What is a chain and fusée?

roadwarrior

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https://quillandpad.com/2017/04/08/l...-wristwatches/

Zenith-Academy-Georges-Favre-Jacot-chain-fusee.jpg

Fusée and chain of the Zenith Academy Georges Favre-Jacot

The fusée (French for “rocket”) is a cone-shaped component connected to the mainspring’s barrel by a chain. As the mainspring is wound, the rotating barrel winds the chain around the narrowing fusée.

As the watch runs and the power stored by the mainspring decreases, the tension from the fusée’s chain on the barrel, now rotating in the reverse direction, ensures that a consistent amount of energy is released through the movement until there is none left.

Without the fusée, the power of a mainspring would vary widely over a watch’s running time and offer poor isochronism.

Out with the old, in with the new: why did the chain and fusée go?


While the chain and fusée served a functional purpose in the past, it quickly became impractical following the emergence of new metal alloys for mainsprings and balances.

Geneva.cross-stop-works.jpg


The Geneva stop-works mechanism was also incorporated into watches, fixed directly to the mainspring’s barrel. These stop-works served a similar purpose as a fusée in achieving the flow of constant power with a depleting energy source by only allowing the most stable length of a mainspring to be utilized while running. The stop-works saved a vast amount of space on the movement’s pillar plate compared with the chain and fusée, allowing for smaller movement dimensions and more room for complications.


plm_17.jpg
A. Lange & Söhne Tourbillon Pour le Mérite

In 1994, A. Lange & Söhne introduced the first wristwatch ever outfitted with a fusée and chain system: the Tourbillon Pour le Mérite. Not seen since the age of pocket watches and marine chronometers, the industry’s interest in the fusée was reignited by this groundbreaking timepiece introduced in the re-founded manufacture’s capsule collection (see Why The A. Lange & Söhne Tourbillon Pour Le Mérite Is One Of The Most Historically Important Modern Wristwatches).

A. Lange & Söhne Pour le Mérite Tourbillon



With its design outdated, the fusée was no longer needed in a timekeeper or on a journey across the ocean, yet it somehow managed to become a symbol of haute horlogerie. Recreating an antiquated component in a modern workshop somehow touted high technical ability.
7_A.Lange-Sohne-Pour-le-Merite-Tourbillon.jpg

https://quillandpad.com/2018/11/21/t...main-gauthier/

There are 953 components (including the 633 used to make the chain for the fusée-and-chain mechanism), finishing is off-the-charts good, and there are a pair of diamonds used as the endstones for the tourbillon (something that would become a signature for the PLM watches).

plm_16.jpg

plm_20.jpg

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-...s-just-because

https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/...6-details.aspx

https://www.ablogtowatch.com/a-lange-sohne-limited-edition-turbograph-pour-le-merite-with-tourbillon-and-fusee-chain-available-on-jameslist/




Oct 24, 2019

TickTocking

In my opinion, the best watch Lange has ever made and one of the most important watches of the modern era, I finally got my hands on a Tourbillon PLM after 15+ years of wanting. This is the watch that helped launch Lange to the top tier of the watch world. Showcasing the highest skill imaginable, it features a tourbillon and a chain and fusee, a mechanism that hadn't been seen for a century.


https://www.watchfinder.com/articles/technical-the-fusee-and-chain

https://www.watchtime.com/ibg-videos/fusee-and-chain/

 
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