Home » Baselworld - World Watch and Jewellery Show » Baselworld 2016 Review – Nord Zeitmaschine Freesdial Watch
Nord Zeitmaschine, a small independent Swiss manufacturer announces its third creation from which, just like from its predecessors, you don’t have to expect a minute hand making a regular circle across the dial. Nord Zeitmaschine Freesdial, as its name suggests, features dials that are not fixed in place. Instead, the hands and dials of this watch move in “freestyle”.
Nord Zeitmaschine Freesdial Watch V1
The special minute hand moves over the moving dials and also changes in length. From the rear, three additional, freely rotating indicator discs are integrated in the winding rotor. Each of them is installed centrally with a ball bearing and rotates freely around their respective axis of rotation. The hand and dials of the minute indication move in a freestyle manner. This is essential difference compared to other timepieces which usually feature a fixed watch face and hands that continuously rotate from the center of the watch.
Nord Zeitmaschine Freesdial Watch V2
The mechanism for the minute hand consists of 27 individual parts, comprising several eccentric cams and levers. Most of the minute hand and sliding parts are crafted from the material called ARCAP. It is a quite strong, non-magnetic and corrosion resistant alloy which is, for example, also used by URWERK watchmaking brand.
The minute indication is performed via the hand controlled by the eccentric cams and two movable dials. The minute hand changes its length over the course of the 60 minutes by means of the additional eccentric lever which is connected via a connecting rod with the hand tip that shifts. Therefore, the tip of the hand moves and slides up and down on the main hand, in which the tip of the hand achieves the greatest lift per minute at circa 15 minutes and 45 minutes. In return, the main hand reaches its greatest lift and highest speed per minute in the area of 60 minutes and 30 minutes and moves slower in the area of 15 minutes and 45 minutes. Simultaneously, the dial moves in the opposite direction to the minute hand, thus increasing the resolution of the time display and enhances legibility. In short, it is quite unusual and very impressive mechanism that leaves breathless all watch aficionados.
The beating heart of the new Nord Zeitmaschine Freesdial is NORD N4 movement which relies on a simple, but robust base caliber ETA 2824-2. The impeccable mechanism is built on 30 jewels and 14 precision ball bearings.
The movement breathes life into minute indicator by means of a hand that changes in length, controlled via 2 counter-rotating eccentric cams and 2 movable dials, decentralized hours, GMT time, day and night indication and date. The mechanism beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz) and promises at least 42 hours of power reserve.
The 24h ring of the GMT display can be set via the left crown in both directions at any time and entirely independently. A fixed disc is placed in the center of the GMT display with the indications for day and night. When the arrow of the GMT display goes in the upper half of the disc, that means it is a day, and when it moves in the lower half, it is a night.
The date function is available through a large display at the top left. There is also an additional date window which is situated on the opposite side on the right, which however is covered by a grill and has only been set here in order to achieve visual symmetry.
Nord Zeitmaschine Freesdial is housed in a stainless steel case, with steel black PVD and gold, which measures 44.3mm in diameter and 14.7mm in thickness. The case features a domed sapphire crystal on front side and a sapphire display back. The watch comes with a sleek, black calf leather strap, fitted with a steel buckle.
The watch will be available in two editions, the V1 with a yellow minute hand and a movement mainly rhodium-plated, and the V2 with a rhodium-plated minute hand and a black gold finished movement. Both of them will be issued in the limited series on 97 exemplars each. The watch is priced at 23,700 Swiss Francs (before taxes). The latest mind-bending timepiece from Nord Zeitmaschine will be officially presented during Baselworld 2016.
Nord Zeitmaschine is the Swiss watchmaking brand founded by a watch maker, Daniel Nebel. The very first watch under the name Nord Zeitmaschine was launched in 1998 after three years of painstaking research. The main goal behind Nord Zeitmaschine’s watches is to have a hand that depicts an unusual track. That idea was certainly achieved with its three creations so far.
