IWC to Honor Author/Aviator Antoine de Saint Exupery

Seiko Spring Drive Finally comes into the WorldThe watch of Akahana's dreams appeared after 28 years of research and development, 230 patent applications and 600 movement prototypes. The Seiko Spring Drive was released in October, 2005. The new timekeeping creation represented a mechanical watch provided with the time-regulating system developed by Seiko Epson. The Spring Drive offered the same timekeeping accuracy as an analog quartz watch powered by batteries. In the heart of the Seiko Spring Drive there beats automatic Caliber 5R, a real wonder of 'mechatronics'. Caliber 5R was developed in two versions -one that comprised 276 parts and the other with 280 parts. Like a quartz watch it incorporates an integrated circuit and quartz crystal, thus maintaining the accuracy of +/- 15 seconds per month that corresponds to the accuracy provided by a battery-driven analog quartz watch. The Seiko watch-makers replaced the escapement, the traditional time regulating system in the mechanical timepiece, with a new Seiko Epson device for time regulation. These are manually assembled by the five most experienced Seiko watch-makers who work in a special master watchmakers' workshop . Following the steps of a conventional mechanical watch, the Spring Drive uses a mainspring as a power source for turning the hands.