No Sports Automatics?

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
User avatar
peterh
Senior Guru
Senior Guru
Posts: 643
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2007 9:46 am
CW-watches: 7
Location: The Netherlands

Re: No Sports Automatics?

Post by peterh »

Yup, that is a power reserve.

And while the reviewer at network54 has some reservations, he is also quick to point out that his reservations are exclusively aesthetic, and have no effect on movement efficiency or longevity.
Man with one watch, always know time. Man with many watches, never sure.
(unidentified Chinese philosopher)
User avatar
peterh
Senior Guru
Senior Guru
Posts: 643
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2007 9:46 am
CW-watches: 7
Location: The Netherlands

Re: No Sports Automatics?

Post by peterh »

Oooh, I missed a bit.

While I don't work with plastics, I do think that, in the right application, the use of plastics is a good idea. But apparently, one has to be careful. A motorcycle engineer once told me that his company (the biggest bike company in the world) had been experimenting with nylon sprockets (drive chain sprockets as well as camshaft drive train sprockets) to bring the noise level down... and that the net result is that sprocket wear was okay, but CHAIN wear (on a stainless steel chain) went through the roof.
I do not have the expertise to judge whether the use of plastic parts in the VJ7750 is a sensible idea... and using stamped steel parts is a cost-cutting measure that should not affect longevity - as Seiko has proved for decades in their budget automatics.

My objection is more against having axles running in steel holes without any form of bearing altogether. I dislike the idea severely.

And that is why I would think that CW would be hesitant to deploy this movement - if his most expensive watch would use a movement that cuts corners like this one does, that would reflect badly on him.
I think it would be wise of CW to not try to cover every corner of the market at the expense of having to use questionable solutions. While I am very much partial to automatic watches, I would rather have a ISA-powered Peregrine Red than a VJ7750-powered watch.

If it would be at all possible to produce an automatic chrono for under $1000, Seiko would've done it. They seem to have a habit of doing things just because they can.
Man with one watch, always know time. Man with many watches, never sure.
(unidentified Chinese philosopher)
User avatar
peterh
Senior Guru
Senior Guru
Posts: 643
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2007 9:46 am
CW-watches: 7
Location: The Netherlands

Re: No Sports Automatics?

Post by peterh »

El Tiempo wrote:Thanks for mentioning the Flightmaster auto. I didn't know about them.
I think it's one of the most underestimated chronos around - and no, I don't own one (yet).
Man with one watch, always know time. Man with many watches, never sure.
(unidentified Chinese philosopher)
User avatar
El Tiempo
Senior Guru
Senior Guru
Posts: 785
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2005 12:53 am
CW-watches: 0
Location: Parts Unknown

Re: No Sports Automatics?

Post by El Tiempo »

peterh wrote: ...if his most expensive watch would use a movement that cuts corners like this one does, that would reflect badly on him.
I think it would be wise of CW to not try to cover every corner of the market at the expense of having to use questionable solutions.
Agreed.
joerattz
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1281
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:34 pm
CW-watches: 8
Location: Alpharetta, GA

Re: No Sports Automatics?

Post by joerattz »

peterh wrote:
El Tiempo wrote:Thanks for mentioning the Flightmaster auto. I didn't know about them.
I think it's one of the most underestimated chronos around - and no, I don't own one (yet).
Maybe it's time for CW to go in-house with a modified 7750 fixing the shortcuts ETA has taken?
C5SWT (#316), C5AKS (#316/1936), C5AWS (#789/1936), C6-ForumLE (#3/100), C6SYS (#347), C6-T3LE (#130/300), C6SWS (#601), C3SKS (#1204)

Pro LINQ: Language Integrated Query in C# 2008 : http://www.amazon.com/dp/1590597893?tag=netsplore-20
User avatar
peterh
Senior Guru
Senior Guru
Posts: 643
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2007 9:46 am
CW-watches: 7
Location: The Netherlands

Re: No Sports Automatics?

Post by peterh »

Making it even more expen$ive, you mean?
I don't think that this would be an easy fix.
Man with one watch, always know time. Man with many watches, never sure.
(unidentified Chinese philosopher)