Never mass-produced, Rolex "concept movement", you must have never seen it

As you all know, Rolex "does not make" complicated watches, and there are indeed no watches that are too complicated in the Rolex on sale. The most complicated Rolex is the "Skywalker" (the official name is Long Navigator, commonly known as Skywalker in the folk). But that doesn't mean that Rolex doesn't have complication technology. Today, I want to tell you about Rolex's concept technology, including the following one:

Rolex ELF 7230 movement

Rolex "complex movement" never produced

       Rolex has many technical patents, but very few "physical objects" have been disclosed. The 7230 movement, code-named ELF, is the prototype movement of the Rolex escapement concept technology. ELF is the abbreviation of the three words echappement, lame, and flambage, that is, the English escapement escapement, blade blade, buckling bending. It is a very rare "experimental prototype movement" released by Rolex. Players do not have to doubt the authenticity of this movement, because this movement was sold at auction in 2018.

Rolex ELF 7230 movement.

       The Rolex ELF 7230 movement is the prototype movement of the Rolex constant force escapement. In 1998, a total of 20 pieces were produced. We can see that there is an opening similar to "butterfly wings" at the position of the balance wheel below the movement. This is the "constant power" mechanism designed by Rolex. It can be seen that in the opening, there is a very thin "metal wire" that passes through the left and right "metal arms". This "wire" is the "constant force spring". At the same time, we can see that there are 3 shock absorbers on the movement, the upper two are escape wheel shock absorbers, the ELF 7230 movement has two escape wheels (there is only one for ordinary watches), and the bottom is the normal balance wheel shock absorber.

It can be seen that the "wire" constant force spring in the movement is fixed on the metal arm.

When the movement is running, the two escape wheels transmit power, and the "metal arm" pulls the "wire" constant force spring up and down. Running under the same, stable power, if the movement is not powered enough to reach the "force" that pulls the constant force spring, then the movement stops. This ensures accurate travel time.

Rolex ELF 7230 movement, on the side of the balance wheel, you can see that the balance wheel, hairspring and general Rolex are no different.


        The Rolex ELF 7230 movement was perfect in theory, but in practice, it was not feasible at the time. The reason is that the "wire" constant force spring at that time was made of Nivarox alloy material, and experiments proved that Nivarox alloy could not meet the movement requirements. It was eventually terminated by Rolex. But it didn't end there.

The Girard-Perregaux Escapement watch can be said to be developed from the Rolex ELF 7230 movement.


        The inventor of the constant-force escapement of the Rolex ELF 7230 movement (the inventor was named Nicolas Déhon) was later hired by Girard-Perregaux to further develop this set of constant-force devices. Later, it was found that the constant force device can operate perfectly by using silicon material to make the constant force spring, and mass production can be realized. In 2013, Girard-Perregaux adopted this technology and launched the Girard-Perregaux constant-force escapement watch, which became Girard-Perregaux's iconic complex watch. From the Girard-Perregaux constant force escapement watch, we can clearly see the connection with the Rolex ELF 7230 movement.

Girard-Perregaux's constant force escapement is made of silicon material, so as to achieve practical and mass production.

Rolex has many concepts and technologies, but only the most reliable ones will be mass-produced.

   As all players know, Rolex is selling men’s watches and has popularized a new generation of 32 series (3235, etc.) movements. On the 32 series movement, the new Chronergy escapement is used. The Chronergy escapement is still the structure of the traditional Swiss lever escapement.

On the Rolex 32 series movement, the practical Chronergy escapement is still in the form of the Swiss lever escapement.


        But in fact, Rolex has also developed an escapement similar to the Omega coaxial escapement and Audemars Piguet's exclusive escapement. This kind of escapement is based on the historical impact observatory escapement, and applied for patents in 2009 and 2014. The prototype machine may already exist. However, it is reported that Rolex finally gave up the shock chronometer escapement, believing that the shock chronometer escapement is still not good enough. Instead, the free balance escapement developed by the German independent watchmaker Christian Klings was used as the prototype to develop a new escapement, which was patented in 2015. Some people speculate that it may not come out until 2030.

According to information, Rolex is currently developing a new escapement based on the free balance escapement developed by German independent watchmaker Christian Klings.

        In addition, Rolex also has technical patents for rattrapante timing, including double-chasing and triple-chasing (similar to Lange's three-chasing hands), which were developed for Daytona. Rolex also has a patent for a set of hands that can switch between two time zones with one key, which is obviously developed for GMT and Detective II. After learning this information, we should not be surprised that Rolex will launch any "special functions, complications" in the future, because although Rolex does not make complicated watches, it does not mean that Rolex does not have the technology of complicated watches.