Precision and accuracy at Kinetron: a watchmakers' cultural heritage and expertise
Micro generators MicromotorsRoots in the watch industry
When critically examining Dutch inventions that have made a worldwide impact in the watch industry, you can probably only name two: the pendulum clock by Christiaan Huygens in 1656 and the Micro-generator by Kinetron for the automatic quartz movement.
In 1988 the automatic quartz technology showed up in the market in the Netherlands and Japan. In the Netherlands, Kinetron had produced the innovative and revolutionary micro-generator for the automatic quartz movement of the watch 'Samara,' made for the Swiss company Jean d'Eve. While in Japan, Seiko had developed the ‘Kinetic’ watches line.
The accuracy of the quartz movement was combined with the principle of the automatic watch, where the rotational energy of an eccentric mass is converted into electrical energy. Incredibly, the thickness of this little bicycle dynamo was only 2 mm with a diameter of 4 mm.
A NEW AVENUE FOR THE WATCH INDUSTRY
The successful introduction of the micro-generator technology in quartz movements resulted in a solid foundation of new technologies, applications, and partnerships. ETA probably owns the title for the most successful application of this technology due to their patented 205.911 caliber (a quartz movement with automatic winding).
Since its release, many renowned watch manufacturers have employed this sophisticated ETA movement, like Tissot, Rado, Longines, Swatch, Omega, and many others.
MICRO MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
In 1990 Kinetron developed, together with Erasmus University Rotterdam, a micromotor capable of fitting inside a catheter. The micromotor was only 2.3 mm long, measured 1 mm in diameter, and turned very accurately at a 3000 rpm speed (with the chance to reach a max speed of 200,000 rpm).
Kinetron still manufactures this micromotor, which has increased in demand since the OCT intravascular imaging has gained more and more relevancy.
2001: ISO 9001 Certification and production standards
Since 2001, Kinetron has been ISO 9001 certified. Because of the high standards we want to provide, Kinetron also systematically integrates the Production Parts Approval Process (PPAP) and is consistent with the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) during product development.
Partnership with Sequent
Kinetron still keeps firm boundaries with the watch industry. Our expertise in energy harvesting technologies led to a strong partnership with the Swiss brand Sequent. We manufacture our Micro Generator System to harvest and store energy from human motion to power Sequent’s watches, the first automatic smartwatches in the world.
Kinetic energy has been used in classic watches for quite some time, but energy consumption in the smartwatch segment is significantly higher. Our technology and Sequent’s choice to keep a classical design by abandoning the idea of a touch display allow an extraordinary amount of battery life available for the category.
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