Ever wondered how some of the most expensive items in the world are made? Find the history and making of wristwatches here. Subscribe to Discovery UK for more great clips: ru-vid.com_c... Follow Discovery UK on Twitter: / discoveryuk
Wish they did an episode on how all the tiny parts are actually manufactured (and maybe even designed). Assembly is fun to watch, but how they make these tiny things is what I’d like to see.
Thats the Blancpain factory. They have been in business since 1735 making them the oldest watchmaker in history. The model they are making is a Toubillon 8 Jours.
@@Ummmmmkay88 I going to double down and bring another correction. The watchmakers watchmaker is not Vacheron Constantin, that would be Jaeger-Lecoultre. Vacheron Constantin is still the oldest continuously existing watchmaker.
I wish that the makers of this video had also shown the process of watch making from the stage of manufacturing the components. At least some important ones. This video shows only the end stages of assembly of watch. To see how these tiny precision components are manufactured and handled would be interesting, for most of the viewers who are accustomed to factory manufactured watches and other products.
The Tourbillon alone could be an entire episode of How It's Made. There is a bit more going on here then 5 min bit. A proper How It's Made for a watch of this calibre could and should fill a Netflix series. I would be glued to every episode.
For those wondering how to better spend the $150k, ppl who can afford it probably has already owned all the other things you could buy with $150k. You just don't spend your first $150k on a watch.
I don't care if I had an unlimited amount of money I still would never buy a watch that expensive because For 1.) It's ridiculous to pay that much for a watch and 2.) all it does is make you at target for some jackass to shoot and rob.
most do not understand that. $ 150,000 for the super-rich is $ 150 for a normal working man. For people from India or Africa we are normal earners ($ 20,000 a year) something like extremely rich.
@@BaddaBigBoom Vostoks are design masterpieces to be fair. They are amazing value that was built to compete with the original Rolex Submariners and Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
The watch looks so good. Whoever is reading this and going through very hard times, depression, loneliness and financial issues. You will raise up and win
I do think he exaggerates just a bit... Once he said "places it carefully" and shows a Woman using all her might to force the thing closed... Careful yeah.
Back when I stopped most of my watch collecting, I sold most of them. The only watch I still regret selling was a Blancpain Villeret. They fly under the radar of most people, but that was the finest and most accurate one I’ve ever regretted selling.
That was not coming out of the watch casing. It was forming on the surfaces of the watch and chamber due to the varying pressures applied to simulate depth or altitude. Vapor pressure. Damn man, didn't you pay attention in your graduate school 600 level physics classes?
BP is one of the BEST watch brands in the world.. they make ultra fine and exquisite time-pieces. that Tourbillon is breathtaking. great video thanks for sharing.
Uh, no. I can get a watch for $80 that looks almost exactly the same. Art is not priceless, this is not a breathtaking gadget to look at. It's a watch. Using technology we all know about.
Gave this video a Like. It shows how utterly ridiculous the upper luxury watch segment actually is, and how such time-pieces aren't even worth 1% of their asking price. By the way, this is coming from a knowledgeable watch enthusiast.
Very true. Luxury items such as this are only worth whatever anyone is willing to pay for it. Although I appreciate the craftsmanship, I personally don't find this watch that attractive. I prefer the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms although £14k is still the stuff of dreams (I'll stick with my Hamilton for the time being!).
You do realize that watches that cost 1% of this are nowhere fucking near as good right? Yeah its just metal but theh spend hours and hours and hours finishing by hand and that’s not even considering designing. The lange 1815 tourbillon is rhe only tourbillon in the world with hacking and has a zero reset built in, and every facet is hand polished to a black polish. That’s what you’re paying for.
@@melody3741 Please... don't give me that justification. Granted a pot-metal Timex Weekender isn't going to be on the same level as a watch costing a few hundreds of dollars. But with my background in watches, I learned long ago that the ones costing as much as a decent-sized house, you're paying nearly everything for the name on the dial. Sorry, by a few expertly done swirl marks on the inside; and lines cut evenly into a rotor don't even remotely justify the price-tag. You're paying for the name. Paying to flex. Paying to show off a status symbol. I used to think like you. But when I travel to Manhattan and I see a "nice" watch on a guy's wrist, I see someone who just looks silly. Even if they have the money to throw away, it shows a lack of good sense. Money that could have been invested FAR more wisely.
All watchmakers wear "finger condoms" when assembling watches, even the cheapest ones. Otherwise sweat will be deposited on the movement parts, causing corrosion over time and ruining the watch.
I can understand the price tag of some watches, some of them for the amount of complications, or materials, or hours spent. If I had the money, I would go for an achievable grail like a nice Omega or a Rolex. No nonsense like those crazy rubber band 500K Richard Mille. 10 to 15k max.
@@kevinji7285 those are nice. But check out the specs on the Omega Chrono Moonphase. That is a high level watch. But if I had unlimited funds it would be a Lange & Sonh
You think JB Blancpain's prices are ridiculous? Patek Philippe has made some of the most expensive watches ever sold such as the Henry Graves Supercomplication, which was sold back in 1999 for $11 million and then again in 2014 for $24 million.
¿¿¿ Donde estudian o que Nivel de Estudios tienen estos Empleados ???? Pregunto porque desconozco si existen Carreras Universitarias relacionados a la Relojeria 🤔🤔🤔
@@stage8790 I've had a mechanical watch once ..it was with that tight spring that made the watch worked .. which of the two works better ? the one with coiled spring or with the quartz alone?
@@stage8790 I remember back then I had to shake the watch so that the spring would coil smaller for the watch to continue running .. will it be the same quartz powered? need to be shaken off to provide the watch its life?
@@mckdgz4994 If you want a watch that is accurate and will need almost no maintenance, a quartz piece works best. If you value mechanical mechanisms with centuries of heritage and a smooth sweeping second hand then a mechanical watch is for you. In my opinion I think the mechanical watch is one with a lot of soul. Watches that beat at high frequency especially have a seconds hand that glides as if to show the smooth passage of time. You also don't need to fiddle with a battery every few years. However, they both have their distinct advantages and disadvantages. Mechanical watches are considered fragile compared to their quartz counterparts which are more robust by their nature. No need to worry about knocking gears and wearing out springs in a quartz. Unless you use a high frequency quartz movement, then you're stuck with the tick tock of a seconds hand that you hope will line up with the seconds line.
I’m no watch expert but I have seen a fair share of Watchfinder & co, and correct me if I’m wrong because I very well might be but Tourbillons don’t “power” watches? I thought they just negate the effects of gravity and the rotating weight on the pack is the sole purpose of “power” to the watch.
Its been two months, but, the main spring delivers the power to the watch. The rotor and the winding of the crown winds the main spring. The Tourbillion is a rotating balance escapement, that is rotating a full turn every minute, thus couteracting (on average) the influence of wrist movement, shocks and most importantly, gravity on the acurracy of the movement.
The rotor on the movement powers the watch. The tourbillon was developed to counter the effects of gravity on watches when they spend long periods of time in one position. They were used in clocks and pocket watches. They are pretty much useless in wristwatches that move all the time and are basically used to show off how skilled a watch maker is because they are very complicated to make.
@@Jabber-ig3iw unless you have an old Patek where it only says tourbillon at the dial without it even being visible🤣 thats when you know a brand is legendary
A Tourbillon does not power a watch, it regulates it. The hands do not attach to a axel, but to an arbor. The "computer" is actually a vibrograph. Its not simulating arm movement; its checking for positional error. But, hey, you are right. It is a watch...
A tourbillon is utterly useless in a wristwatch, it’s just a way for watchmakers to show off how skilled they are( nothing wrong with that) it’s pretty much the ultimate watch complication.
SO many 'how its made' watch videos show watch ASSEMBLY (such as this one), but the real secrets of watchmaking is how the individual parts are made. Just watching it all assembled is nowhere near as interesting as seeing the ultra precision machining that goes into each bit.
For a lot of luxury watches, the assembly process for the actual watch mechanism is a company secret. Sure, you could break a watch open to find out how it fits together, but that won't tell you exactly *how* it works, unless you're already a high-level watch maker.
@@spareumbrella8477thats beside the point. The title is 'how its made' and they merely showed the assembly process which, by the by, you say is secret!?
@@johnnyseagull29 They didn't show you the actual watch mechanism being put together, just the finishing touches, by the looks of things. Presumably the stuff they did show you is fairly common knowledge in the watch industry, but they didn't show you how that particular watch ticks or how the cogs work. That's the stuff I would surmise is a company secret.
Thought Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, were the Best! BlancPain makes them children in a Nursey school! Amazing and Beautiful! Aesthetics and Engineering in above and beyond comprehension!
@@tjokoloko6159 what the Hell do you know, nothing! Jack Shit! Patek/AP are great watches, overly priced! Nautilus that retails for $32,000, now it’s $100,000, AP Royal Oak 15500ST, that retails for $22,000 sell for $46,000! Hype watches! I know more than you about Horology, Rolex is way better than Patek/AP! Go back to kindergarten, maybe your teacher will teach you the fundamentals of Watches! Your a Joke!
@@tjokoloko6159 Patek has admittedly become worse after they dumped the Poincon D Geneva in 2009. Many aquanauts and Calatravas are machine finished. Still they are excellent watches, but Vacheron is better by miles
Ah… Blancpain. Not many know that they’re owned by swatch group… which owns a handful of companies like omega too. Richemont would be another that owns companies like JLC and Vacheron Constantin…
Really expensive, but when Hamilton was still in business Swiss was what you bought if you couldn't afford one of those. (And no, the current Hamilton has about as much to do with the original company as Abercrombie and Fitch has with safari outfitting.)
Back in the day, the americans were very protectionistic when it came to watches. There were swiss watches on par with great american brands like Hamilton. Elgin, Waltham etc, but due to very high taxes they were not competitive in America. The only swiss watches sold were very cheap watches and very expensive ones like Patek Philippe, Breguet and Vacheron Constantin.
