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Its lines are clean, making it easy for the eye to move from one information to another. It is this ease of reading and observation that best characterizes the Flytrack collection.
“Simplicity is the perfect harmony between the beautiful, the useful and the just,” said the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The purity of the collection’s pieces hides the work and ingenuity that went into making this creation leave the paper to dress our wrists.
Any creation, in order to have a meaning, must follow a goal. What is that purpose for the Flytrack? By first offering the Track 1, Singer Reimagined arrived on the market with its interpretation and vision of the chronograph.
Every effort has been made to ensure that it is easy to use and read.
The Track 1 can measure a time of up to 60 hours and stands out from its chronograph counterparts, winning over racing enthusiasts.
Arrived in a second time, the Flytrack collection proposes another version of the chronograph. The one with a 1-minute chronometer scale.
But is the Flytrack just a watch that displays hours, minutes and seconds?
On several occasions, we had the chance to meet Marco Borraccino and spend time with him. It was during one of these meetings that we asked him what was behind the creation of this collection. “The idea for the Flytrack movement came from my desire to make an hour, minute, second movement, but with a twist.”
But what could this twist be? Given the age of the display of this information, was the twist simply going to be in the layout of the information?
To have a beginning of answer to these questions, it is necessary to observe the Track 1. The hour and minute displays are circular and positioned at the periphery of the dial. Looking at it, one could think that the twist is in this display. Such a statement could be confirmed when we observe the Prime Edition of the Flytrack. Indeed, the indication of the hour is well located on the periphery and the minutes are indicated with a hand. Almost too classical you will say. This is what makes us think that the twist does not lie in the display. But where can it be?
Dear Marco, please enlighten us about this collection! “The Flytrack project was intended to be more accessible from the start. After working on the Track 1, which is a central chrono capable of measuring time up to 60 hours, I wanted to explore the opposite extreme: the instantaneous measurement of a short time. And the shortest minimal time is the minute.”
Now that this have been said, we understand better the presence of this push-button at 2 o’clock. This last one must have a direct link with the instantaneous measurement of a short time.
To reduce the gap between what is done in terms of chrono and what Marco wants to achieve and express in the future, he decided to offer 3 known chronometric scales: the tachometer, the telemetre and the pulsometer.
The first scale measures the speed of an object as a function of time over a given distance. Usually, this distance is 1 kilometer. If the hand of the stopwatch stops on the 200, it means that you were at 200 kilometers per hour and that you covered 1 kilometer in 18 seconds.
The second scale measures the distance of an event based on the speed of sound propagation, which travels at 340 meters per second. Ideal for knowing how far away a storm is. When you see the lightning, you start the timer and as soon as you hear the noise you can read the distance on the chronometer scale.
The last one measures the heartbeat rate per minute. This scale was developed in the 1920s for doctors and nurses.
These 3 scales are well known and were a must. The student must first show that he masters the technique before making it his own and surpassing the master. And, from you to me, it was time for that to happen.
The classical chronometer gives us a time while the chronometric scales give us an information measured and obtained thanks to the time. This information can finally be multiple. The number of possibilities is almost infinite. The appearance of the Flytrack Barista is the perfect example of Marco’s creative desire. “For me, the stopwatch is still an interesting area of expression because it offers a useful function that can be used in many situations. That’s why I introduced the Barista model. It is the result of an exercise in style, a demonstration that it is possible to innovate and think outside the box.”
As for me, the idea of having a chronometric scale on my watch that allows me to measure the time it takes to extract the coffee is something that makes me smile and that I really like. Sure, my coffee isn’t the best, but I drink it every day.
With these 4 chronometric scales, we can see that the twist lies in the seconds hand. Magnificently long, it is necessary to return to its base and dive into the movement to understand its particularity.
The twist can be simplistically presented in the following terms: by pressing the push-button, the seconds hand returns to 12 o’clock directly. By releasing it, the hand starts again, allowing the measurement of the event.
To achieve this result, what happens in the movement and what does it require technically?
Once again, we must look at the Track 1 movement. Indeed, the AG6364 of the Flytrack shares a common architecture with the AgenGraphe 6361 from the Track1.
Agenhor being specialized in the design and manufacturing of additional modules, they used this skill in the creation of the Track 1 movement. Since the movement is modular, some parts can be replaced by others, thus offering new functionalities. Saving Singer Reimagined from having to create a whole new movement. A long and very expensive process.
With the Flytrack, to allow the second to be reset, it must be disconnected from the movement, returned to 12 o’clock and held in place. If we simply block it, we would also block the movement. Such a blockage would damage the smooth running of the movement and its precision.
When the push-button is pressed, a rocker releases the clutch which disengages. The rocker also acts as a reset hammer by pressing on a core cam. The profile of the rocker and the core cam have been calculated to optimize resets. When the push-button is released, the rocker returns to its initial position and re-engages the system to restart the seconds hand.
Having said that, put yourself in the designer’s shoes. You had to imagine the mechanism that would allow this reset. The repeated use of this function must not affect the proper functioning of the movement.
Singer Reimagined and its Flytrack collection hijacks the seconds hand in the service of a chronometric scale. The classic scales have been realized and a first step towards the full expression of the brand has been made with the Flytrack Barista. And you, what can you imagine measuring in one minute?
Observe what surrounds you, your daily actions and try to see if they are applicable in a chronometric scale!
