Simply Abu Dhabi VIII

1 2 6 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I MONACOV4 Revolutionizing the fundamental principles of mechanical watchmaking I n 2004, TAGHeuer unveiled theMONACOV4 Concept Watch, the world’s first watch with belt drives, linear mass and ball bearings. It took the watchmaking world by storm: Best Design at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, Wallpaper Magazine's "Watch of the Year", Popular Science's "Best of What's New”. Five years later, TAG Heuer achieved the unbelievable, unveiling to the world what many industry insiders said would never see the light of day: the MONACO V4 commercially available to watch aficionados and collectors. Until the MONACO V4, all modern mechanical movements, regardless of their complications, were generally based on “classic” watchmaking components, most of which date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The principal components of this traditional system are: an energy reserve, by means one or several springs; a transmission, using gears; and a regulatory function, usually organized around a recoil escapement. Transmission Gear transmission and automatic rewinding: the V4 team set these aside and started from scratch. The result is a complete paradigm-shift, two worldwide patents, and a completely new generation of mechanical movements. In a world first, the TAG Heuer award-winning team of watch masters and engineers replaced the pinions and wheels of the traditional mechanical movement with a belt-driven transmission: a high-yield relay of five notched micro drive-belts whose tension is controlled by two turnbuckles. The transmission belts in polyether block amide have a 0.07mm section, about the same size as a single human hair, and are 10 times smaller than any belt ever manufactured. Unlike a traditional calibre, this modular synchronous drive belt system requires no extra gears to send motion from one point to another. More efficient — less vibration, optimising movement — and much easier to maintain, it allows power to be transmitted wherever it is required, allowing for more complications, with no obstacles. Energy The TAG Heuer team then garnered a second worldwide patent by revolutionising the oscillating mass, which traditionally is superimposed on the movement and moves in a rotational manner. The Monaco V4 is the world’s first wristwatch with a linear mass, which is mounted on the world’s smallest ball bearings (2.2 to 4 mm diameter and a thickness of 0.6 to 1 mm). The 12g tungsten ingot doesn’t move back and forth but up and down on a track between the 2 pairs of v-shaped barrels in series, set in parallel and inclined at +/- 13°. Each barrel series stores 450g of energy for a total strength of 900g. A gear system on the long side of the weight engages a cogwheel and converts the linear motion into a rotating movement. TAG Heuer’s Science & Engineering team has now developed a process enabling the use of Titanium Grade 5, a special alloy used in aircrafts, turbines and surgical implants, in the case construction of its most avant- garde timepiece to date, the MONACO V4 TITANIUM AND CERAMIC. The case is 41mm and made of Titanium-Grade 5, with fine-brushed silicon nitride “ceramic” inserts. The inserts visually lighten the squared shape of the watch, and the newly angled planes of the beveled crystal give the watch a more fluid and contemporary profile. Other distinctive components are the hand-applied faceted indexes on the dial, the small second hand at 4 o’clock, the thermo-lacquered crown at 3 o’clock, and the strap’s folding buckle. The strap itself is in ultra-soft, large-scale alligator, with anthracite hand stitching and a rubberised leather lining. The V4 movement’s avant-garde architecture, visible through the timepiece’s anti-reflective sapphire crystal front and back, remains unchanged (tungsten ingot linear mass, two pairs of barrels in series, set in parallel and linked by belts), but the finishes have been completely revisited, with a high-resistance black ruthenium coating on the main plate and the Côtes de Genève decorated bridges. The beautiful black juxtaposes superbly with the white “V4” and “TAG Heuer” engravings on the dial.