In our previous blogs we have discussed our manufacturing and design partners and, of course, our choice of movements. That was only the first part of our journey to create our beloved Helicon Master.
After the technical drawings had been approved, we went through a series of blanks and rough stainless steel case Masters to refine the size, shape and finishing of the case.
Our choice of movement dictates so much. We like the Seiko NH35 for its robustness and proven reliability, but it is somewhat thicker than the equivalent Swiss movement. We were delighted to reach, with a huge input from our case manufacturers, a final production case that is just fractionally bigger than if we used a slimmer Swiss movement. In fact we can show you how much thicker. Do you see the indices on the bezel? One indices is actually the difference in thickness between the Swiss and the Seiko, just 0.5mm. We are very proud of all our team, that all that effort produced such a tangible result aesthetically and for comfort.
Another element of a watch construction that you will not see but matters to us greatly is the movement holder. Too many watches (and we can tell you some ‘expensive’ watches include this too) use hard plastic movement holders. These are brittle and offer little genuine all round protection for the movement. From the very beginning of this project, it was an absolute and specific part of our brief that we would never use a plastic movement holder. Our solution was our very own custom designed brass movement protection ring
We chose brass for several reasons. It is anti-magnetic, can give better shock protection and has a very low friction co-efficient. We also went one step further and gave our movement protection ring an IPS corrosion resistant coating. Maybe no one will see it, but our watches should perform in detail.
Once our final prototypes had been constructed and tested, we subjected them to one final test which is unusual in the watch industry and especially at our price level. Each prototype was tested to a variety of temperature tests, including freezing to -20°C for a period of 48 hours with measurements for accuracy and functionality. The Helicon Master performed to our exacting requirements.
It’s this level of attention to detail that gives us great pleasure and pride in the Helicon Master collection. We hope will give you years of uninterrupted pleasure wearing your Master everyday.
