[Music] this spring is finer than a strand of human hair and it's a vital part of the ton mechanism found in the most expensive watches in the world a collector bought this ton watch for $5.8 million at a Chris's auction in 2023 the complications in this watch is quite extraordinary and this piece is $476,000 the torom mechanism was created to counter the effects of gravity on vertical pocket watches making them more accurate but it doesn't improve the performance of watches anymore so what makes these watches so expensive and why are customers paying a premium for a watch that doesn't perform any better to answer that question you have to understand what a ton is in a mechanical watch there is a balance wheel attached to a coiled hairspring which allows it to twist back and forth this movement causes another wheel called an Escape wheel to advance tooth by tooth in regular intervals creating the signature ticking sound you hear in a watch in a t however this entire mechanism called an escapement is placed inside a metal cage which is also constantly rotating this additional rotation is what counteracted gravity's pole in pocket watches these days pocket watches have been replaced with modern wrist watches that primarily sit horizontally so they don't require Aon for accuracy but for some reason it's not only highly sought after it's often featured prominently and can increase the cost of a watch significantly because it's so incredibly difficult to master and and make it's going to add a significant cost to the watch so you can see you know a watch that's a simple time only piece jump 20,000 30,000 sometimes 100,000 how difficult is it just ask Remy calls a 26-year-old independent watch maker who specializes in all parts of the to making process his studio is located near Lake Ani in France about 30 miles from Geneva the watch capital of the world where top brands like be Philip and Rolex are headquartered he and his colleague clemon TI are in the process of creating Remy's second collection of ton watches of 36 pieces he calls the [Music] [Music] it takes about a month to complete a watch from start to finish so Remy and clemance will be working on them for the next 3 years one reason these watches cost so much is the sheer number of pieces needed for the tall to function the entire watch consists of about 200 Parts in total 50 of which make up the ton and each of these has to be extremely precise down to the thousandth of a millimeter Remy's ton is made from components cut from brass and steel he sculpts the raw materials himself into the basic shapes using a CNC to cut the various pinions and Wheels with Precision while automated Machining all these tiny pieces takes a long time about 15 to 20 minutes for each of the smaller parts and an hour plus for more complex ones Remy must then compare each individual component with the initial design on the computer to make sure it's exactly to the specifications and that nothing is outside of the lines for each piece he has to readjust various settings like The Cutting speed and this can sometimes take longer than the actual Machining the cut metal needs to be heat treated multiple times to reinforce it first this happens through a process called quenching where the steel is heated up and then quickly cooled with charcoal powder he then heats the piece again tempering it which changes the color from yellow to Brown to Blue from here on out it requires a careful eye and a steady hand to craft this Sur regular piece into a mechanical gear he will then need to manually cut each of the 80 teeth into the base Remy will often stack 10 of them together to save [Music] time Remy and clemance are both graduates of Lis Edgar for in morto France a school renowned for training and passing on some of the best young watch makers into the bigname Swiss watch companies he worked briefly for gral forc in Switzerland before establishing his own brand in 2019 and clemance worked at ptic Philip before joining him she is ramy's first and only employee and has been with the company for about a [Music] year now where is all of this training passion and attention to detail more apparent than in this stage known as [Music] chamfering it's also one of the most timeconsuming parts of the process in which each Edge is meticulously beveled not only for Aesthetics but also to reduce friction and prevent any unintended resistance with the p [Music] the chamford component is polished and coated with metal such as gold or rodium to prevent oxidation and add a colorful luster yellow pink or gray depending on the coating used Remy will first experiment with different test pieces to make sure the colors are just as desired there are various types and styles of ton single axis triple axis and even flying ton which are only mounted on one side some cages make one full rotation every 60 seconds as is the case with Remy's watch some are slower and some are faster but the faster the rotation the more Fragile the mechanism which is already extremely fragile especially when it comes to the hairspring on any particular day glor's tasks can differ today she is assembling the pieces Remy has already prepared into the ton cage first she tests the balance of the balance wheel and then cuts the hairspring to the correct length to match it she wears an eyepiece known as a loop to shape the curve and make a slight elevation of the outermost coil known as the B over [Music] coil when it's just right she will piece it all together in the cage using a variety of small pliers and other specialized tools [Music] [Music] mounting the can take several days to get right will then check everything and place the movement in the Platinum watch casing they will do some final control tests and make sure it's tightly sealed and waterproof before scanning the watch one last time for any dust particles so much time and effort go into making the T mechanism and customers are willing to pay for it but why when it doesn't make watches more accurate every time you pick up a time piece no matter what the price is you're looking at a piece of art really this is about buying what you love and buying what speaks to you the are often even highlighted with a single sapphire crystal at watches of Switzerland one of the largest luxury watch retailers in the world customers can find Doon watches from most of the big names but Kelly Yu who has been in the industry for 28 years says it's also her job to show collectors the broad range available from independent makers whom they may not have even heard of yet it's up to us to educate the public when they walk through our doors on what other things they should have in their collection I love anyone that takes the time to truly build an art piece like this from start to finish I really believe if you love what you do you're going to appreciate someone like Remy wholeheartedly take this highly detailed Year of the Dragon themed to from B for example it is one of only 12 pieces new for 2024 that sells for around half a million dollar I think what's really important to Showcase is the back of this watch as well because you are truly looking at something that takes someone so many hours to do and this is a true true piece of art flipping that watch over and really looking at the Artistry and how much work goes into decorating movement it's extraordinary and and the geeky side of me I would sit and probably stare at a turbon for hours on [Music] end