42 jewels seems like a lot for the lack of any complications the IWC Portuguese Automatic has.
Does the Portuguese Auto has 21 double-jeweled bearings or is it actually 42 individual bearings? If it's individual bearings, is there any necessity for it or is it just superlative?
Once jewel count exceeds a certain point (rule used to 17 for a time only manual wind movement) there is certainly a law of diminishing returns in play.
But complications add to the count, and the Pellaton winding system adds a few jewels as well. Plus, there's no harm done in adding extras here and there, don't think they add significantly to the cost, and they do look nice.
So no harm no foul then?
Hi Vysis,
The published number of functional jewels in all modern Swiss watches is strictly controlled by the Swiss watch industry standards organization NIHS: Normes de l'Industrie Horlogère Suisse.
All 42 jewels in the IWC Portuguese Automatic, calibres 50110 etc., are necessary and certainly not 'superlative'. Only the balance and escape wheels have 2 jewels per pivot, both being functional, one acting as a vertical bearing and one as a horizontal bearing. This greatly reduces friction and increases accuracy.
Although you mention the'the lack of any complications' in the movement, it is actually very complicated compared to a simple 21 jewel automatic.
It is an 8-day(reduced to 7 for accuracy)movement, requiring extra train wheels compared with a normal 2 day auto. Additionally, it has a power-reserve indicator mechanisim,Pellaton winding,calendar and small seconds indicator which all require jeweled bearings.
As you can see in the diagram below, the Pellaton alone requires 10 jewels.
Leo
Leo - great explanation as always. Thanks.
Leo, very informative. I really appreciate your post. You helped me to understand the soul of my 5001 better.
Thanks, Leo. An excellent explanation
My 5001 from 2004 sports "fourty-four" (sic) ...
Leo - again you shine the light on a complex issue and you teach me something I didn't know I wanted to know, but something I am very happy I now know :-)
Thanks Master!
