YouTubers used microscopic camera to capture the inner workings of a watch in slow motion
A man used a microscopic camera to capture the inner workings of a watch in slow motion.
Recorded for YouTube, the video shows ‘slow footage inside the miniature marvel of watch movements’.
Filmed for the YouTube channel, The Slow Mo Guys, where host Gavin Free explained how he was going to film ‘the inner workings of my watch’.
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Known for taking footage and slowing it down to get a rare shot of how things work, such as exploding water balloons, this time Gavin zoomed in on a watch.
In the video, he said: “I’m just going to pick an arbitrary place to look at with 10 times magnification.
“This level of magnification really lets you appreciate the engineering precision they’ve mastered to get these tiny watch movement pieces so uniform.
“The second thing I’m noticing is just how massive everything looks, it looks so deep because my focus is so shallow. I'm trying to see through the balance wheel here into the escape wheel but it’s just way too dark on this camera.”
Zooming in on the gears, the YouTuber gave viewers an up-close glimpse of how they turn with each passing second.
He went on to say: “I thought it would be cool to see what 10 times magnification gets you on the dial of the watch and it’s a frame this size, the surface of this dial, I believe is laser edged to look like different parts of the surface of the moon, which is why it looks so lumpy and uneven.”
At the end of the video, Gavin concluded: “Well there we have it, I hope you enjoyed that footage.
“I love using this combination of technology to bring out these invisible moments on a bunch of stuff that's right in front of our eyes.”
Viewers were shocked by the close up look into the cogs of a watch, with many taking to the YouTube comment section to share their thoughts.
One user wrote: “As a watchmaker who has worked on this movement, it was a pleasure to see it in such detail and beauty. Very well done!”
Another said: “I love the casual flex of filming your $10k watch with easily $100k worth of camera/robot equipment just because you are curious.”
And a third person added: “The precision engineering in this is astounding. The combination of watch making, videography, macro lenses and robots makes this one of the best videos I've ever seen.”