missF wrote: ↑Wed Jan 15, 2025 4:39 pm
albionphoto wrote: ↑Wed Jan 15, 2025 4:24 pm
too moons. Yuck.
I saw it referred to elsewhere as the 'two moons issue' ...

I really like the 'two moons thing' - I see it as a partial view inside how the moonphase works and displays its stuff. Makes me feel more connected to the movement. I'd have liked the LE done either way.
Now - if CW wanted to design a retrograde movement that crept the moon across the top half of the dial and then swooshed it back over to the left hand side again at the new moon .... well that would be quite something!
The two moons issue
I imagine the real issue in simulating the moon is that the moon's progress is not a discrete number of steps. The "stepped" moon uses a 59 toothed wheel, and so you get 2 moons in 59 days, a 29 day and a 30 day alternately if you will, and this moon drifts off by a day every 2.5years or so, as the true month is not exactly 29 days 12 hours. So the retrograde moon would have to overcome that issue.
Effectively in a moon phase watch the second moon traverses out of sight and appears as a waxing moon after the visible moon disappears. I actually like the idea and interest of the visible second moon.
The 128 year movement of the moon phase is an imperceptible but true ticking motion, and I don't see how you could reset that at all. The gearing just gets closer to producing the true moon month of 29 days 12hrs 44 minutes
It's these 44 minutes which accumulate over time and add up to a day after 32/33 months., which is why the 59 tooth wheel version is a day fast after 33 months.