Regulators: good idea or not?
I have been interested in regulators and am currently considering adding one to the collection. There are some lovely examples, including the Junghans Max Bill 60 LE in 38mm. The. There are some truly terrible regulators, like the Tissot LeLocle: not even the scales are correct (notice the Roman HOUR numerals on the MINUTE track…), plus it is very thick. But, since I didn’t know a lot at the time, this is the only regulator I own. Hence the desire to add a better one…
Do you own a regulator? How do you like it? Any recommendations?
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Tobias
Collecting for 20+ years, anything interesting across brands and price ranges.
Boston, MA, USA
Member since
Last active: 4 min ago
17.78 cm
I have no experience with one but that Junghans is def on my radar since they announced it. I believe CW had one for a while that was pretty cool in my opinion but they seem hard to do well.
Isn't this like tourbillons, an anachronism that is obsolete? Are these really reducing friction or is this just novelty to lure in the suckers? I have my suspicions but I ask as I don't know.
I like very traditional displays because they are second nature to read. I don't think separating things helps this.
I enjoy unique time telling pieces. I only have 1 my oris bc3 and I love it.
the trend in uber expensive watches is to make the actual time telling of the watches secondary to showing off the pretty parts. Like the bel canto with its tiny time area and a big chime area.
Please forgive my quartz induced ignorance, what is a regulator?
I love my Junghans 60! 😬very well made and love the aesthetics. They are coming out with a new version sometime this summer.
Please forgive my quartz induced ignorance, what is a regulator?
Rgulator describes a type of dial arrangement where the hour, minute and second hand are all in different places, usually but not necessarily in a line from 12 to 6 as seen in the pictures.
The origin lies in precision pendulum clocks that were used to regulate other timepieces. Hence the name "regulator" or "regulateur" in french. The hands were seperated to increase readability and make it impossible to confuse the hands.
Back in the day, before timegraphers were a thing, watches and clocks were regulated by basically just checking the time against a reference clock once a day and adjusting accordingly.
Rgulator describes a type of dial arrangement where the hour, minute and second hand are all in different places, usually but not necessarily in a line from 12 to 6 as seen in the pictures.
The origin lies in precision pendulum clocks that were used to regulate other timepieces. Hence the name "regulator" or "regulateur" in french. The hands were seperated to increase readability and make it impossible to confuse the hands.
Back in the day, before timegraphers were a thing, watches and clocks were regulated by basically just checking the time against a reference clock once a day and adjusting accordingly.
Thank you. Can this be considered a Regulator? Though one of the subdials has no markers.
Thank you. Can this be considered a Regulator? Though one of the subdials has no markers.
Yea, I would say it constitutes a regulator arrangement, though the lack of a seconds track kinda defeats the purpose of seconds-accurate readability. Stands in stark contrast to the 24h display
Rgulator describes a type of dial arrangement where the hour, minute and second hand are all in different places, usually but not necessarily in a line from 12 to 6 as seen in the pictures.
The origin lies in precision pendulum clocks that were used to regulate other timepieces. Hence the name "regulator" or "regulateur" in french. The hands were seperated to increase readability and make it impossible to confuse the hands.
Back in the day, before timegraphers were a thing, watches and clocks were regulated by basically just checking the time against a reference clock once a day and adjusting accordingly.
Thanks for the detailed information! This sounds like it may be useful to count down the minutes remaining in a boring meeting as well 😀
Isn't this like tourbillons, an anachronism that is obsolete? Are these really reducing friction or is this just novelty to lure in the suckers? I have my suspicions but I ask as I don't know.
I like very traditional displays because they are second nature to read. I don't think separating things helps this.
I can see your point - not the most practical layout for reading the time at a glance, unless you are primarily interested in the minutes.
Rgulator describes a type of dial arrangement where the hour, minute and second hand are all in different places, usually but not necessarily in a line from 12 to 6 as seen in the pictures.
The origin lies in precision pendulum clocks that were used to regulate other timepieces. Hence the name "regulator" or "regulateur" in french. The hands were seperated to increase readability and make it impossible to confuse the hands.
Back in the day, before timegraphers were a thing, watches and clocks were regulated by basically just checking the time against a reference clock once a day and adjusting accordingly.
My understanding is that the hands were directly driven off their respective gear in order to reduce frictional losses in pursuit of precision. This is also why we once had small seconds dials, the hand was just mounted to a pinion on the gear running that speed wherever it may be. For central seconds, you add an idler gear or two and hence more friction.
Are these modern things honest in that way, or is this just a look?
My understanding is that the hands were directly driven off their respective gear in order to reduce frictional losses in pursuit of precision. This is also why we once had small seconds dials, the hand was just mounted to a pinion on the gear running that speed wherever it may be. For central seconds, you add an idler gear or two and hence more friction.
Are these modern things honest in that way, or is this just a look?
Yes that's how it worked.
Modern wrist watches for the most part just copy the look as they use standard movements with standard movement architecture.
A wrist watch movement usually has one less gear in the gear train than a clock movement. The reason being that clocks usually run for a week when fully wound while watch movements only last around 30 hours.
I’m big fan 🤩 of my Louis Erard. It takes some getting used to but then they’re really practical as you generally know the hour you’re in. Louis Erard has a new model that just came out!
I’m big fan 🤩 of my Louis Erard. It takes some getting used to but then they’re really practical as you generally know the hour you’re in. Louis Erard has a new model that just came out!
Very nice indeed. Great color and layout of the dial.