We have seen that the movements of many high-end watch brands are beautifully polished and full of artistic sense. At the same time, we will also find that many movements use rubies as the movement bearings. Is it the fake watches manufacturer's purely aesthetic consideration or Do you deliberately embellish jewelry to add value? In fact, ruby bearings play a pivotal role in the movement.
In the earliest days, the rotation shaft of the escape wheel, pallet fork, balance wheel shaft, etc. were all screwed into the holes of the brass splint. These holes were equipped with small oil grooves to allow oil to flow into the holes for lubrication. However, after a long period of time, dust in the air enters and combined with lubricating oil may form corrosive substances, which will corrode the brass and even steel parts of Panerai watches. To solve this problem, watchmakers have conducted countless searches and experiments, and finally found a harder and more suitable material than brass-ruby. Ruby not only solved the problem of bearing wear, but also improved the beauty of the movement, so it quickly became popular in the watchmaking world.
The hardness of rubies is second only to diamonds, but because natural rubies are very rare and expensive, the rubies on the watch movements we see now are all artificial rubies, whose main component is alumina, and the properties are the same as natural rubies. The cost is much lower, and it has the characteristics of uniform texture, stable properties and easy processing.
Today's ruby shafts can be divided into three categories: as a shaft hole, inlaid in a certain position to make the wheel shaft and the drill hole contact, we commonly call the drill hole; as a cover plate replica watches, equivalent to the bearing in modern machinery, we commonly call the endstone ; A round diamond used as a pendulum nail. In general, the more rubies in a watch movement, the more parts need to be fixed, which means that the more complex the movement, the price must be expensive.