Goldenlutin
261
I heard from a friend...
A friend from Japan who knows HA told me that he received a letter from the Swatch Group regarding the titanium balance and requesting him to stop immediately to use balance wheels in titanium as he apparently was violating a Swatch Group's patent. After some research, Breguet (brand of the Swatch Group) seems indeed to have patented (almost worldwide) the use of titanium for balances.
I think this is sad new as I love his watch and I am also surprised that Swatch Group managed to patent the use of titanium for a balance wheel.
By the way, the brand Antoine Martin apparently received the same letter from Swatch Group as the brand also uses titanium balances....
Anyone heard the same ?
News about Hajime Asaoka ?
I wanted to know how were his projects going and especially the 16mm Titanium Balance (is he selling it yet?) ? Maybe Ken you have some fresh news for us? Mark This message has been edited by Mark in Paris on 2014-01-06 08:04:18
All I know is ...
he just go a new hair cut ... He is quite active on Facebook :-) I have no information about the current status of his projects, but in general I like his approach and his attention to details. Sorry, Mark! Oliver ...
Lol
That are still news Oliver, thanks! I've juste added him on FB (only have to learn japanese now :p ) Thanks for the refreshing pictures, I would really like to find that he decides to sell his 16MM one day. Cheers, Mark
YouTube too...
Hajime is also (relatively) active on YouTube. The last week has seen the upload of some peeks at his work in progress.
I sent an email
to the address indicated on his site but never got an answer. I was interested in the price and availability/delivery of the 16 mm balance wheel watch. R
I heard from a friend...
A friend from Japan who knows HA told me that he received a letter from the Swatch Group regarding the titanium balance and requesting him to stop immediately to use balance wheels in titanium as he apparently was violating a Swatch Group's patent. After ...
Indeed
Yes, I heard the same story indeed... However, I sincerely doubt anyone (read: company) can actually patent the use of titanium for a balance wheel, in the same way that one cannot patent milk as a health drink ;-0) The usage/functionality 'titanium balan...
Exactly what I thought while reading Goldenlutin's post
but I understand now what seems to be the aim of SG from your post. Thanks for explaining. I hope he'll be able to find a way out. Mark
I fully agree with you but...
I fully agree with you but Swatch Group managed to get a "general" patent. I also think that it is amazing they got it but the fact is that they received it in Switzerland (which is easy), EU (which is more difficult), USA and Japan. I have read the paten...
Re:
Thanks a lot for the news! That is indeed what I thought could be weird... before reading Theodore's answer. I hope he will manage to overcome this issue. Cheers, Mark
Silence is golden....
If he just made it with titanium, and did not engrave the fact on the caliber (like he did previously) no-one would have bothered with it at all ! As goldenlutin correctly pointed out, anyone can make a Swiss patent; it is not researched the same way as t...
The name has changed:
It is called TSUNAMI 16 now. I hope it will settle the problem with the SG.
some heavy rumors
If someone gave me a nudge in the right direction, I too could read the patent. Why not post these letters as photos or their contents from Swatch? What is really special about the Asaoka titanium balance? Is Asaoka making an advertisement for Apple? Can ...
Patent : EP1562087 A1
Here is Breguet's european patent : EP1562087 A1 They do also have a patent in other countries like Japan.
Oh sorry I forgot: yes, Swatch Group is Evil Empire :))))
How could you even ask... :)?
A picture of a new model in a japanese magazine
I never saw the one on the right. From its latest FB post, it seems it's a new model. Very nice art-deco style. ...
Better pictures from the FB page from today:
Two different dials and two different cases. I like them quite much. ...
