Quartime
Time display according to the Russian tradition
The name of the Quartime watch comes from the Latin “quarta”, or “quarter”, and the English “time”. This watch displays the time in a 6-hour format and allows the owner to keep track of time according to the natural rhythm of the four periods of the day – morning, day, evening and night – as in the Russian tradition, where the day is not divided into two 12-hour periods, but into four 6-hour periods. This is the first time in the history of watchmaking that a time display with the “morning-day-evening-night” cycle has been used.
The central hour hand makes one revolution in six hours. Six apertures on the dial indicate the hour markers, and a window in the lower part shows the current time of day. At night, the numbers 12 to 5 are displayed in six openings on the dial, in the morning the numbers 6 to 11, during the day again 12 to 5 and in the evening, of course, again from 6 to 11. Each new part of the day begins with a synchronized, immediate change of the hour markers and the time of day display.
Unique complication
The Quartime watch uses an unusual way of displaying time from the perspective of traditional watch mechanics. It combines the classic analog method of a continuously moving hour hand with the principles of digital time display, in which the gently rotating hour hand is supplemented by an automatically switching scale that indicates the time of day. The ingenious and fascinating technical feature of this construction is that the daytime display moves in a “morning-day-evening-night” cycle in one direction, while the hour markers alternately switch back and forth.
Production
The central hour hand makes one revolution in six hours. Six apertures on the dial indicate the hour markers, and a window in the lower part shows the current time of day. At night, the numbers 12 to 5 are displayed in six openings on the dial, in the morning the numbers 6 to 11, during the day again 12 to 5 and in the evening, of course, again from 6 to 11. Each new part of the day begins with a synchronized, immediate change of the hour markers and the time of day display.
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Сaseback
The exhibition caseback of the Quartime watch reveals in-house movement developed by Konstantin Chaykin. The movement has an unmistakable and clear architecture with a large three-quarter plate finished with sharp Côtes de Genève stripes and is adorned with 4 gold chatons and a gold plate mounted on screws with the engraved logo of the Konstantin Chaykin Manufacture. The finishing touch to this masterpiece is the unusual ‘Pac-Man’ index regulator, which Konstantin Chaykin created for his K.01 caliber series at the beginning of his career as an independent watchmaker.
Movement
The caliber K.01-3 of the Quartime watch was developed by Konstantin Chaykin to display the time in a 6-hour format, which makes it possible to keep track of time according to the natural rhythm of the four periods of the day – morning, day, evening and night. The movement is made entirely in Konstantin Chaykin Manufacture according to the standards of haute horlogerie, using traditional techniques for finishing the components: Côtes de Genève, perlage, fine straight and circular grinding, hand-polished chamfers, engravings, polished screw, pin and jewel recesses, ball polishing of the pivots and rhodium plating. The special feature of the movement is a ‘Pac-Man’ regulator, developed by Konstantin Chaykin for fine adjustment of the hairspring.
Caliber: K.01-3, hand-wound, made by Konstantin Chaykin Manufacture
Power reserve: 45 hours
Functions: – Hour hand with 6-hour rotation with switchable hour markers; – Minutes; – Time of day indicator
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