There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Since I can remember I have been curious as to how things work. This leant itself towards making me an avid DIYer. I am still mostly a collector/enthusiast, but when the opportunity presents itself I try to make stuff myself. A simple question, "if someone else can do it, why can't I?" So I try, and sometimes it turns out well. If it doesn't, I learned a lesson. There is also a weird satisfaction of using something that you put together/customized and is exactly as you want it. I also build speakers and amplifiers as a hobby :-)
Tangentially related is the fact that I admire polymaths like Al-Biruni and Leonardo da Vinci. I want to know more about everything. What better way to learn than do.
When regulating movements: I place the microphone near the balance wheel and record the audio for a few seconds in Audacity. In the software I choose to view the spectrogram of the recording. The beats show up as vertical lines distributed in time/ By zooming in on the lines, I can measure the time between the beats. For a 6Hz (21600bph) movement, the time difference should be 1/6 seconds. From the two levers for adjustment, one controls the period of oscillation (this is the one that should be adjusted when regulating) and the other controls the difference in time between swings in each direction (typically called the isochronism lever). By adjusting the levers, recording audio, and checking the timing, I make sure that the swings are the same and the period is correct. Once I am happy with the result, I record the audio for a longer time (20-30seconds) and make sure the beats are aligned. If fast or slow, I adjust the regulating lever (not the isochronism).
It has worked for me so far.
In fact after I finished this watch, I found that it was running about a minute/day fast. I assume that it was because the movement was previously regulated with slightly larger hands. The lighter hands meant that amplitude of the swing had to be adjusted. The watch is running spot on again ;-).