October 13, 2008 – 1:25 pm
One of the reasons I’m talking about mainsprings is because they have been on my mind a lot lately. The word on the street is that many mainsprings for older watches are no longer being produced. I have noticed the price increasing and I’m sure my customers have as well. The price [...]
October 11, 2008 – 3:42 pm
If you have subscribed to my blog you may have noticed that I sometimes write posts in waves. My inspiration seems to come that way. If you haven’t subscribed to my blog, you should. With a subscription you can get my posts in a feed reader (like Google Reader or Microsoft Outlook) [...]
October 10, 2008 – 1:51 pm
I hereby proclaim today “Synchronize Watches Day.” It will be celebrated every October 10th from here on out. Why October 10th you ask? Have you ever noticed what time it is in nearly all watch ads? It’s 10:10. It makes for a symmetrical photo and gives the illusion that the [...]
September 30, 2008 – 9:33 pm
About a month has gone by and school is going by wonderfully. We’re still in the filing stage and it’s been quite tedious to be honest. So far our projects have been the Anvil/Pusher Holder, Balance Tack, Movement Holder, and bracelet links. It’s funny because the Anvil/Pusher holder is the only one that has been [...]
September 30, 2008 – 5:50 am
The screw under cutter is used to remove material from the under side of the screw head. Each of the cutters is a different diameter. You place the screw in the one that matches the screw thread and turn it with the screwdriver. The cutting surface removes a small amount of metal from [...]
September 24, 2008 – 6:54 pm
Sometimes I wish watches had black boxes in them like airplanes. I saw a watch today that had been serviced 18 months ago with a bent seconds hand post. The hand was pointed up at the crystal and the watch was stopped. The crystal has large chips in it and the bezel is [...]
September 22, 2008 – 6:57 pm
By now you have probably seen this video, especially if you are interested in watches, but just in case here it is. With a grasshopper escapement designed by John Harrison and a simple but unique movement this is a pretty cool clock. I’ve been sent this video by my brother, a flash programmer, [...]
September 18, 2008 – 10:16 am
Two weeks ago I attended the wedding of a good friend from watchmaking school, who also happens to be a fellow co-founder of Alliance Horlogère. At the reception afterwards, I sat with another great friend of ours who is also a watchmaker. As might be expected, the conversation throughout the evening drifted in and out of what we’ve [...]
September 18, 2008 – 6:54 am
So I finished my first week of classes and almost done with my second. It’s been a whirlwind of information that’s still processing through my head. Last Monday, I had no clue how to file properly! Our first project was an Anvil/Pusher Holder. This project pretty much teaches us the basics of what’s to come [...]
September 16, 2008 – 8:00 am
Historically watch calibers were designated by size. The French system for measuring sizes is the ligne. A ligne is equal to 1/12th of an 18th century French inch. The american system is simply “size.” In the American size the 0 size measures 1 5/30 inches and each size larger or smaller [...]
