I’d wondered about that too Iain. There would also need to be a bit of choreography between the workpiece rotation and the engagement and disengagement of the workpiece during spin up and spin down.
Fun Fact Friday
- richtel
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Re: Fun Fact Friday
Rich
"The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you're the pilot."
"The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you're the pilot."
- richtel
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Re: Fun Fact Friday
Friday 2 June
Meterorite dials. We've seen them on expensive luxury watches down to small microbrands- the distinctive and unique grey crystalline pattern usually engulfed in shovelfuls of 'out of this world' marketing hyperbole. But how are they made and what gives them the distinctive look?
A Meteorite, of course, is a piece of debris from a comet, asteroid or meteroid, probably starting life as a piece of molten planetary core billions of years ago and has been lying through space for many millions of years before finally sucomming to earth's gravity. A meteorite is a fragment that has survived falling through earth's atmosphere.
Mainly consisting of iron and nickel, as the debris cooled in the coldness of space the alloy slowly cooled to create the mix of crystallic features we recognise today. The patterns, often referred to as Widdmanstätten patterns after an Austrian scientist Count Alois von Beckh Widdmanstätten form an interleaving pattern of short and longer ribbons called kamacite and taenite which differ by their proportions of nickel content.
If carefully cleaved, polished and acid etched to draw out the visible crystal structure, they can be cut onto wafers for use on dials. They're difficult to work with being extremely brittle and potentially magnetic but each dial, by its very nature, will be totally unique.
One of the largest meterorites, the 4-billion year old Gibeon meteorite which fell on Namibia in prehistoric times measured some 4 metres across before shattering into many fragments. Pieces of the Gibeon meteorite have been used by many manufacturers, including Rolex. Namibia has now banned further meteorite collection, protecting them as national monuments.
Meterorite dials. We've seen them on expensive luxury watches down to small microbrands- the distinctive and unique grey crystalline pattern usually engulfed in shovelfuls of 'out of this world' marketing hyperbole. But how are they made and what gives them the distinctive look?
A Meteorite, of course, is a piece of debris from a comet, asteroid or meteroid, probably starting life as a piece of molten planetary core billions of years ago and has been lying through space for many millions of years before finally sucomming to earth's gravity. A meteorite is a fragment that has survived falling through earth's atmosphere.
Mainly consisting of iron and nickel, as the debris cooled in the coldness of space the alloy slowly cooled to create the mix of crystallic features we recognise today. The patterns, often referred to as Widdmanstätten patterns after an Austrian scientist Count Alois von Beckh Widdmanstätten form an interleaving pattern of short and longer ribbons called kamacite and taenite which differ by their proportions of nickel content.
If carefully cleaved, polished and acid etched to draw out the visible crystal structure, they can be cut onto wafers for use on dials. They're difficult to work with being extremely brittle and potentially magnetic but each dial, by its very nature, will be totally unique.
One of the largest meterorites, the 4-billion year old Gibeon meteorite which fell on Namibia in prehistoric times measured some 4 metres across before shattering into many fragments. Pieces of the Gibeon meteorite have been used by many manufacturers, including Rolex. Namibia has now banned further meteorite collection, protecting them as national monuments.
- These users thanked the author richtel for the post (total 9):
- Bahnstormer_vRS • missF • Chris GB • iain • Amor Vincit Omnia • welshlad • Chris375 • rkovars • Soporsche
Rich
"The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you're the pilot."
"The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you're the pilot."
- Thegreyman
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Re: Fun Fact Friday
Belated Friday fun “fact”. There is a guy who must work in the next building to my office, as I regularly see his two tone Merc SL parked. Half of the whole car is black and half white…slightly bizarre.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Patrick
C1 Morgan Aero 8, C60 Sunrise, C63 Sealander Lucerne blue LE, C65 Dartmouth, W11 Amelia (wife), C63 Sealander (son)
Some others + a few on the way
C1 Morgan Aero 8, C60 Sunrise, C63 Sealander Lucerne blue LE, C65 Dartmouth, W11 Amelia (wife), C63 Sealander (son)
Some others + a few on the way
- welshlad
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Re: Fun Fact Friday
^^^ 
I'd be really interested to hear to story behind that. Bizarre.

I'd be really interested to hear to story behind that. Bizarre.
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. - Niels Bohr
- richtel
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Re: Fun Fact Friday
Friday 9 June.
We've seen single-handed watches which have only one hand which rotates once every 12 or 24 hours; the point being that while the displayed time might be precise enough to portray a reference for major events during the day (lunch, The Archers, bedtime, taking your meds etc), you're not beholden to governing your day to the second or the minute. Doing so might lead to the sense of a more relaxed day- not worrying about seeing the minutes ticking away.
Well, how about taking it a little step further? How about wearing a watch, that's not a watch. I give you the 'pretend' watch.
Designed by jewellery designer Denise Reytan, these are gold, silver and platinum plated stainless steel stampings inviting you to remember that it's "Time to forget about time" and reminding you to switch off from hectic lifestyles, stress and time pressures. Cost- starting at 269 Euros.
https://www.reytan.de/portfolio/t1mepeace-chrono
I'm wondering if I could acheive the same by wearing a digital watch with a dead battery. Hmnn.... perhaps I should patent that idea.....
PS- I'm away for the next few Fridays. Anyone care to jump in?
We've seen single-handed watches which have only one hand which rotates once every 12 or 24 hours; the point being that while the displayed time might be precise enough to portray a reference for major events during the day (lunch, The Archers, bedtime, taking your meds etc), you're not beholden to governing your day to the second or the minute. Doing so might lead to the sense of a more relaxed day- not worrying about seeing the minutes ticking away.
Well, how about taking it a little step further? How about wearing a watch, that's not a watch. I give you the 'pretend' watch.
Designed by jewellery designer Denise Reytan, these are gold, silver and platinum plated stainless steel stampings inviting you to remember that it's "Time to forget about time" and reminding you to switch off from hectic lifestyles, stress and time pressures. Cost- starting at 269 Euros.
https://www.reytan.de/portfolio/t1mepeace-chrono
I'm wondering if I could acheive the same by wearing a digital watch with a dead battery. Hmnn.... perhaps I should patent that idea.....
PS- I'm away for the next few Fridays. Anyone care to jump in?
- These users thanked the author richtel for the post:
- Bahnstormer_vRS
Rich
"The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you're the pilot."
"The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you're the pilot."
- Amor Vincit Omnia
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Re: Fun Fact Friday
^^^ Andy Warhol famously said of his Cartier:
I don’t wear a Tank watch to tell the time. Actually I never even wind it. I wear a Tank because it is the watch to wear!
- These users thanked the author Amor Vincit Omnia for the post:
- Bahnstormer_vRS
Steve
Linguist; retired teacher; pilgrim; apprentice travel writer
Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. (Max Ehrmann)
Linguist; retired teacher; pilgrim; apprentice travel writer
Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. (Max Ehrmann)
- missF
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Re: Fun Fact Friday
I get the sentiment of zero time. Long time back I took to wearing my watch with the time set wrong. Then, to avoid learning quickly to adjust the watch time to real time, at random times of the day I reset the watch by a random amount. I class it a good experiment to do. Because you still have a watch on your wrist you still check the time automatically whenever you need to. But what you get then is quite a complex feeling. Cognitive dissonance, a sense of being thrown outside the mindless world, and a sense of coming to your senses. You have to reevaluate a lot in that split second!
So these bracelets might well bring us to our senses, but I’d rather have a mechanical watch wake me up
So these bracelets might well bring us to our senses, but I’d rather have a mechanical watch wake me up

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