After ten years of experimentation and redesigns, the Monaco V4 Tourbillon was released in 2014 to much fanfare (I mean fanfare literaly, I was lucky enough to attend the launch party at Baselworld, and it was a spectacle for sure). It all started in 2004 when TAG Heuer first released the Monaco V4, the first watch to be driven by belts instead of the conventional wheel and pinion. It also happens to be something that has a very specific role in the new TAG Heuer Monaco V4 Tourbillon, that role being to transfer power from the mainspring barrels to the gear train and from the gear train to the delicate tourbillon mechanism. It is considered a primary component of the pulley and one of the six “simple machines” defined by Renaissance scientists.
#Tag heuer monaco v4 full
What an increditastic invention the belt is, if I do say.Īs you can see, the humble belt, a simple strip of fabric, leather, rubber, or rope, has a long and full history with thousands of iterations and as many uses. The belt is a beautifully simple system that, with proper maintenance, can last as long as or longer than you may own the vehicle. These belts, usually grooved or toothed, help to keep engine components spinning in sync with each other and allow them all to be powered off the rotational motion of the crankshaft. Given all of that, the most common way you will interact with a mechanical belt will probably be with your car or truck and the timing and serpentine belt connected to the engine. Oh, and if you take an assembly line and flip it over, you can use the conveyor belt to move the machine, in the form of a belt track like what you would find on a tank or bulldozer. This is true of any belt-drive system, with the flat belt version being the simplest and most straightforward to make and maintain. This type of belt drive has lasted so long because it could be used to power shafts that weren’t aligned, would protect against overloading or jamming, and prevented shocks from destroying the other end of the mechanism.
Actually, the belt was invented to make full use of the wheel.Ī belt can be used to drive machinery or pumping a piston in the form of a belt and pulley.įlat belts are the oldest versions, even being used to power machinists’ lathes well into the twentieth century. It also happens to be one of the most functional mechanical tools mankind has invented beside the wheel. The belt can be a lifesaver for fashion or an adventurer’s folly. Despite that black mark on the belt’s record, it still stands as one of the most functional and handy things to have on your person.ĭepending on material, the belt can also serve other purposes with examples of it being used as a tourniquet, tie-down, medical sling, and in the rare case that it is made of braided paracord (nylon kern mantle parachute cord), it can even serve as survival rope.
Sadly, we have also lived to witness the rise of the belt clip cell phone holder, probably the most misguided attempt at helping those individuals who lamented the passing of the once-popular pager. Today, the belt has a firmly entrenched position as a male clothing requirement (at least for “properly” dressed individuals), and an optional fashion accessory for females or the sartorially daring. Aside from the early Middle Ages and seventeenth-century mantua (women’s dresses), belts have usually been much more common with men, though they have a strong history with both genders, especially in more ancient times.
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