Skip navigation

Making Watch Hands à la Roger Smith

by J.Edwards

Comments (9)
April 16, 2011 – 4:10 pm

English watchmaker, Roger W. Smith, has posted a series of videos detailing the process he uses to create the unique set of hands that have come to define his distinctive style of watchmaking. Being the only apprentice that renowned watchmaker, George Daniels, has ever taken under his wing, this short series of how-to videos is particularly precious in that they bring to life aspects of Daniels’ treatise, Watchmaking – which is undisputedly the most thorough book ever published on the subject. To put the value of the book’s contents into a bit of perspective, the aftermarket price for used copies of Watchmaking, in excellent condition, have soared to as much as $1,100 in recent months (the prices at Abebooks are still somewhat more reasonable).

While the videos don’t come close to even scratching the surface of what Watchmaking covers, they do offer valuable, second-hand insight into chapters 3 and 6 of the book, which discuss finishing techniques and the making of small components, respectively. I found it particularly neat to see Smith’s take on the brass rod polisher that Daniels’ details on pages 56 & 58 of the revised edition of Watchmaking. I also found it interesting to see that Smith uses a pair of bronze tweezers, similar to the ones we mentioned here on the blog back in December.

If you don’t have time to take in the full set of 10 videos, here is a quick synopsis of some noteworthy highlights:

  1. Part 1 details Smith’s process for hardening and tempering. Having always stuck to using brass shavings and a controlled heating element for tempering, I was both surprised and impressed by the speed and simplicity of Smith’s method of tempering.
  2. The last few seconds of Part 3 demonstrate a simple way of preparing a polishing rod for coarse polishing.
  3. Part 5 outlines the process for fine polishing.
  4. At 2:21, in Part 6, Smith shares an excellent tip about having created a pre-emptive “pip” in the second hand, prior to hardening, to aid in the finishing process. (If you are interested at all in creating your own macro-videos, it’s neat to note the GorillaPod in the background of Part 6, as well)
  5. The technique of rubbing the hands on a heated brass block where they haven’t yet achieved the level of bluing desired, as detailed in Part 7, is a valuable tip.
  6. Part 9 demonstrates a method of achieving a black polish on steel using nickel.
  7. In Part 10, it is interesting to note that Smith uses a dial ring in lieu of dial feet to hold the dial in place. The footage towards the end of this video clip offers a good close-up of this.


Part 1 – Hardening & Tempering the Hands


Part 2 & 3 – Cleaning Up the Edges with Diamond Files


Part 4 – Rough Polish with 30µ Paper


Part 5 – Polishing with 20µ Paper and diamond paste


Part 6 – Cleaning, Polishing, & Bevelling the Bosses


Part 7 – Bevelling the Second Hand Boss & Bluing the Hands


Part 8 – Bluing the Hands


Part 9 – Polishing the Top of the Bosses


Part 10 – Installing the Hands


By J.Edwards | Posted in watchmaking | Comments (9)

Simple Stem Removal

by J.Edwards

Comments (5)
April 9, 2011 – 9:37 am

A short while back we shared a video tip here on the blog about how to remove the barrel arbor from a watch barrel quickly and easily. Removing the stem from a watch calibre that has just had its hands installed is another area I have seen some struggle with. One of the very first watchmakers I ever apprenticed under would hold a pair of tweezers between his teeth to depress the setting lever with while holding the stem and watch in his hands to accomplish the task. I can’t say I’ve ever tried that. Nor do I ever intend to. Some other methods I’ve witnessed and would discourage, include pressing the dial and hands into a casing cushion, holding the movement dial down in a Slick movement holder, or pressing the edge of the dial down on the edge one’s workbench or hole anvil while depressing the setting lever. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is the over-engineered approach, as exemplified by the movement holding aid designed explicitly for the purpose of removing the winding stem of an ETA 2892, which was shown here on the blog back in 2009. One would be foolish, though, to make a specialized holder for every conceivable size and shape of watch calibre. I like to keep things simple effective, and there just so happens to be a quick, one-size-fits-all technique for removing the stem from watches that feature a depressible setting lever. This same technique also works equally well for screwed-in setting levers by simply substituting a screwdriver for your number 3 tweezers. So, without any further ado, here is another short video that communicates the technique far more effectively than words alone could ever do:

Explanatory Notes

In actual practice, this technique is even easier to perform than shown in the video, as it was a little awkward working around the camera. Here are a few key pointers to keep in mind when executing the technique yourself:

  1. Wear finger cots on the hand you use to handle the watch movement, in order to keep from contaminating the edges of the dial with natural oil from your fingers, and only handle the watch movement and dial by their edges.
  2. Keep the movement at a comfortable angle for you to depress the setting lever (or unscrew the setting lever screw). I like to hold the movement a little more parallel to the bench top than what was necessary to demonstrate clearly what was going on in the video. The odd angle necessary to capture the action on camera also made it difficult to carry the next tip out to perfection.
  3. It shouldn’t require very much pressure to depress the setting lever. The majority of the pressure applied should be taken up by the hand that is holding the watch movement. Keep the tool you are using to apply pressure down on the setting lever perpendicular to the watch movement.
  4. Keep the crown steady and firm against the top of your bench using the ring finger of your hand that is holding the tweezers (or other tool you may be using to release the stem). While absorbing the downward force of the tweezers with your hand that is holding the watch movement, carefully draw the watch movement away from the crown and stem with this hand, while keeping the movement inline with the stem. The crown and stem should not move from their starting position.

Another Alternative

A similarly effective technique I have seen and tried, but don’t use myself as I prefer the expedience of the above method, is to depress the setting lever on a balance tack using one hand, while keeping the other hand free to extract the crown.

If you have another technique you like to use, or if you have any further tips to add to the techniques mentioned above, let us know in the comments below.

By J.Edwards | Posted in watchmaking | Comments (5)

Vintage Accuracy

by J.Peter

Comments (2)
April 6, 2011 – 10:30 pm

One of the things many watchmakers struggle with is customers who want modern accuracy (or even quartz accuracy) from vintage timepieces. It seems that over the years we have forgotten what was expected of wristwatches 50 years ago. I assure you that there were some very good watches made 50 years ago, and even much before but there were also many mass produced inexpensive watches who were not expected to run like chronometers. Variations of30 seconds a day or more would have been common for a ladies wristwatch of average quality. The following two articles appeared in the Journal of Horology from 1950. They help a young watchmaker like me gain a perspective of what watchmaking was like when these vintage watches were new.

Enjoy!

By J.Peter | Posted in watchmaking | Comments (2)

‘How to Build Your Very First Watch’ by Tim Swike

by J.Edwards

Comments (0)
March 16, 2011 – 8:29 pm

Beginner WatchmakingA few weeks ago, one of our readers brought to my attention a new book that was released this past December that serves as a good primer to sourcing the necessary parts and tools to ultimately assemble your very first watch. Authored by Tim Swike, Beginner Watchmaking is a rudimentary, yet comprehensive, introduction to the basics of watchmaking. It is written simply enough that a 5th grader could understand it, while still covering enough depth and breadth on the subject that you can tell a person with an appreciable knowledge of the craft composed it. While it certainly won’t turn you into the next Philippe Dufour or George Daniels (you’ll need to master to the full blown text, Watchmaking, for that), if you have never delved into the inner workings of a mechanical timepiece before, Beginner Watchmaking is a fantastic place to start. For those already comfortable with disassembling and re-assembling a timepiece, the treasure trove of online resources for sourcing watch material is a worthwhile investment in the eBook or Kindle versions of the text alone.

The reviews it’s receiving online from watch enthusiasts to date have been nothing but positive. Here is an excerpt from one of my favourite reviews on Amazon:

“I had hoped to learn about how to disassemble watches and rebuild with custom parts. I’m happy to say that all of this information is in there in much greater detail than I could have possibly hoped for [...] When you consider the subject matter it could certainly make for a boring or overly technical book. Not so in this case. The information is presented in a style I particularly enjoy; lots and lots of clear, well-done photos with a perfect ratio of text.” – Photoguy

My only major complaint about the physical book, is that it is printed in black and white. While this is compensated for somewhat by the eBook and bonus web-portal, it would have been nice to have seen the print version in full colour, as well, even if it would have added a few dollars to the retail price. That aside, for a book that weighs in at nearly 300 pages, and still manages to squeeze in at under $15 (or less than $10 for the Kindle version), Beginner Watchmaking is a steal.

By J.Edwards | Posted in watchmaking | Comments (0)

The Skinny on Cap Jewels

by J.Edwards

Comments (3)
March 8, 2011 – 8:20 pm

Every once in a while, a watch mechanism comes in for service that features cap jewels that differ in thickness between the upper and lower anti-shock settings, which guard the delicate pivots of the balance staff. This is more common with older watch calibres than with modern ones, which tend to keep these component sizes the same to help minimize production, assembly, and service costs. Whether new calibre or old, though, if the thickness of the cap jewels differ, it’s important to take note, as placing a cap jewel that’s too thick or too thin into the wrong setting could spell disaster. The design engineers who develop these tiny, ticking, mechanical wonders have a reason behind every detail of the watch mechanisms’ construction, down to the most minute details, and the thickness they choose to make the cap jewels is no exception.

The role of a cap jewel is to minimize friction. Plain and simple. In the case of a typical jeweled or metal bushing, the watch wheel that rides in that bushing is subjected to friction both around the circumference of the pivot and on the shoulder of arbor that the pivot is cut from. In a cap jewel setting, however, the only points of contact where friction can occur are at the very tip of the pivot and around the circumference of the pivot. In addition, to help minimize friction around the circumference of the pivot, the jeweled bushing beneath most cap jewel settings typically features a hole with rounded edges, as opposed to straight, flat edges. Furthermore, cap jewels are typically only used on very thin pivots, so the overall surface area that can be subjected to the opposing force of friction is greatly reduced as well, both at the tip of the pivot and around its circumference.

The role of a cap jewel in an anti-shock setting, such as those manufactured by KIF and Incabloc, is still to minimize friction. However, the cap jewel isn’t fixed permanently in place, but rather is held in a mobile chaton by means of a spring. The purpose being to help prevent the delicate pivots it protects from breaking when the watch incurs a strong hit or hard fall. When the watch is hit hard, the tension on the spring, which holds the cap jewel in place, is light enough that the pivot can push the cap jewel up, slightly, out of the chaton, allowing the shoulder of the pivot to take the brunt of the blow as it comes into contact with the bottom of the chaton. After the shock has passed, the spring quickly returns everything to its intended position.

Cap Jewels from a Mechanical Watch

In order for the cap jewel in an anti-shock setting to fulfill its purpose effectively, the jewel needs to be thick enough that it doesn’t shatter under the force of an impact to the watch while also being thin enough to provide enough space for the pivot to displace it far enough to allow the shoulder of the pivot to take the full force of a blow. In the case of the lower cap jewel, which is fitted in the mainplate, there is often very little room for the jewel to be displaced between the dial and it’s usual place of rest. This is especially true of older calibre designs that were tweaked only slightly by manufacturers to accommodate anti-shock jewels in place of their predecessors, the fixed cap jewel. To this end, in such cases, the cap jewels used in anti-shock settings on the dial side balance a much finer line between ruggedness and function than their counterparts on the backside of a movement. The space between the mainplate and the dial of the watch is limited. A cap jewel can only travel so far before it collides with the underside of the dial, but the cap jewel has to travel far enough to help absorb to force of a sharp blow. Thus, in order to allow enough travel to effectively absorb a shock before coming into contact with the dial, these cap jewels are purposefully made thinner. The cap jewels in the balance cock or bridge, on the other hand, have more room to travel and can, therefore, err on the thicker and more rugged side.

While we are only talking fractions of a millimeter in difference between the upper and lower cap jewel – in such cases where any difference exists – this microscopic difference goes a long way when the pivots they’re helping to protect are a mere 0.09mm in diameter. So the next time you find yourself assembling a watch movement with differing cap jewels, keep this one simple design insight in mind: thin cap jewels were tailored for the dial side.

By J.Edwards | Posted in watchmaking | Comments (3)

Timers

by J.Peter

Comments (0)
February 23, 2011 – 2:44 pm

My first exposure to mechanical timepieces was a mechanical stopwatch which lay buried in the back of my father’s desk. I loved the way it felt when you started & stopped it. I loved the sound it made. At the time I had no idea I would end up working with watches but I definitely felt a connection to that timepiece.

The watch pictured here is a Clebar stopwatch I just serviced for a client. The great thing about these mechanical stopwatches is they are so simply done and yet so tactile to the touch. The Clebar has a column wheel control which makes the button press very satisfying.

In a chronograph movement which has to keep track of the time as well as perform the stopwatch functions there needs to be some kind of a clutch mechanism to disengage the counters from the rest of the watch so you can stop them and reset them. In a timer usually the watch is stopped by pressing a spring against the balance and the whole gear train comes to a halt. Heart cams control the position of the hands, but unlike a chronograph which needs to have a fixed position to each other and disengage from timekeeping these two cams are free to slip on the posts of the gears that drive them when you press the reset button.

One, unrelated feature of this movement is the little plastic compartment which holds some commonly needed spare parts. I’ve seen this before but it is a pretty rare feature.

Timers can range from the simplest unjeweld timers to Hanhart 1/10 Second Timers to beautiful Vintage Heuer timers and much, much more. Perhaps the most beautiful timer on the market isn’t actually a timer at all it’s a split seconds chronograph made by Omega to commemorate the 2008 Olympics. It’s configuration however puts it in the category with timers in my mind.


By J.Peter | Posted in Omega, watches, watchmaking | Comments (0)

Rolex 6062

by J.Peter

Comments (4)
February 21, 2011 – 2:20 pm

Here’s a treat for all of you. I haven’t written anything of significant value in quite a while.

One of Rolex’s most complicated watches, historically was a Triple Date Moonphase Reference 6062. It’s beautifully executed and the mechanism is simple enough it could be easily manufactured to Rolex’s high standards of quality today. When the 100th Anniversary of Rolex rolled around in 2005 or 2008 (depending on how you count) I hoped we would see a reissue of this watch to celebrate. Unfortunately we did not. But I have the privilege of restoring this one for a customer. It is in really good condition and just needs some TLC to get it up and running. This is the before post and I’ll follow-up with an after in a week or so.

Inside this bad-boy has Rolex caliber 655. Built on the same foundation as the 620 (bubble-back movement) it contains 3 modules. A time module, an automatic module, and a date module.

By J.Peter | Posted in Rolex, watches, watchmaking | Comments (4)

Laboratory Grade Clean Wipes

by J.Edwards

Comments (0)
February 18, 2011 – 8:18 pm

Kimwipes As watchmakers, we are continually at odds with dust and the tiny fibres that are seemingly able to defy gravity and find their way into the airspace above our benches. We wipe down our benchtops every day and strive to keep our workspaces pristine. We guard our doorways with cleanroom tacky mats and don lab coats to help contain any contaminant matter that may have followed us into work from home. For those fortunate enough to have an HVAC system equipped with the appropriate cleanroom technology, some of us even go so far as to keep the relative air pressure in our workspaces higher than any surrounding rooms, using clean, filtered air. This helps keeps dust at bay by having clean air pour out of the room anytime a door or window is opened, as opposed to having potentially contaminated air flow into the room.

Whether equipped with the latest and greatest clean room equipment or not, though, none of it is of much use if one or more of the sources of small fibres and dust particles resides in the very room you’re trying to keep spotless. Potential culprits? Paper towel and Kleenex. If your Kleenex box is anything like mine, a micro-volcanic eruption of dust and small fibres occurs every time a fresh Kleenex is removed from the thin plastic membrane that holds the remaining Kleenex tissues in place. Likewise, each time a paper towel is torn away from the roll tiny fibres and fragments of bleached pulp are unleashed into the atmosphere. This is no good.

Fortunately, Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Kleenex, have a solution. In addition to Kleenex, the company also manufactures a professional line of lint free, laboratory grade clean wipes that are used everyday in cleanrooms around the world. The product, which is sold under the Kimtech brand as Kimwipes, comes in a variety of sizes that are useful for a number of tasks in a watchmaker’s workspace. A friend, who works in the chemistry department of the local university, first introduced me to Kimwipes over the Christmas Holidays last year. In our watch lab, we started with a box of small, 4.4″ x 8.4″ Kimwipes to take on routine tasks such as cleaning out old oil and grease from our oil cups or wiping old moly off of mainsprings and they worked out fantastically. The smaller size proved to be a little too small for wiping down the benches and counters in our lab everyday, though, despite the fact that the wipes are incredibly absorbent, and we later took the plunge on a box of larger, 14.5″ x 16.5″ wipes, which have taken to the task supremely well. This small change, which has only cost us pennies more per month to implement, has brought our workspace to an entirely new level of cleanliness.

You can find Kimwipes on Amazon or your nearest cleanroom or laboratory supplier.

One word of caution: Don’t tear them. If you don’t quite need a full Kimwipe, it is better to cut off what you do need with a pair of scissors. Kimwipes render a nice, clean, lint free-edge when cut, but will yield a fibrous edge that may produce lint when they are torn.

By J.Edwards | Posted in watchmaking | Comments (0)

Pop! Goes the Arbor

by J.Edwards

Comments (7)
January 25, 2011 – 9:30 pm

The short video above demonstrates a simple and efficient means of removing the arbor from the mainspring of a watch barrel, using a riveting stake and a sturdy pair of tweezers. This particular technique isn’t one that was ever shown to me during my years spent training to be a watchmaker, rather, it’s one that I picked up along the way and have quite grown to like. From giant pocket watch barrels to dainty, ultra-slim Pateks, it has proven failsafe for me time and time again. Simply select a hole in the riveting stake that’s slightly larger than the diameter of the barrel arbor, flip the open barrel over, with the mainspring facing down towards the stake, and press the arbor out with your tweezers.

I’ve seen plenty of watch technicians struggle to yank the the arbor from the grips of the mainspring with a pair of tweezers – sometimes marring the barrel wall or kinking the mainspring in the process – and I have heard many a story of a watchmaker who’s lost a barrel by unintentionally extracting the mainspring with the arbor. Using the technique above, none of this is an issue. Clean. Simple. Effective. Hopefully, this is a technique you already use. If not, I’m happy I could share it with you. Feel free to pass it along and, most of all, enjoy.

By J.Edwards | Posted in watchmaking | Comments (7)

Get Printing – With Titanium!

by J.Edwards

Comments (3)
January 19, 2011 – 6:54 pm

titanium-printing

The future is here. No need to run out and drop tens of thousands of dollars on the latest rapid prototyping printer or SLS unit to turn the bits that make up your CAD drawings into real life atoms – atoms of titanium no less. You can now have real life versions of your Google SketchUp, Blender, or Rhinocerous designs printed in metal, in their full 3D glory, and delivered to your door for fractions of the cost of owning the equipment required to make it happen. i.materialise announced yesterday that it is now bringing one of the world’s newest and most advanced manufacturing technologies into the hands of everyday consumers, inventors, and designers – anybody – for the first time via a 3D file upload feature through their website.

The printed parts are definitely within watch scale. The current level of precision still leaves much to be desired if you were to, say, be creating new tooth profiles or printing a titanium balance staff, but for rough bridge work or case components, the process definitely holds potential. Large pocket watch wheels or unfinished, titanium, pinion blanks may even be a possibility. You can read more about the technical specifications and printing guidelines here.

By J.Edwards | Posted in watchmaking | Comments (3)