Logan Kuan Rao Doubles Down on the Detent Escapement with a Stunning Unique Piece

A couple of years ago, we introduced you to the wonderful work of a self-taught Chinese watchmaker by the name of Logan Kuan Rao. While he wasn’t on our radar until just before that article, he’s actually been practising and perfecting his craft for almost a decade. Making virtually everything by hand and in the most traditional ways you can imagine, his work is fascinating and often highly original. Think handmade cases, hand-built movements with Orca-shaped bridges, unique finishing techniques and so on. His latest is a rather unique watch, in more ways than one. For starters, it uses a rarely seen type of escapement in a unique configuration, a one-of-a-kind case and dial and more details you’re not likely to see in any other watch. And all is made by hand, as a spiritual gift from Logan Kuan Rao to, well, himself! 

For this one, we’re not going to bore you with simple figures such as diameter, height, parts-count or even price. There’s simply no need to, as this is more of a love letter to the relentless pursuit of perfection and uniqueness on display by an independent artisanal watchmaker, in this case, Logan Kuan Rao. The seed for this project was planted by a client and friend of his, who asked if he could create a truly unique watch. The question arose, however, as to what defines “unique”. There are plenty of ways to interpret that, especially with watches. Give an existing watch a new dial colour never to be repeated, and you essentially created something one-of-a-kind, something unique.

However, that was not to the satisfaction of Logan Kuan Rao or his client. They philosophised that to be truly unique, a watch needed to have everything unique. From the case to the dial, hands and movement, every element had to be made specifically for that single, never-to-be-repeated watch. It falls in line, by intention at least, with the Spring Tourbillon by George Daniels or the Patek Philippe Tourbillon Observatoire Ref. 3699. While this was initially the brief for his client’s watch, it also ended up being the reasoning behind this one. His thinking is that the more impractical something becomes – and making a single movement with zero commercial intent is quite impractical for a watchmaker – the more romantic and beguiling it will be.

From the surface, the watch looks deceptively straightforward, in a style and construction similar to his very first watch of 2016. With simple lines and compact dimensions, the main body is silver while the crown is platinum. The dial is also rather simple, with two interlaced registers for the hours and minutes on the right, and seconds on the left. The straight hands keep things humble and effective, I’d say. To achieve a sense of depth, the markers on the left sub-dial are embossed into the main dial, with the right-side sub-dial having a recessed ring with the script “Double Detent Escapement Prototype 2025”. This immediately hints at what is hiding on the other side, and it is something rather technical and truly fascinating!

The movement is hand-wound and entirely made by Logan, with the exception of a few parts. As the dial indicates, the movement is regulated by a double detent escapement, something we’ve rarely seen in watches before. A detent escapement in itself is known for its precision and efficiency, but sadly not for its stability. The upside is that it’s highly accurate as it is a direct impulse escapement with considerably less friction in crucial areas. The downside is that it’s rather prone to shocks, and thus, historically speaking, detent escapements were mostly reserved for stationary clocks and timing instruments. However, we’ve seen efforts by Urban Jürgensen, Christophe Claret, and more recently Cyril Brevet-Naudot and Raúl Pagès, to name just a few, to embrace and improve the detent escapement and make it suitable for wrist-worn watches.

When asked why he opted for a detent escapement, the answer is pretty clear: “If you think of watches like cars, the escapement is equivalent to the engine. Fancy complications are like the big TV screens and built-in fridges, and finishing is comparable to hand-stitched leather seats. If I could choose only one thing, I’d prefer a car with a special engine. And similarly, I prefer a watch with a special escapement. In my view and experience, the detent escapement is theoretically the most superior type, though it comes with a few real-world flaws. It offers an excellent foundation with great potential for innovation!”

The two biggest risks you run with this escapement are skipping and galloping. Skipping occurs when a shock lifts the detent and unlocks the escapement wheel, which then skips a few teeth at a time that it shouldn’t. Galloping is the phenomenon where the swing of a balance wheel is thrown off by an external force, pushing the balance wheel beyond 360 degrees of amplitude. When this happens, the discharging pallet will pass and unlock the detent more than once per oscillation, speeding up the movement and thus rendering it inaccurate. The animation below helps to understand how the Double Detent Escapement works.

Not wanting to have either of the two phenomena to impact his watch, Logan Kuan Rao made his double detent escapement both skipping and galloping proof by adding a safety device. The skipping of the escapement is prevented by adding a second detent (the ‘double’ in double detent) that unlocks in the opposite direction as the first. No external shock can unlock both detents at once, ensuring stability when running, one tooth at a time. Galloping is ironed out by this, too, as the two detents must unlock sequentially, one before the other. Multiple unlocking attempts at once are not possible and will result in only one impulse per oscillation.

While this is a one-off movement for a one-off watch, Logan Kuan Rao has mentioned that he sees potential for this escapement towards the future. So we wouldn’t be surprised to see it pop up further down the line, probably because it has captured the heart of a collector by its unique construction. And pop up, it might even do outside of Logan Kuan Rao’s work, as he hasn’t protected it by patents. His rather noble take on this is that he wants to leave it possible for others to pick up on it and push the concept of the Double Detent Escapement even further. For now, we will wander off deep in thought and mesmerised by the harmonised locking-and-unlocking ballet of the escapement wheel.

For more information, please visit LKRWatches.com.