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| The
Atmos Mystérieuse |
| The
Incredible Million Dollar Atmos Clock |
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| THE
MOST COMPLICATED ATMOS |
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To celebrate
the Atmos' 75th anniversary in 2003, Jaeger Le-Coultre management
decided to create a very special Atmos. However the watchmakers
in the Atmos department explained that the clock was already completely
developed; there was nothing more to improve. The directors suggested
an Atmos Mystérieuse with
invisible motor and invisible power source, but the idea wasn't
feasible because the clock would require far too much energy.
Once again, as has been the case so many times before in the colorful
history of this astonishing clock, watchmakers were urged to accomplish
the impossible - and do it sooner rather than later. It's a testimony
to the power of an idea and to the culture of the Manufacture
in Le Sentier that the engineers accomplished the mission. In
this case, the path led past "genius in residence" Eric
Coudray, a master watchmaker. To midwife the concept of the Atmos
Mystérieuse into three-dimensional ticking reality,
he decided to conceal only the motor and the mainspring; the very
'airy' clockwork and its rotating pendulum were arranged behind
the hands. The clock stands atop four cylindrical pillars made
of quartz crystal. Because of frictional losses in the conveyance
of energy, the motor in the base winds five conventional, serially
switched, Atmos barrels. The transfer of energy to the clockwork
occurs via a rotating glass staff, which is invisibly inserted
into one of the pillars. This staff powers a glass disk situated
behind the plane of the dial. The periphery of the disk bears
a wreath of teeth made of gold plated brass. The glass disk completes
one slow rotation around its own axis every 130 days. Attached
to the disk's center is a ring-shaped gear, which engages with
the clockwork. |
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The gear
train consists of eight wheels leading to the escape wheel. To
ensure this timekeeping objet d'art runs accurately,
Coudray built into the movement a device to ensure the regularity
of the winding. This mechanism guarantees that energy is continuously
and unvaryingly conveyed to the escapement-wheel and thus to the
balance, regardless of how taut or slack the mainspring may be.
Invented in the 19th century and primarily used in tower clocks,
this device for regularity of winding consists of an intermediate
energy reservoir in which a weight affixed to a longer lever sinks
stepwise, thereby conveying energy to the escapement via the fourth
wheel. During this interval, the flow of energy coming from the
barrel is interrupted. Every five minutes, however, all of the
wheels leading from the barrel to the intermediate reservoir begin
to turn, thereby raising the weight in the regularity-of winding
mechanism. |
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The jubilee
edition of the Atmos Mystérieuse has a
regulator dial. In part because the clock's materials include
12 kilograms of gold, plenty of onyx, and diamonds weighing a
total of 60 carats, this timepiece sells for around Euro 1.5 million.
In a limited series of 25 pieces, fine leather replaces the onyx,
mother-of-pearl takes the place of the diamonds, and gold-plated
is used instead of solid gold. Thanks to the use of somewhat less
costly materials, these models convey all the magic of the magnificent
Mystérieuse technology, yet sell for one-tenth
the price of the jubilee edition. |
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