The advent of the digital age has brought a lot of convenience to people. Mobile phones, computers, and electronic bracelet mobile devices all have the function of watching the time. However, mechanical watches are not obliterated in the long river of history, they must have their value. AGELOCER, a mechanical watch brand that is obsessed with and loves machinery, is working hard to build a new generation of mechanical watches in China based on strict standards that exceed the requirements of the industry. Let us learn about this hard-working brand.
Ardently love for the watch movement from bottom of the heart
The movement is the heart of a mechanical watch. As a young mechanical watch brand in China, AGELOCER has invested heavily in movement research and development since the establishment of AGELOCER in order to create a new generation of mechanical watches and unique movements to match it. Through industry learning and in-depth cooperation, AGELOCER continues to create a pioneering original movement.
There are no useless parts in the mechanical watch. More than one hundred parts, large and small, are closely integrated inside the movement and cooperate with each other. The seemingly simple craftsmanship requires precise calculations and sufficient patience to be meticulous, which contains a lot of knowledge and skill. The main splint, bar splint and automatic splint of the movement need to be reopened, positioned, milled, polished, and electroplated. Each gear needs to be recalculated, positioned, punched. Every jewel bearing that reduces resistance and is durable needs to be repositioned and accurately mounted on the movement splint. There are at least 20 such bearings in each movement of AGELOCER.
Even in places that may not necessarily be seen, AGELOCER still strives for perfection. According to the words of its founder, Mr. Ye, “It is because I love mechanical watches that I am unwilling to lower the standards. The quality of Chinese watches should also have its place in the industry.”
AGELOCER is the first watch brand in China that adopts the platinum plating process of the movement plywood and the gold plating process of the movement gears. In addition to the above-mentioned craftsmanship, the Astronomer Series watches are also equipped with 27 ruby wear-resistant bearings and hardened blue screws to enhance the accuracy and durability of the movement. The platinum-plated movement processed by advanced watchmaking technology, using CNC milling technology, edge chamfering and polishing, is decorated with exquisite ring Geneva pattern and fish scale pattern, which pays tribute to the classical craftsmanship and is engraved with hot stamping. From the details, we can see the love that the brand puts into the product.
If you really love it, you never counts the cost
In recent years, AGELOCER has carried out several technological upgrades. The development of a new movement is a process of raising high buildings on the ground. From zero to one, it is necessary to re-establish a production line, allocate sites, personnel, and equipment. Each item requires huge amounts of funds and professionals. AGELOCER’s determination to redefine mechanical watches has the confidence to make such a change.
In order to redefine the mechanical watch, AGELOCER not only achieved the innovative design of the watch appearance, but also determined the needle position, balance wheel position and core position for the movement. This requires independent research and development of the movement, and cannot use the unified core. In order to present all the beautiful ideas of the product with better quality, AGELOCER chose to increase the investment in technical funds, manpower and equipment during the whole process from the movement design, assembly, pattern making to the product launch. Traditional watch case manufacturing uses cast iron craft. The iron block is melted at a high temperature and then molten iron is poured into the mold. In the process of forming a watch case, it will be affected by various factors such as metal oxidation and mold breakage. The quality of the watch case is prone to deviation and quality control is difficult to guarantee. In order to reduce the error as much as possible, AGELOCER introduced an expensive CNC cutting machine to improve the strength of the watch case through technical upgrades, which can effectively improve product quality.
When it comes to selecting materials for watch parts, AGELOCER does not relax and pursues more quality materials. All watch mirrors under the brand are made of sapphire crystal glass, which is a common material in middle and high-end watches. The sapphire material has a hardness of 9 Mohs, second only to diamond. It is scratch-resistant and wear-resistant, not afraid of bumps, and will not be scratched by glass, sand particles or other metals in daily life. It can ensure that the watch mirror will last forever. Because the hardness of the sapphire crystal is too high, watchmakers need an abrasive tool equipped with diamond particles to polish it. The abrasive tool life is not long and the process is difficult, resulting in a high cost of sapphire crystal glass.
In the moon phase watch astronomer series, AGELOCER pioneered the creation of the country’s first 3D printing technology manufacturing model, using 3D nano metal printing technology to produce three-dimensional carved moon phases, and platinum plating technology to make the lunar landscape more realistic. AGELOCER has made a new upgrade of modern technology and traditional functions.
In the Schwarzwald series, AGELOCER uses precision polished zirconia ceramic material to make the case, which is the material with the highest strength and toughness among known oxide ceramics and is praised as “ceramic steel.” Ceramic steel, as smooth as jade, can bring comfort to the wearer. It also has the characteristics of lightness, sturdiness, resistance to wear and corrosion, but it has extremely high processing difficulty, which is more difficult than ordinary metals. It is also rarer in the watch market. AGELOCER pays such a high production cost only to bring more quality mechanical watches to customers.
Strict quality requirements are respect for professionalism
AGELOCER knows that if you want to achieve a high-quality watch, you cannot relax even a little. From the beginning of design to the completion of assembly, AGELOCER never slackened. They do not hesitate to create high-quality products with strict requirements of up to 40% elimination rate. All products must pass strict quality inspection standards:
- 500,000-level dust-free assembly line-the mechanical movement is a very precise instrument, any small particles of dust entering the interior may directly affect the accuracy. Therefore, a high-level dust-free assembly line is the basic requirement for making high-precision watches.
- Multiple waterproof tests-through professional testing equipment to simulate 50 meters underwater (about 5bar, which is equivalent to 5 times the atmospheric pressure) for multiple waterproof tests: each watch must pass the air pressure resistance test, water pressure resistance test, water temperature change performance test, condensation test.
- hour running test on six sides of the finished product-in the state of full chain, using automatic winding machine test: surface up horizontally, surface down horizontally, crown up vertically, crown down vertically, 6 o’clock down , 45 degrees downwards at 12 o’clock. 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hours in six directions, a total of 168 hours of running test. After the test, the 24-hour average time error cannot exceed -10~15 seconds before reaching the standard.
- Low-temperature dehumidification and dust removal treatment of the movement-in order to make the movement longer lasting, all semi-finished products, including the movement, must undergo a 30-minute low-temperature dehumidification treatment before packaging each watch. Then perform professional micro-vacuuming treatment, and finally ensure that the inside of the watch is sufficiently dry and clean.
If Chines watches brand want to rise, they cannot do without the advancement of technology and quality. As a new watch brand, AGELOCER has continuously invested heavily in technological research and development in the field of mechanical watches. Continuous progress in the research and development of higher-quality Chinese movements, steadily transforming the ardently love for mechanical watches into the driving force for development in the mechanical field. I believe that this love and pursuit can promote the development of the mechanical watch industry and create more mechanical watches with new era genes.
