Rubies within a watch and its movement: What are they for ?
You're probably familiar with rubies, those beautiful red gemstones often used in jewelry. But are you familiar with rubies in watches? You might not know it, but many rubies are found in the inner workings of a watch. But what purpose do they serve? Rubies inside a watch? In this article, we will... to explain their role within a watch.
What is the purpose of rubies inside a watch? ?
You may not know this, but the movements of mechanical watches contain many rubies. They are there to ensure watches Smooth operation and long-term reliability are essential. The jewels within the movement of a mechanical watch (and therefore also an automatic watch) serve to minimize friction. Without jewels, there would be metal-on-metal friction which, over time, would damage the watch's function. The jewels are fixed to the pivots of the balance wheel and gear train axes—in other words, where the friction is greatest. They are arranged like cushions at the ends of the pivots and help to hold the entire movement structure in place. Ruby is the second hardest gemstone after diamond, with a very low coefficient of friction. This is why ruby is the stone chosen to be at the heart of the mechanism. Friction is therefore greatly minimized, resulting in less energy loss within the movement. In short, the presence of ruby improves the watch's precision, durability, and long-term reliability.
The more rubies a watch has, the more valuable it is. ?
It should be noted, however, that the rubies used in mechanical watch movements are synthetic. Indeed, in 1902, Auguste Verneuil established a process for producing rubies in the laboratory. This process even took its inventor's name; it is known as the Verneuil process. Before the invention of this process, mechanical watches were fitted with real rubies, and the more rubies there were, the higher the watch's value. Since synthetic rubies are much cheaper to produce than traditional rubies, they became widespread in the watchmaking industry, especially after the ruby price surge of 1920. The synthetic rubies used in a mechanical watch have exactly the same chemical properties as traditional rubies. Synthetic rubies are the result of fusing aluminum oxide powder with red dye.
In summary, a movement that contains many rubies will not necessarily be more expensive because synthetic rubies have a low market value.
At Charlie Paris, every detail of our watches is designed to combine aesthetics and performance. Our automatic models incorporate synthetic rubies, essential for reducing friction and ensuring the longevity of the movement.
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For centuries, the watch has not simply been an instrument for measuring time, It is also a stylish object, a reflection of the era and of watchmaking advances.
