The action doll is an ornamental complex function on the replica watches review. There are three-dimensional doll components on the dial surface, which are activated by mechanical devices.
However, for a long time after its birth, the action dolls have nothing to do with clocks. All kinds of exquisite action dolls are playthings that can only be owned by nobles. The real connection with the indication of time has to start from the clock tower in Europe, which adds ornamental value to the ancient way of telling time. For example, the famous tourist attraction in Venice, the time tower in St. Mark’s Square, this clock tower not only has a rare twenty-four-hour indication, but also a bunch of astronomical displays, so that Venetian sailors can use it to observe the tides of the sea, Every time the big bell rings, the two bronze Moor statues at the top of the bell tower will start to ring the bell on the hour.
And more and more action figures are being made, and craftsmen are improving their skills, so they began to try to make action figures smaller and miniaturized, and action figures also appeared on clocks, pocket watches, and wrist watches. In the revival of mechanical watches, watchmaking brands began to invest heavily in various complications, and action figures gradually became the watch treasures that collectors are keen on.
Although the dolls are not included in the three traditional complex functions, the production difficulty is still quite high. There are few watch brands that can make dolls. When you mention the dolls, you can immediately think of the brands, namely cheap Ulysse Nardin and Jaquet Droz, two The dolls of the watchers are also clearly distinguished in the subject matter, but the great thing about them is that through watchmaking skills and design concepts, these dolls are truly “alive” on the watch. Today, I will focus on Ulysse Nardin to see how the brand creates the complex function of the doll.
The historical origin of the Ulysse Nardin doll watch begins with Mr. Rolf W. Schnyder joining the Ulysse Nardin watch in 1983. Ulysse Nardin will begin to vigorously revive the traditional complex functions, especially put a lot of energy into the astronomical and three-question functions. It may be a bit confusing to see this. How to talk about dolls is related to the three questions, but the combination of the dolls and the three questions is actually the biggest feature of the Ulysse Nardin action dolls, in order to create for the wearer, not only There is a visual experience on the exquisite action puppet, and the auditory effect of the questionnaire can form a double enjoyment.
In 1989, Ulysse Nardin launched the first San Marco minute repeater watch with moving dolls. This watch can not only strike a beautiful timekeeping sound, but also the doll design theme on the dial, which is what I told you at the beginning. The time tower on the Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy, with the bronze statue of the Moor ringing the bell on the top of the watch, when you pull down the minute repeater lever, the bell ringer on the dial will follow the sound to ring the bell.
After the millennium, I have also caught up with the arms race of watchmaking brands. Today you have a big sports watch, tomorrow I will make a big complicated function, but in Ulysse Nardin, Genghis Khan has already begun to be put under his account. The sound of the time chimes, and the troops meet on the disk. The main highlight of this watch is also the N+1 complex function, not only the moving couple, but also the tourbillon, and its three-question function is more complicated. There are not many in itself, and there are even fewer people who do the three questions of Westminster. There is no need to tell you how his tone and animation effects are. Let’s enjoy it directly from the video.
As I said just now, Ulysse Nardin differs from Jaquet Droz in terms of design themes. It can be seen that Ulysse Nardin mainly focuses on characters, Jaquet Droz’s action figures on the watch, and natural themes such as flowers, birds, fish and insects. It is also the appearance of the three-question questioner of St. Mark’s action puppet, which sets the tone for the action puppet of Ulysse Nardin, which is not only dominated by characters, but also combined with the function of the complex function question table.
However, these two characteristics test the comprehensive watchmaking strength of the brand. It is very challenging to combine the functions of the movable doll and the repeater. It is necessary to shrink the timekeeping parts of the doll and the repeater into a movement of tens of millimeters at the same time. You must know that there are many parts of the minute repeater itself. . Another is the function of the movable doll. At the beginning of the design, the movable joints must be considered, and the movable doll with three questions is completely different from the ordinary movable doll joints connected to the escapement. The joints of the three-question movable couple are directly linked with the three-questioned parts, so that when the push rod is toggled, the hammer hits the gong and drives the movable couple to move synchronously. luxury fake watches
In terms of the design of the action dolls, Ulysse Nardin has really done a great job. The theme must have a story and a mood, and each action doll will be created with the brand’s traditional art and craftsmanship. Take the above two St. Mark and Genghis Khan, both of which are golden carvings.
The gold carving process can be regarded as one of the earliest manual processes used on watches. In this hand-carved skill, each knife represents the accumulated aesthetic attainments of these craftsmen. St. Mark, I think it shows the meticulousness of the carving. The shapes of the two bell ringers are very delicately portrayed, and here in Genghis Khan, carefully look at the details of the swords, the folds of the clothes that change with the characters’ movements, and then To the galloping muscle action and mane of the horse. On this watch, the use of gold carving craftsmanship also adds attention to the shape and demeanor of the Mongolian soldiers and horses.
I have always thought that it is much more difficult to carve the action doll on the dial than the ordinary gold carving process, such as carving a shell, because in the carving process, the craftsman will first consider the movement of the components, the link of the small craftsmanship, and The artisans in Ulysse Nardin have accomplished this task brilliantly. Their grasp of the details of the gold carving process is meticulous and exquisite.
Ulysse Nardin has always launched the bell-ringer-themed action figure, and even has a self-sounding single-question style. It can be seen that Ulysse Nardin fake has a unique preference for the statue of the bell-ringer in St. Mark’s Square. I have seen a message saying that When Mr. Rolf W. Schnyder was in the square, the statue inspired him, but I can’t verify the authenticity of this statement. I personally think that because of the ancient way of telling time, the time tower is related to navigation. Combined with the statue of ringing the bell, it also represents It has a long history that was once praised by Napoleon as “the most beautiful square in the world”.
For Ulysse Nardin, innovation is to leave a better tradition. He has made innovation and tradition compatible very well. We can see that while the brand is constantly innovating, it will not delay the preservation of traditional classics. In the cutting-edge and innovative styles, there are whimsy and BLAST, and in the traditional watchmaking style, we see gilt and nautical, and large-scale complex watches represented by these action doll models, which have shaped a craft world of their own. The action puppet table is the collection of all the housekeeping skills of Ulysse Nardin in this world, machinery, gold carving, enamel, story, artistic conception, acoustics, beauty, innovation. chrono4usale.com