RD002

Description

Mineroci RD002 with Remontoir D’égalité and Dead-Beat Central Seconds

Background

MINEROCI was founded in China in 2018 by Chang Qu and Zhengyang Pan. Both founders came from a product design background and had worked together for many years running a product design firm. Driven by a deep love and passion for horology, we spent five years teaching ourselves watchmaking theory and craftsmanship, ultimately becoming watchmakers.

With the successful delivery of the RD001, a time-only watch, we turned our attention to a more ambitious movement development project. Through the creation of the RD002, we sought to explore new approaches to power distribution in mechanical watchmaking through the integration of a constant-force mechanism.

Watch Description

The RD002 combines a Reuleaux triangle–based remontoir d’égalité mechanism with a central deadbeat seconds display. The watch employs a specially designed 18-tooth escape wheel operating at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour (3 Hz), forming the foundation of its escapement system.、The centrally mounted deadbeat seconds hand enhances the visual impact of the jumping-seconds display while also presenting greater design and manufacturing challenges.

The movement is powered by twin mainspring barrels and incorporates a Maltese cross stopwork mechanism to regulate the range of energy release. The power reserve is 38 hours, and we have incorporated a power-reserve indicator on the dial side.

The movement contains 45 jewels, while the completed watch measures 38.5 mm in diameter and 9.8 mm in thickness.

Movement Finishing

The finishing and decoration of the RD002 movement are carried out entirely in-house.

The surfaces of the gold bridges are treated with a combination of sandblasting and satin brushing. All edges are hand-beveled and polished to a mirror finish. All screws are individually black-polished by hand. The large wheel combines black polishing with circular graining.

A Symmetrical Design Bridging East and West

The symmetrical dial design of the RD002 draws inspiration from historically significant pocket watches.

The upper half of the dial, including the prominent central seconds hand, is inspired by a marine chronometer dating back to 1804. Its distinctive characteristics, a central seconds display paired with a subsidiary hour-and-minute dial, shaped the upper section of the RD002 dial.

The inspiration for the lower half of the dial is drawn from the movement architecture of George Daniels’ pocket watch “Hornby II.” A defining feature of this timepiece is a large balance wheel positioned centrally in the lower section of the movement.

We applied this architectural concept to the front of the watch to showcase the motion and aesthetic beauty of the mechanical structure. In the RD002, the balance wheel is displayed slightly below the center on the dial side. To its left is the remontoir constant-force mechanism, and to its right is a follower wheel.

The design of the movement’s reverse side is also based on a symmetrical layout while subtly incorporating imagery inspired by the Chinese lion dance. The lion dance is a traditional cultural performance symbolizing good fortune, prosperity, and success. We used this cultural motif as the basis for the movement’s architecture and visual identity.

Supplied by the brand to the GPHG for its entry.