This is the best explanation of the balance wheel, balance spring and escapement I have EVER seen!

Zenith is truly an undervalued brand, I"m excited to see new developments with better leadership at the helm.

Thank you for this really in depth technical video about the incredible new Zenith movement. I hope that this will raise the reputation of this commonly overlooked brand and revolutionize the way the watches are made.

What a TIME to be alive

Innovation in this Time piece is outstanding and the price of only 30,000 Swiss-F is really a testimonial to zenith and Horologist alike. innovative design we could well be looking at the first significant shift in Horology and time piece's in our lifetime like the bygones before who set the standard of there time, this Honesty could be the truly Amazing turning point in ours. Excellent Zenith Excellent news.

Great video. I'd been looking for something like this. Well done as usual!

Thanks,Armand! For me, this was the most lucid explanation of watch functionality I have seen. Well done.

And almost 2 years later where is this? One worry I have with the Silicon flexure style balance wheel/spring is that the cyclical loading causes some hysteresis in the elastic region of the silicon and I could see after a few hundred million cycles it would lose a lot of strength in the flexure and need a new balance wheel. A coil spring in a traditional watch deflects very little because of its length, very low strain, so cyclical loading affects are minimized, however the new silicon movement that zenith created deflects much further per tick/tick which can significantly fatigue the spring much quicker.

Very informative explanation of the new regulating mechanism and its effects and consequences to time measurement and the future of watchmaking. Let's hope that it becomes widely adopted among other watchmaking houses as the technology matures, as the production cost makes it affordable and as the exclusivity period expires.

Excellent video. Although I am of a mechanical bend, I was still questioning the operation of this watch, but with the help of your ability to explain it's principles I think I have a solid grasp on how it operates. I can't wait to see how this system develops in the future.

A very good informative review of a very innovative timepiece. For mechanical accuracy it does seem the way forward and once production quantities increase then, although at first quite expensive, ultimately, hopefully the price will become more affordable.

Fantastic technology! Now imagine you incorporate graphene and zeropoint technology. Now we are entering into a time machine.

Such a well prepared and informativ presentation, thank you very much sir!

Great review and explanation Armand.

The most important review on new technology I have seen. Does the new balance / escapement have a name?

It looks like there are 3 spokes in the balance wheel flexure that bend to allow the oscillations. Because these spokes would cause the radius to change they couldn’t make the outer hoop continuous so they cut it into 3 pieces and coupled their movements (so they wouldn’t crash into each other) by the 3 L shaped features that have the parallel flexures on each. The time adjuster just puts more spring resistance on the oscillating flexure and then there’s one more feature that meters the escapement. Cool looking design. I saw some video where they were writing all sorts of equations on a white board and now that I see this design I don’t think anyone really needs to understand those equations to be able to design this, they probably were just writing them to seem smart :) I think flexures have seen very little use in watch design so this mechanism might open the door for many new flexure based complications, watchmaking will be getting even more interesting in the years to come!

This is a fascinating innovation, though I can't help thinking that the silicon oscillator looks a bit flimsy. Of course I assume they've carried out all of the necessary mathematical calculations, and soak tests to be sure it's not going to fail catastrophically after 5 to 10 years of constant use. Then again, the trouble with revolutionary innovations, however clever, is that there's always the chance that the designers have overlooked something, as in the case of the de Havilland Comet. If, 5 to 10 years down the road, there are no reports of such catastrophic failures we can be sure that they've got the design of this component right.

Thank you for very detailed explanation

I just read about this product this morning and up pops this video. Thanks for a fantastic summation of this amazing technology. Zenith should license your video! I do believe that this is the future. Quartz accuracy and toughness with no reliance on batteries - how can it not be? As a previous poster mentioned it will be copied and mass produced, and I agree with you that in ten years this could be and should be the new standard in watchmaking.

Really looking forward to the more affordable (and more widely available) stainless steal version, as well as future Zeniths and other LVMH brand pieces with this technology. Thanks for an excellent overview!

Thanks! This is definitely the future of watches.

Thank you for the informative review and for that fact that you tried to make it as simple as it can possibly be, for such a technical matter. Now, while I honestly want to share your optimism, I must say that I'm very confident, that with patents in place, there's really no incentive for the watchmaker, in this case Zenith, to make their pieces more available to the general public. This isn't the last century, nowadays profit is really all that matters and capitalizing on their new product as much as possible is 9,5/10 what will follow.

Great review Armand. Very interesting and exciting. Perhaps one day I will be able to buy one!

Great video Armand, I know it can be rather difficult to explain such technical details in a way that it is comprehensible for people who aren't (yet perhaps) in the know of all the parts and nomenclature of mechanical watches. My compliments! For me personally, I don't care much about the accuracy of my watches, maybe helped by the fact that my least accurate one gains only 3 seconds a day and I hardly ever wear the same watch for a couple of days in a row.. I do really like the high beat rate, it's simple maths really: more floating second = more better

Terrific video explanation. Really enjoy your channel. I'm about two years into a love affair with mechanical watches, but until today had not really developed a proper understanding of the principles of watch movements and their components. Your combined lesson and explanation of a newer, perhaps superior, mechanism for (mechanical) timekeeping caused me to double-back to square one in order to finally understand how the lovely little parts inside my watches really work. Having done so, I can also appreciate why this newest technology is so exciting. Thanks. Great stuff. Your fascination with watches is contagious.

Brilliant. Already looking forward to the next video.

I can definitely see this new oscillator used as the chronograph module on high end watches. The traditional movement can be kept (maybe for tradition or artistic reasons), and the oscillator for high accuracy chrono readings. I wonder whether the oscillator can accommodate features like flyback, split time (rattrapante), double/triple flybacks, etc

Absolutely top notch video, very well done sir! My only criticism is that it would have been nice to actually see the movement moving, as it is amazing to see. I agree that this appears to be a real game changer in the world of mechanical watches, and is a very interesting development. I wonder if this will affect the thickness of mechanisms much, being fond of thin watches myself, considering the layers needed to contain this element. In terms of cost over time, you can see it can be almost stamped out of a wafer so I would expect it could be mass produced and reduce costs of automatic mechanisms, a win-win. It is all very cool stuff!

Fantastic interesting technical review. I was captivated! Given the price, they should call the case material "unobtainium", well, for me at least.

I would like to see how the spinning gear transfers the energy to the huge vibrating silicon contraption. Does lubrication need to be where the gear teeth hitting or rubbing the silicon?

A very impressive time piece. Thanks for the review

Love it!

Great content! Armand très bien mon frère!

Fantastic explanation

Why didn't we get to see it run? That would seem to be the point here?

Mr Armand you sir are a Truly unique and exciting breath of fresh air. I have become besotted with your input in the knowledge of time piece's and its know how,, Fabulous my good man you're just simply Fabulous. I can't wait to be professionaly whisked away by your fine self and listen to your luxurious vocabulary into a wonderful world of Horology. Marvellous. Thank-you again sir.

A fantastic explanation! Thank you

'Agreed as this tech moves forward at the rate of say 'graphine' the price will become much lower. A real winner and a giant leap forward for the mechanical watch. Bravo Zenith.

Thank you for the detailed information. Very well presented and insightful. Modern materials, both non-metalic and metallic non-metallic hybrids are the future. The most elegant solutions are always the simplest and this certainly is an example. Great video! Keep up the great work.

How is power from the reserve transferred to the resonator?

Great in depth review, thanks for this. I wonder how it will effect the future of Haute Horology and watchmaking in general. A precision engineered component, like the one that lies at the heart of this watch , would seem out of the reach of any but the largest companies with extensive R+D and technical facilities. Is this the end for small watchmakers? Or perhaps 3D printing etc will bring this technology within the grasp of the small producer/artisan? Fabulous innovation though, you've got to hand it to Zenith, I want one!!

Fascinating. Many thanks

Great video professor!

This is a true game changer! Get video!

nice collections -thank u benjamain

It's amazing just amazing awesome video

Super video. Thanks.

Where can I obtain one?

I don't see how someone else doesn't copy and improve on it and make this available for $100... Because it's not the cost of materials.. And Chinese are producing automatic watches for $25. And also; Chinese believe Copyright = Right to Copy.. so I'm sure we will see clones.. That said; great tech!

Considering Guy works for TAG Heuer (and was responsible for the Monaco V4) it's a pity they didn't put this movement in a Carrera first, though I believe it will be next year. Zenith needs all the help it can get at the moment, it is the runt of the litter in the LVMH roster with no iconic watch to speak of (albeit a famous movement in the El Primero) and JCB is determined to get it up on it's feet after years of mismanagement. All those people saying this is amazing would probably be snorting if this had been introduced through the TAG brand though...

I have a Rolex Submariner, which I bought new, 38 years ago. It gains about 30 seconds a month, ie about 3 minutes every 6 months. I like my watch to be a little fast, because I'm never late for an appointment. A watch that's "bang on" is a pain in the a***. Even if I owned a Zenith Defy, I'm sure I'd deliberately set it 3-5 minutes ahead, so there's no point in getting such accuracy. If I want high accuracy, I have a couple of quartz watches collecting dust in my bedside table. If that's not accurate enough, there's my mobile phone, which gives accuracy of under a second per year. Accuracy should never be a reason to buy a beautiful craftsman made watch. The $2.6 million Patek Philippe probably doesn't keep perfect time - but, so what? Obviously, there are people whose life depends on an extremely accurate timepiece. For them, I recommend they get a Citizen CTQ57 (plus or minus five seconds per year) or a 9F Grand Seiko (plus or minus 10 seconds per year) My Rolex ticks many boxes:- 1) Well made. 2) Reliable. 3) Attractive. 4) Appreciating. 5) Keeps (for me) adequately good time. 6) Robust. 7) Waterproof. 8) Visible in the dark. 9) Prestigious. 10) Good value for what it is. The Zenith Defy doesn't tick as many boxes. Check out Roger Smith. (George Daniels' protege). He doesn't wear one of the $250,000 watches he makes for very wealthy clients, he wears a Rolex Datejust. He says it's a VERY good watch. Having said all this, I'd like to compliment the presenter on an exceptionally fine, professional and informative video. An even better presentation than "Watchfinder" - and that is a high accolade.

Excellent exposé of this new movement.....However when it breaks, it cannot be repaired. For a modern movement I would prefer a Grand Seiko Quartz for less money and 50 years of service in the future....!

And just exactly how long will it remain this accuracy compare to traditional movements without servicing it? And if the higher frequency movement burns out faster than the traditional 4hz, then I don't see much point of it besides the watch companies are making more money on servicing it each time , if it burns twice as fast, then every service point we all have to pay more to keep this accuracy, if so then we all fall into a trap for them to rip us off.

You seriously need to check out Roger Dubuis Excalibur knights of the round table 2.

each sold for 30,000 Swiss Franks, I am not rich, but actually I was expecting some astronomical number, that's less than the price of Grand Seiko models...

imagine a swatch with a similar movement in the future

Its too accurate to be a passing concept

Ha, suck it quartz! Love you Zenith!

Silicon is sliced from an ingot (not melted), right?

its not silicon, its titanium, right?

👍

China do your thing.

See the Junghans 283/500 movement.

Chinese watch vendors will watch this video now and manufacture a watch using this technology that you'll be able to buy for $30 two years from now

pop shield

I can't wait until this mechanism is used in cheaper watches, if ever. These watches cost around $18,000

You need to work on your mic setup. 'B's and 'P's are a mite harsh.

But why is it so ugly .... :(

this type of movement isn't going to change shit... The luxury wristwatch industry wouldn't be here if it relied on technical innovation . A chinese 2$ quartz watch has around 8 khz frequency. Zenith innovated an industry that has been outdated since the '70s.

At the moment it serves no practical purpose for humanity. But it can! This can end the cost and pollution caused by watch batteries. I guessetimate a billion watch batteries are used up every year. I disagree when you say it's main advantage is accuracy -- you can get a quartz watch for accuracy. So the main advantage today is just that it is different. If instead of being sold for $$$$ it was made cheap (it's just silicon) and plentiful it would replace all conventional oscillating wheels. Which means we would no longer need quartz watches for accuracy and we could be rid of one billion batteries *cost and pollution* Now that is something wonderful. Until it gets down to being cheap and taking over the industry, it remains a rich toy. And a cool but meaningless gadget.

what a pointless innovation. Zenith have always been crap and this does nothing to change that. A vibrating sliver of silicon is not a mechanical reaction and therefore this is not a mechanical timepiece. It's a gimmick designed to appease idiots who don't understand mechanical watches. Cheap and cheerless technology.