Apparently not content with chronograph speeds of 1/1,000th of a second, TAG Heuer have gone ahead and built a new concept watch, the Mikrogirder which has the ability to time events to 1/2,000th of a second. But that's not even the most surprising element of the watch. It accomplishes all this without the use of a balance wheel or even that Pendulum concept we saw a few years ago. The movement developed for the Mikrogirder uses a vibrating linear oscillator to attain its freakishly fast pace of 1,000hz. What's a linear oscillator? We hope to have an answer to that one soon.
The Mikrogirder 2000 bears a familiar looking dial to that of the Mikrotimer, but distinguishes itself with "bullhead" placement of the crown and chronograph pushers. With part of the case sitting at an angle to the base, the whole fake watch is reminiscent of an hold hand timer used in the 60's. Part of the dial is cut away to expose the small rods that comprise the linear oscillating system, which should afford some of you ample room for speculation as to how it operates.
Did we mention this thing is twice as fast as the Mikrotimer? That sees the flying central hand lapping the dial at a blistering pace of 20 times per second. That's a beat rate of 7,200,000 per hour. There are two sub dials at 3 o'clock and 12 o'clock that help construct the parts of the second you're more likely to be able to make out with the naked eye. The fractions of the seconds passing by are marked out to their decimal places along the outer ring of the dial, so you'll have no problem timing things like the half-life of unstable isotopes.
Our friends over at Calibre 11 have a more thorough breakdown of the Mikrogirder 2000 and they should be able to provide a more readily understandable explanation of its regulator system in the coming days. Click here for the full read.
Tag-heuer Mikrogirder New Special Editions from Breitling and Omega Celebrating Sports 11160