Creativity follows mysterious paths and, above all, can take its cue from the most unthinkable places, objects and situations. Some time ago, in one of our interviews (L'OROLOGIO (No. 149, page 60) Fawaz Gruosi told us how for his latest creation, the FG One model, he had been inspired by the lines of a lighter. Similarly, the light bulb of creativity went off in the head of Mario Capecchi, a Florentine entrepreneur with a passion for watchmaking (in which he was also professionally involved for a while), when he observed the assembly of a wardrobe by some carpenters.
From there, the mind must have started racing, because the result of that insight is a new, completely original and unusual system for tightening a watch case.
Capecchi patented his invention and then presented it to us for the first time. The future of this realisation is still unknown, but the concept is interesting and deserves to be presented on our pages.
The big difference with the caseback locking systems currently used is in the direction of action of the locking screws, which instead of being located on the caseback itself are placed on the side of the watch. In effect, these are not real screws, but small 'camshafts' which, as they rotate, bring the case back and bezel closer together, clamping the actual case middle of the watch between these two pieces. The seals placed between the case middle and the bezel and between the case middle and the case back then ensure the necessary water-resistance.
Like any well thought-out idea, once the mechanism is revealed, it appears very simple. However, we have yet to see this principle applied in watchmaking.
The first prototypes have proven to be very watertight and now we just have to wait for the birth of the first watches equipped with this innovative system. Will they be produced by a new brand or will they bear the signature of an already well-known Maison? On this our inventor did not want to give us an answer for the time being...
In photo:
Two exploded views of the new case clamping system invented by Mario Capecchi, an entrepreneur from Florence. The bezel and back embrace the case middle of the watch and are tightened laterally by two threaded 'camshafts' (the threaded section screws into the case middle).
The clamping cams. The design of the clamping system was developed by Studio Archiforma of Stefano Antonio Pirrone (Florence), a workshop specialising in
watch design.
The two drawings belong to the patent documentation of the system invented by Mario Capecchi. The four red circles depict the sections of the ring gaskets, compressed, when tightened, between the bezel and case middle and between the case back and case middle.
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