New Rolex Calibre 3255 stands out by impressive technical values

This automatic calibre is another typical example for the brands on-going efforts to steadily improve the quality of a mechanical watch. Click on “read more” to discover the Rolex Calibre 3255

Guys, this one is a hard nut to crack!

It´s not only a simple new mechanical calibre…

The Rolex calibre 3255 key figures …

PRECISION: Twice as great as that of an certified official chronometer by COSC

AUTONOMY: Approximately 70 hours (+50%)

CHRONERGY ESCAPEMENT EFFICIENCY: +15 %

PATENTS: 14

NEW COMPONENTS:  >90%

Rolex states: “Calibre 3255’s criteria for precision in everyday wear are twice as exacting as those for an officially certified chronometer. Its superlative accuracy is tested by Rolex after the movement has been cased, using high-technology equipment and an exclusive methodology that simulates the conditions in which a watch is actually worn. Its power reserve extends to three days (approximately 70 hours), representing an increase of 24 hours (or 50 per cent) compared to that of the previous generation. This means that the watch will easily continue to run over a weekend without needing to be rewound. Calibre 3255 is impervious to magnetic interferences beyond the values encountered in daily life. The movement’s resistance to shocks and its reliability have been optimized at the level of its overall architecture as well as its individual components, and through the use of high-performance lubricants developed and synthesized in-house. Calibre 3255 offers enhanced convenience of adjustment and winding – faster and more efficient self-winding, distinct easy-to-sense positions on the winding stem, unrestricted calendar correction at any time and very precise time setting.”

The entirely by Rolex developed and manufactured calibre is backed by 14 patents and a number of innovative technological solutions relating not only to component design but also to processes involving new technologies that push back the limits of current production methods. More than 90 percent of the movement parts have been redesigned and optimized, from those that produce and store energy (self-winding module and mainspring) to the regulating organ responsible for precision (oscillator), the gear train and the escapement. The escapement, which transmits the impulses required to maintain the oscillator’s steady beat, is enhanced by a major innovation patented by Rolex under the name Chronergy.

Rolex Chronergy escapement

While favored by watchmakers for its great reliability, the traditional Swiss Lever Escapement has always suffered from low efficiency, relaying to the oscillator barely more than a third of the energy it receives from the mainspring via the gear train. The result of extensive research, the geometry of the Rolex Chronergy escapement improves the efficiency of this key component by 15 per cent. Almost half of the increased power reserve of Calibre 3255 can be ascribed to the escapement itself.

Innovations

New geometry offering a 15% improvement in energy efficiency, Paramagnetic components in nickel-phosphorus, High-precision manufacturing via LiGA (micro manufacturing through electroforming)

The Rolex Chronergy escapement is patented it optimizes the efficiency of the traditional Swiss Lever Escapement.

The thickness of the pallet stones has been reduced by half while the contact surfaces of the escape wheel teeth have been doubled (1). The escapement system is no longer in alignment but slightly offset, thus multiplying the lever effect (2). The escape wheel has a cutout design to make it lighter and reduce its inertia (3).

Paramagnetic oscillator with Rolex Parachrom Hairspring

Innovations:

Optimized Breguet overcoil, new high-precision-machined balance wheel for improved poise, new patented balance staff for enhanced resistance to magnetism

Accelerated self-winding autonomy

Innovations:

New cut-out monobloc oscillating weight on a ball bearing, new reversing wheels for faster, more efficient bidirectional winding

With the new calibre 3255 Rolex introduces a new test procedure to demonstrate superlative precision on the wrist.

Superlative Chronometers

Rolex sets a new level of chronometric precision with criteria surpassing those of COSC (the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute). Rolex has developed a new methodology and high-technology equipment to test the precision of its Superlative Chronometers with tolerances that are twice as exacting as those for official certification, and under conditions that simulate the wearer’s real-life experience. These exclusive chronometer tests complement the official COSC certification, to which all Rolex movements continue to be submitted systematically, and are carried out not on the movements alone, but on the assembled watches after the movements have been cased. A specific test protocol was designed by Rolex following large-scale statistical studies to determine the actual conditions of daily wear. As a result, the Rolex chronometers equipped with movements tested according to this new methodology shall demonstrate superlative precision on the wrist.

Last but not least this is good to know

The outstanding performance of the new Calibre 3255 is the result of the ongoing effort to improve the mechanical wristwatch by research and development on horological components done by Rolex engineers. It is also made possible by the Manufacture’s in-house expertise, covering all processes involved in movement production. This know-how has pushed back the boundaries of production methods in terms of precision and tolerances, leading to enhanced component quality and performance.

For example, through high-precision machining, the thickness of the walls of the barrel has been reduced by 50 per cent, resulting in a more than 10-hour gain in autonomy.

The synthetic ruby pallet stones on the new Chronergy escapement’s pallet fork measure a mere 125 microns, 50 per cent less than those of the previous generation.

A threefold enhancement in the poise of the oscillator balance wheel was made possible thanks to precision manufacturing.

High-technology processes are also used, such as LiGA (micromanufacturing by electroforming) to produce the paramagnetic pallet fork and escape wheel of the new Chronergy escapement.