An Unexpected Brand Just Revolutionized Mechanical Watch Accuracy

A Regulating Revolution

The new innovation is called MicroReg, and it was co-developed by Horage and its technology partner, Miniswys. The goal of MicroReg is to help a mechanical watch movement reach zero deviation, meaning perfect precision.

Mechanical watch movements deviate several seconds per day. These deviations are caused by a number of factors, including temperature, magnetism, gravity, lubrication and more. When your watch is out of whack, you need to bring it to a watchmaker, who will open up the watch and manually adjust the regulator lever on the movement’s escapement to speed up or slow down the beat rate.

The MicroReg system consists of a tiny actuator that attaches to the regulator of a traditional mechanical escapement. This tiny piece of equipment contains no electronic parts and consists only of a ceramic element and a metal carrier. It’s functionally a part of the movement itself. When still, the motor requires zero energy and only springs to life when called upon.

The motor will move under electrical voltage, which is applied via a device that fits against the exterior of the watch (Horage’s website is a little dodgy about how this part of the system actually works). Press the “+” button on the device to speed up the escapement by 0.1 seconds, and press the “-” button to slow it down by the same amount.