Good Vibrations: How Fast Does a Watch Need to Be?

If the cast of Rent ever bothered to ask the humble timepiece how it measures, measures the 525,600 minutes in a year, the watch would reply, frequency A watch's frequency is measured by two different terms: hertz and vibrations per hour Mechanical watches on the extremely high end of the spectrum run at a frequency of ten Hz or more and measure time down to 1/20th of a second.

So why push mechanical movements faster? Better question: Why not? A mechanical watch movement that hits 5 Hz or above is usually known as a "High-beat" movement, and can span the showoff spectrum from a clean-and-classic Grand Seiko SBGH205 at 36,000 vph to a six-figure Audemar Piguet Jules Audemars Chronometer with its intensely complex, absolutely beautiful 6 Hz movement The $20,000 Slow Runner made news with a watch that runs at a comparatively plodding one Hz Through the sapphire glass back you can see the massive balance wheel spinning left and right, and where that show can be frenetic on other watches, it's almost calming on the Slow Runner.

Grönefeld similarly makes a watch with a stuck-in-quicksand movement-the $82,000 One Hertz According to Antoine Martin's founder Martin Braun, he designed the watch with the intention of "Slowing down time." . Source