There is an epic article I'm reading about Japanese #horology and the absolute BRILLIANCE that is the Credor Minute Repeater ... and as much as I'm DROOLING to share it, I know that there is not enough room to explain how genius, how intricate, and how amazing this design is. It's complicated. It is beyond complicated ...
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.
TRUTH.
𝘈 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘕𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 660 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 112 𝘫𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 36.6𝘮𝘮-𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦, 7.8𝘮𝘮-𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘳 7𝘙11 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 72 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 (+/- 15 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩), 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴.
𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 “𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥” 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘺𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺’𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 52𝘯𝘥 (𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘰) 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 850 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘪 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘪𝘫𝘪 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯) 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 1868.
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𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘺𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯-𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘔𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪 𝘔𝘺𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 52𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘺𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳.
To encounter any Credor out in the wild is special, but to see (and hear!) Seiko’s $400,000 Credor Spring Drive Decimal Minute Repeater is likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity since only between three and five examples are said to be made every year.
The way Japan has blended the traditional with the cutting-edge, the relaxed with the excitable, and the superb with the odd is incomparable to the approach taken by the — granted, no less talented — craftspeople from the rest of the world.