80111 shock protection

Hi,

I have a VC Ingenieur 323301 with the 80111 calibre. I have had it for a few months now and it is a great watch. However the last few days it has started to move towards a 30 sec delay a day. It was on time until now.

I use this watch every day, and my work is manual, and the watch is taking a few knocks (30-40 knocks - high velocity, low amplitude) daily. It is never a direct hit to the casing, but it is on my wrist when my hand takes the hit. If this is the reason I can only speculate, but it is my best guess so far.

How good is the design of the shock protection, has there ever been tests as to what kind of beating the watch can really take?
Will there be any log term damage to the watch if this continues?

Thanks for any good guesses or constructive feedbacks!

The calibre 80111 is designed with excellent shock protection, due to a special shock absorber as part of the winding mechanism (you can read about that by searching our archives, discussing that on the movement's predecessor, calibre 80110; use the upper right magnifying glass).

But no mechanical movement, by anyone, can take repeated hard shocks without some problem, at some point. I'd have a watchmaker inspect your watch, since the problem is fixable. And then put your watch in a pocket when it's time to knock ;)

Thanks! I have read about the shock absorbing system earlier, but I could not find a reference to any testing. I will take a good look at the discussion on the 80110 in this forum as well, and hopefully find something useful.

I'll contact the AD for a service here in Norway although I'll be without my watch for a few months (they are famous for slow service) ;)

Hi Ralph,

There is a bit on impact tests in general in the Manufacture section.

Cheers from the cellar