- The chronograph world isn’t
what it used to be. Due to escalating manufacturing cost,
the Swiss industry has gravitated toward fewer popular
calibres. An example of one such basic and functional
calibre is the Lemania 5100. Manufactured since 1978, it
was recently rescued from an untimely
demise.(Unfortunately,
due to politics at Swatch Group, this rescue seems to
have been short lived, more
later)
-
- A year ago, Nouvelle Lemania was
planning to cease production of the 5100, a particularly
rugged but accurate calibre used mostly in military and
space applications. There were two reasons for
Lemania’s decision. Foremost was that the simplistic
design of the 5100 no longer fitted the
manufacturer’s product line and philosophy. As well,
the tools for the movement, being 20 years old
(actually
closer to 25), were outdated
and in need of restoration. However, the needed
investment couldn’t be justified by the
calibre’s limited sales to its three
(remaining)
main customers: Fortis, Sinn, and Tutima. (Paul Picot and
Alain Silberstein also use the calibre but only in very
limited fashion unlike the other three.) At the very
least, Lemania would not be able to maintain the
calibre’s price.
-
- However, Fortis, Sinn, and
Tutima insisted on the continuation of production because
the 5100 is the only calibre that met their military
requirements. The 5100, due to its construction, is the
only chronograph movement that can withstand large shocks
without its chronograph seconds hand stopping. This is
because its chronograph mechanism is driven directly
unlike most other chronographs which use an intermediate
wheel. The calibre easily withstands acceleration in
excess of 7G without appreciable loss of accuracy. Its
ruggedness is legendary; the calibre easily absorbs
shocks and blows. The calibre also maintains its accuracy
over long periods without servicing. Service intervals
from four to seven years have shown to be
sufficient.
-
- On the other hand, the
5100’s weakness, at least from a watchmaker’s
perspective, is its simple, even anachronistic
construction. Like a cheap old mechanical wristwatch or a
mechanical alarm clock, it uses a pillar construction.
That is, the cock and bridges are attached to the main
plate by thin pillars. In a more conventional design, the
cock and bridges are terrace-like and mount directly onto
the main plate. Pillar construction reduces manufacturing
cost since parts can be stamped as opposed to being
milled. But that’s not all. The designers even dared
to use some nylon parts in the movement. The choice of
nylon not only lowered production costs but was also
deemed, at the time, to be progressive. After all, this
was during the time of the Tissot Research 2001, a watch
with a movement made entirely of nylon and fiberglass.
The day and date wheels of the 5100 and their cams are
also nylon. On the periphery of the movement are two gray
nylon half-moons that support the rotor and absorb shocks
from the rotor in case of hard blows. This nylon
“ring” around the movement hides much of the
pillar construction from the casual viewer.
-
- Fortunately, Lemania did not
cease production of the 5100 (in
1997). However, the wholesale
price of the movement nearly doubled from 230 SFR to
about 400 SFR to reflect the cost of the new machines and
tooling's.
-
- A brief glance over the 30 years
history of the automatic chronograph shows that the
golden age of the chronograph when a large number and
variety of calibres flourished is largely over now.
(Actually
there has been a bit of a renaissance lately, but
more
later...)
-
- “Twenty
Years” (closer
to "Thirty Years")
- Indeed, only a few integrated
(as opposed to modular) automatic chronographs remain on
the market. Nearly all of these are at least 20 years
old.
-
- It started with Zenith’s El
Primero in 1969. The El Primero’s strongest rival
was the calibre 11/12 from Breitling, Heuer, Hamilton and
Buren that was released the same year. However, the El
Primero is today, 20 years after the production of the
calibre 11/12 ended, still in production.
-
- In 1972, Lemania released the
calibre 1340 that lives on today, albeit after a long
hiatus, as the 1350.
-
- Today’s ubiquitous
ETA-Valjoux 7750 was released in 1973. Five years later,
the 5100, the simplified successor to the 1340/1341 and
the focus of this article, was released.
(Actually,
Omega produced Lemania 5100 movement based Speedmasters
from 1974. This is exceedingly well documented, so the
movement has to date from 1974 at the very latest, and
may even have bowed in 1973)...
-
- In 1978, the market for
mechanical chronograph was shrinking rapidly. Cheap
Japanese LCD quartz watches with stopwatch function
flooded the market. However, the Swiss manufacturers did
not want to give up the chronograph market. They needed a
simple calibre that was cheap to manufacture. Lemania was
at the time part of the SSIH whose flagship brand, Omega,
still sold a wide variety of automatic
chronographs.
-
- Omega’s calibre 1040 in the
Speedmaster III and IV was derived from the Lemania 1340
so it was fitting to use the new calibre 5100 (as the
Omega 1045) in the Speedmaster Automatic. Like the 1340,
the 5100 has a central chronograph minute counter that
was easy-to-read, unlike chronographs which utilized
subdials. Omega had added to the Lemania 1340 a 24-hour
indicator on top of the continuous second subdial at 9
o’clock to arrived at their Omega 1040. This 24-hour
indicator now became a standard feature on the Lemania
5100 and is even more useful because it was moved to the
12 o’clock position. As well, if you compare the
dial of the 1340 with the 5100, you’ll also note
that the 5100 adds a day-of-the-week indicator. In sum,
the 5100 provides more functionality with a more legible
layout.
“Antiquated
but Reliable”
- The Lemania 5100 demonstrates
other unusual constructions. The navette-type chronograph
mechanism is fitted not as usually between the base plate
and the automatic winding system but between the dial and
the base plate instead. The rotor winds in one direction
only over the reduction gear and runs in a hard iron
bearing instead of jewels. The ratchet wheel under the
rotor transfers the rotation of the rotor to a reduced
wheel. The yoke spring on the rotor doubles as a click.
The above clearly shows that the Lemania 5100’s
antiquated construction, while simple, is nonetheless
reliable and functional. The clutch wheel is also made
out of nylon, another tribute to rational production. The
large mainspring barrel continues the rugged design
philosophy of the movement. The balance is also quite
large for a high beat movement running at 28’800A/h.
The calibre uses the reliable and space-saving Triovis
regulator. Kif-Flector shock absorber was chosen instead
of the more usual Incabloc shock absorber seen in ETA
calibre. At 8.2mm, the 5100 is 0.3mm taller than the
ETA-Valjoux 7750. This makes the 5100 the tallest of
today’s chronograph calibre.
-
- “Effective,
Precise, and Reliable… In short:
Unbeatable”
-
- Because the Lemania 5100 is
built for tool watches with an instrument appearance, the
height of the calibre is not very important. Sinn was the
first to see the potential of this underdog.
-
- Sinn released the Sinn 142 in
1980, roughly at the same time as Omega’s release of
their second edition of the Speedmaster Mark IV. The Sinn
142 is a large tool-watch with a highly functional dial.
-
- Orfina’s Porsche Design
chronograph in the early 1980s was another functional
(and minimalist design) that used the Lemania
5100.
-
- Tutima’s military
chronograph was released in 1985 and was chosen shortly
after as the official watch for German air-force pilots.
-
- In 1994, Fortis replaced their
unpopular Stratoliner model with the very well-made
Official Cosmonaut chronograph. The calibre remained the
Lemania 5100.
-
- Even Alain Silberstein used the
5100, changing the color of some of the nylon parts in
his provocative “Krono Bauhaus”.
-
- Recently, Sinn released their
EZM1 (Einsatz-Zeitmesser 1), a novel chronograph design
using the 5100 that moves the crowns and pushers to the
left side of the case (in addition to removing all
subdials and the day/date functions).
-
- “Technical
Specification of the Lemania 5100”
-
- Chronograph movement,
self-winding with chronograph mechanism between the dial
and base plate. Centrally mounted, unidirectional winding
rotor. The inner face of the rotor contains a bent-spring
click. A ratchet wheel translates motion to a reduced
wheel (the wheel with the drilled holes visible in some
photos).
-
- The chronograph mechanism is a
space and cost efficient navette-type. Despite the
relatively high beat rate of 28’800A/h, the calibre
has a large Glucydur balance. Nivarox 1 flat hairspring,
Triovis regulator, Kif-Flector shock absorber. A large
barrel for the Nivaflex mainspring. Large nylon day and
dates wheels. The automatic winding mechanism’s
reduction gear is also made of nylon.
-
- The calibre’s bridges,
plates and balance cock are built as a pillar
construction. Two nylon half-moons on the periphery of
the movement. Movement height 8.2mm, diameter 31mm,
weight 21g. Introduced in 1978.
-
- The calibre 5100 is used in
chronographs from Omega (in the past), Sinn, Fortis,
Tutima, Alain Silberstein, Paul Picot, Orfina Porsche
Design (in the past), Tissot (in the past). Sinn offers
the 5100 (for an additional fee) with a COSC
certificate.
-
- Characteristic traits of the
Lemania 5100: the central minute-counter, 24h indicator
and 12-hour counter sub-dial.
-
This is the end of the document that I discovered on
my hard drive. All of my efforts to locate the source
of this document have been unsuccessful until I posted
this in my webspace and was graciously contacted by
George Chow. George had no problems with me hosting it as
it seems he was looking to do the same thing I was
thinking of doing but didn't get around to it... So I
have noted the information in the title as it should be
listed.
-
- What follows is my
attempt to update the saga to the current
situation...
- Before
I continue on with my commentary and update, I thought
I'd mention that there is an extensive gallery of
Lemania 5100 (and Omega 1045) movement photographs
maintained by Sergio Lorenzon at his very
useful WatchScape
site. A listing of the pertinent pictures is located
below... -- Chuck
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