Here, movements are separated onto their own tiny carriages. These carriages are associated with their own identification number so that a computer can monitor and track each individual movement during the remainder of this process. In this final chain of machines, each carriage whisks its movement away onto a timegrapher. They stay there for a while, rotating in multiple positions, as the computer tracks the timing results. Then, the movement is placed back onto the carriage, and it moves into a specialized laser machine. This laser machine scans each carriage, reads the associated timing data, and then uses the laser to remove material from the rim of the caliber’s balance wheel, modifying the moment of inertia based on the timegrapher report. The movement then goes back onto a timegrapher to see if it’s within the accepted tolerances of -5 to +15 seconds a day. If not, the process is then repeated and checked. Sadly, the factory prohibits any electronics from coming close to the area, so I couldn’t take any photographs of this process.
When all is said and done, these finished Sistem51 movements head off to another ETA facility in Switzerland, where they are cased up and shipped out to Swatch stores across the Alpine nation and the rest of the world.
