Rudis Sylva’s Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep

If you search the definition of ‘elegance’ you’ll discover two disparate meanings of the term, both of which apply in equal measure to the truly amazing Rudis Sylva timepieces. If you consider the more common reference of beauty, grace, and refinement, Rudis Sylva will enchant any collector regardless of how powerful your loupe may be. Beveled angles on steel and titanium components hover above a main plate manually carved by a series of rotational (rose engine) and straight line (linear engraver) passes creating a pyramid pattern exclusive to Rudis Sylva. Every surface – whether visible or not, is decorated to perfection leaving no component unadorned and are on par with the very best in watchmaking. Another meaning of elegance is scientific exactness, precision, ingenious, and even simplicity. These terms also apply to Rudis Sylva’s own Harmonious Oscillator regulating system. At first glance the system may look more complicated than it really is. Distilling it down to its essence, two balance wheels are mounted on a rotating tableau that acts similarly to a carrousel type tourbillon.

Where the real ingenuity lies is in the interplay of the twin balance wheels themselves. While one receives the impulses from the sole escape wheel, the other acts almost as counter ‘weight’ that averages out the timing performance. While one balance/hair spring is wound taught in the oscillating cycle, the other is fully expanding creating an instant and ongoing average of the pair. For this system to perform the balance wheels must be physically connected, a challenge that Rudis Sylva has solved with a truncated tooth design on the perimeter of the balance that meshes each together without binding or interfering with the free swing(s) of the dual balance system.

Rudis Sylva manufacture

This system is without a doubt one of the most amazing escapements in all of horology and deserves far more recognition than it has received to date. Hopefully the jury members of the Grand Prix de Horlogerie de Geneve will correct his obvious oversight in the near future!