If you are interested in more about how mechanical watches work in general this is a pretty amazing set of animations: https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/
Slightly off-topic; but does anyone know legitimate reasons why Seiko spring-drive-like movements are either very expensive or don't exist? And any patents should have expired by now.
A spring-drive movement works by electro-magnetically braking and regulating a clockwork that is driven by a self-winding spring. The electro-magnetic brake is controlled by a quartz-clock. This means a watch with a smooth sweep, powerful drive, and quartz accuracy. It seems it would require fewer parts and less precision apart from the circuit itself, which shouldn't be too different from other quartz movements?
High-end watch people generally eschew quartz movements and anything resembling them. The occasional exceptions are for watches like the Omega Speedmaster X33 and Breitling Emergency, and even then many watch people don't want anything to do with them.
I simply don't think the market would support the investment needed to pump out these movements at scale for a new player.
I want to buy a 7751 movement, dial, hands, case, and band, and assemble my next watch. I have a Hamilton with a 7750 in it. It's about 100 parts if disassembled, and they need service about every half-decade (tear down, clean, lube, reassemble).
A chronograph is any watch with a stopwatch complication. I'm really not sure what your concern with a lever escapement is, as this is used on almost all mechanical watches.
A chronograph has a chronograph or detent escapement. The purpose of which is eliminate the sliding friction in the escapement and variability caused by viscosity change in lubrication with temperature.
I never heard that a stopwatch makes a watch a chronometer. That sounds like a marketing gimmick.
Ahould your original post read “chronometer” instead of chronograph? I also understand chronograph to mean a stopwatch complication, which is different from a chronometer certification.
7750 and its clones like Sellita SW500 are some the workhorses of the watch industry. But kind of boring since they are omnipresent in chronographs. I'd prefer a chronograph with column wheel.
Column-wheel chronographs generally offer a smoother, lighter operation than cam-action chronographs, but the chronograph sub-complication I'm most interested in is the vertical clutch. https://revolutionwatch.com/vertical-clutch-chronographs/
I just have to point out that the Vallée de Joux (namesake of the Valjoux movement) is a beautiful spot in Switzerland that is located such that very few foreign tourists ever go there. Definitely worth the visit.
