Press Release No. 139

THE BERGAMO SEMPRE HYBRID WATCHWINDER

ORBITA’s newest design combines manual winding and automatic winding, keeping your entire collection of fine Swiss watches wound and displayed all in one exquisite handcrafted Italian cabinet.  Introducing the BERGAMO SEMPRE HYBRID Watchwinder - the perfect solution for winding up to six (6) of your mechanical hand-wound watches and sixteen (16) of your automatics together in one case.

The Bergamo Sempre Hybrid employs ORBITA’s renowned microprocessor controlled winding mechanisms for the sixteen (16) individually programmable winding heads which may be set to rotate either clockwise or counter-clockwise, according to the particular watch being wound.  The winding time for each is adjustable to provide the exact number of turns per day (TPD) recommended by the watch manufacturer.  Each station is easily programmable from the front of the cabinet by simply removing the mounting cup and setting the 4 pole DIP switch mounted behind it.  Also easily accessible is an on/off switch for each individual station. 

Each watch is fitted over a resilient, non-marking latex foam cushion that adapts to virtually any wrist size.  After mounting the watch, the watch and cushion assembly is inserted into a winding cup that is made of glass-reinforced nylon.  The sides of the cup are relieved to prevent any contact that could damage highly polished bracelet surfaces.  Watch security is assured by the tilt-back angle of the cups that eliminate all concerns of watches falling as they rotate. 

For winding your hand-wound mechanical watches, the Bergamo Sempre Hybrid Watchwinder employs ORBITA’s unique patented Sempre design which replicates the human action of finger winding a watch by rotating the winding crown in a clockwise direction.  The Sempre substitutes a mechanical finger arrangement, called a “collet”, which grasps the watch’s crown securely and rotates it in the same clockwise direction.  Several different size collets are provided to fit any watch crown diameter from 3 to 9 millimeters.  The collet is mounted in a rotating tubular drive shaft, supported by low-torque precision ball bearings, and is powered by a tiny D.C. gear motor through a techno-polymer drive gear system.  The collet is opened by pushing in a spring-loaded plunger at the opposite end of the drive shaft.  Releasing the plunger closes the collet down on the crown.

Just as the individual winding his or her watch senses the increasing resistance of turning the crown as the watch is being wound, the microprocessor “brain” of the Sempre winder monitors the electrical current drawn by the gear motor as it rotates.  The amount of force required to wind the mainspring of a mechanical watch, known as the winding torque, increases as a watch is being wound.  Therefore, as the torque increases, the gear motor draws more current.  The microprocessor control circuit is user-adjustable to shut down the drive system when it senses that the current has reached a pre-set limit, one which is well below the maximum torque that the watch mainspring can handle.

For safety purposes, the drive system is also fitted with a mechanical slip-clutch which has been factory set to slip at a safe torque in the event of a microprocessor failure.  This redundancy eliminates any possibility of stressing or breaking the mainspring of an expensive and, perhaps delicate mechanical watch. 

This innovative combination of watchwinding action is housed in the popular Italian Bergamo cabinetry featuring the complicated art of “intarsia”, the process of using exotic woods as inlays for decorating fine furniture.  The cabinet is available in Madrona Burl, Mahogany Parquet or Brazilian Rosewood veneers.  An extremely durable multicoat polyester lacquer finish is applied to provide protection from marking and scratching.  A slide-out storage drawer provides additional storage for pocket watches and watch related documents.

For further information contact:

ORBITA Corporation    Tel: 910-256-5300 Fax: 910-256-5356

E-mail: info@orbita.com