![]() ![]() Placed on the left side and visible between the rotating minute ring mounted on a large extra-flat ball bearing with a fixed cursor placed at noon, they make one revolution in 12 hours, each one activating a series of springs and toggles acting on the rise and fall of the 4 fingers, but also the translation of the thumb. On the hour, the mechanism described by François-Paul as a sort of escapement acting once an hour, is released so that the energy accumulated from the main barrel can, through the intermediary of this tangentially acting fork, set in motion the series of 10 cams whose purpose is to control the movement of the fingers of the hand. Every hour, and for 40 minutes, the “remontoir d’égalité”, formed by a spring blade enclosed in a kind of barrel, a trigger and a sort of anchor mounted on one side on a wheel with an eccentric in its center, is rewound by the movement. In order to use only the energy coming from the barrel, which ensures a power reserve of 5 days for the piece, the choice was made to install a “remontoir d’égalité” between the primary gear train and the display, as is done in the clocks of buildings when the hands to be moved are long and heavy. In this case, it was a matter of getting five fingers to move with the least amount of effort” As François-Paul points out, “The most important thing in watchmaking is what is least visible. Initially thought in bronze by its inventor, the final hand for the watch was made of engraved titanium, used to reduce the weight of the moving components so as to not affect the energy consumption of the caliber, the Octa 1300.3 launched by the Manufacture F.P.Journe in 2001. The mechanised hand found on the front of the FFC Blue is inspired by the one developed by this Renaissance physician. ![]() To avoid falling into naturalism, this artist, who is known to have a passion for history, like one of his sons who today is a professional historian, chose to draw his inspiration from a drawing of a prosthesis made by the famous French barber-surgeon Ambroise Paré (1509/1510-1590).įor those not familiar with him, he is the one to whom we owe, thanks to his competence and understanding of the human body, undeniable progress in medicine. His motivation led him to start prototyping the FFC Blue watch the same year, which was supposed to go on sale at Only Watch 2021.Īfter having found, with Francis Ford Coppola, how to present the 12 digits of the hours with a single hand and 5 fingers, François-Paul set out to design a mechanism capable of adequately transcribing these digits into digital signs. ![]() The idea of ticking the 12 digits of the hours with 5 fingers had appealed to François-Paul who, in 2014, wanted to take up the challenge of inventing an animated hand capable of displaying it in the same way. ![]() When they met in 2012, they discussed the different principles of representing the passing of time and the filmmaker asked if a watchmaker had ever considered displaying the hours in the way the ancients used to give them, by counting them on their fingers. Delighted with the gift, he immediately sent an invitation to its creator to come and meet him at his “Inglenook” winery in the Napa Valley. Eleanor Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola’s wife, gave her illustrious filmmaker husband the Chronomètre à Résonance, which she found chic and elegant. The story of how the FFC Blue was created is like a fairy tale and for this reason deserves to be told again for those who do not know it. In anticipation of the production of a small series of a timepiece inspired by the FFC Blue prototype, a unique piece for Only Watch 2021, it seems useful to revisit its genesis and its unique way of reading the time, made possible by a hand whose fingers come to life as the hours pass. ![]()
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