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Strela under the microscope
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Is this a vintage piece?
Surely looks like it. Either that or they did a terrible job at the factory assembling the watch.
Surely looks like it. Either that or they did a terrible job at the factory assembling the watch.
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Would definitely be interesting to see the difference between various "tiers" of watches (the high and low ends of Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Swiss, etc.). People talk about watch "fit and finish" and "details" all the time but most of us will never actually be able to see our watches to this degree of detail....
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Ill take pictures of my watches later. I have some already, but those aren't quite to the standard I want.
Look at almost the end of the video. I go into super macro.
Look at almost the end of the video. I go into super macro.
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With a cheap set of loupe you can see a good degree of detail although I don't know if I would recommend it. Once you see little flaws you may over obsess about them.
Like, I was looking at my Stowa after I got it and I saw a small scratch on the bridge of the movement (eta 2824) that I normally would've never seen. Everything else I looked at seemed well done but now I keep thinking about that little scratch and wonder if it came from the supplier like that, was it from Stowa assembling the watch and so on.
But I'm also curious about seeing close up the differences of the finish of different watches like you said so I can't stop using the loupe.
Sent from my cm_tenderloin
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Amazing pics. , thanks for posting.
Impressed by how sharp cut they show the gear teeth
Looking forward to your next.
Impressed by how sharp cut they show the gear teeth
Looking forward to your next.
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Pretty poor, but I really don't think you can expect better than that on a 500 dollar mechanical chronograph. I'm sure if I looked at mine in that close of detail it would look like crap too, but thankfully I don't have magnifying eyes......so who cares.
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Brilliant pics - thanks for posting. Most watches probably look a bit rough at that sort of magnification.
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Most watches don't look that rough. None of my watches have looked that rough.
That is using a microscope as well.
My $100 invicta 8926 doesn't look anything like the pictures in the OP.
This is why I asked if it was vintage..
For $500 they can certainly do better.
That is using a microscope as well.
My $100 invicta 8926 doesn't look anything like the pictures in the OP.
This is why I asked if it was vintage..
For $500 they can certainly do better.
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I have seen rougher painted hands than those on a new pretty expensive Doxa...
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For me, it is interesting to see he finishing and build quality at the microscopic level. Can give you a good idea as to how a company takes it's manufacturing and quality control. When dealing with mechanical movements that require precision and tight tolerances... it kinda matters.
Is it wrong to do so? no. Is it wrong not to do so? no. Some people just want to make sure their $500 went somewhere even if it's details they cannot see with their eye... or details like watchmaking (because let's face it, 9/10 members in watchuseek do not fully understand the way a movement functions, or even less likely the math involved.
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curiosity, of course, and also it's interesting to see whether there are significant differences between similar price models - it would mean that the quality even on such level is manageable
I apologize for a flippant remark. Sorry.
However, just wondering aloud....
Better finishing should mean better watch, all things being equal. The "all things being equal" part troubles me. For instance, Sea-Gull gets generally rave reviews, but put the "same" movement in a Parnis and things can turn real ugly. Do you think the microscope would show differences in these movements? Are movements examined by manufacturers and then graded? or do they just test them and the poor ones get graded OEM?
In a similar vein, I spoke to a BMW retailer. He would sell some BMWs and the owners wouldn't have hardly any problems. But then every once in a while, a few BMWs would seem to have everything go wrong. He suspected assembly problems, or tolerances must go haywire every so often.
Damaged screws would indicate sloppy workmanship, but really wouldn't affect time keeping (I would think). The sharply cut wheel teeth should have an affect (I would think). Anybody care to say which parts of the watch have the most affect on time keeping quality? (I really know very little, but I am familiar with being completely wrong due to things being counter-intuitive.)
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Movement pictures showed little issues with the watch mechanically, apart from the damaged screws which are more of a possible PITA to remove later if they are further damaged.
The only thing I could mention are the teeth in the gear are much older in design and are supposed to be cut so sharply, these teeth however are archaic and not as good at reducing friction compared to the teeth developed by ETA which reduced friction drastically (thus improving energy transfer (thus PR time), reduced wear, reduced failure due to teeth breaking, yada yada yada).
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Sea-Gull actually does grade their movements. I believe from AAA, AA, A to D. They supposedly reserve the AAA ones for themselves while the others are sold. Inspection with loupes or microscopes could confirm that.
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Any legitimate source of these claims? I'd like to read further.
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