removing the silicon dioxide layer by etching.

Method for making a reinforced silicon micromechanical part

The invention relates to a timepiece including a resonator cooperating with an escapement system. According to the invention, the escapement system includes a moving escape wheel arranged coaxially to the balance and driven by the gear train of the timepiece, a first fixed wheel having a first toothing and a second fixed wheel having a second toothing, the first and second fixed wheels being arranged coaxially to the moving escape wheel and a device for securing the outer end of the balance spring including a part hinged relative to the moving escape wheel and arranged to ensure a radial movement of the outer end between the first and second toothings to maintain the resonator and to transmit the motion thereof to the timepiece gear train.

Escapement system for a sprung balance resonator

A method of fabricating a balance spring assembly () in silicon including a hairspring () made in a wafer of given crystalline orientation, in a plane (P). The volume of the assembly () is broken down into sub-components, inscribed in parallelepiped prisms, in secant pairs, at the junction areas, perpendicular to each other, each made in a wafer selected for the thickness or crystalline orientation thereof. An outer curve () is made in an orthogonal plane to that of the hairspring () joining it directly to a point in space, the projection of which into the plane (P) is located external to the hairspring (). The sub-components are assembled at the junction areas.

Method of fabricating a timepiece balance spring assembly in micro-machinable material or silicon

The acoustic radiating membrane () is for assembly in a music box or a striking watch. The membrane is made with at least one area of asymmetrical shape, formed in the material of the membrane or with at least one area of asymmetrical shape having a different thickness from the general thickness of the membrane. It preferably includes two asymmetrical areas of elliptical shape () which are partly superposed and have a different thickness from each other. The two ellipses (), preferably hollowed out of the membrane, are off-centre in relation to each other.

Acoustic radiating membrane for a music box or striking watch

The acoustic radiating membrane () is for assembly in a music box or a striking watch. The membrane includes a first sheet () having a certain number of cells (), which is secured to a first face of a second sheet () which has no cells. The membrane may also include a third sheet () having a certain number of cells () which is fixed to a second face of the second sheet (). The shape and dimension of the cells are adapted according to the type of material and the note or notes to be radiated by the membrane with uniform amplification within the audible frequency band. The cells () of the first and third sheets are configured in a honeycomb arrangement to occupy most of the surface of the membrane, for the uniform amplification and efficient radiation of the note or notes produced.

The striking mechanism () for a watch or a music box includes a gong () fixed to a gong-carrier () and an activation member () for activating the gong in a striking mode. The striking mechanism includes a first magnetic element () arranged on the gong () and second magnetic elements () arranged on the periphery of the activation member (), which is a magnetic wheel. In a striking mode, the magnetic wheel is set in rotation at a determined velocity so that the second magnetic elements (), in the form of moving micro-magnets, move in succession and repeatedly into proximity with and opposite the first magnetic element (), which is a fixed micro-magnet of opposite magnetic polarity. The rotation of the magnetic wheel sets the gong vibrating via a periodic variation in the magnetic repulsion or attraction force between the moving micro-magnets and the fixed micro-magnet of the gong.

Striking mechanism for a watch or a music box

The watch striking mechanism () includes a gong, which is fixed via one end thereof to a gong-carrier integral with a plate, a hammer rotatably mounted on the plate to strike the gong at determined times, a damper counter-spring () for keeping the hammer away from the gong in an idle mode, and a drive spring () for the hammer. The drive spring includes an end () fixed to the plate and an end () that is free to move. The spring can be wound so that the free end () of the spring drives the hammer () against the gong () in a strike mode to produce an acoustic sound. The striking mechanism includes means () for actuating the damper counter-spring () in a strike mode with a time lag after the hammer () strikes the gong, so that after the hammer strikes the gong, the counter-spring pushes said hammer towards an idle position. The actuating means includes a stop member mounted on the damper counter-spring to be actuated via the drive spring when in action just after the hammer strikes the gong.

Growing community of inventors

Premier, Switzerland

Nakis Karapatis