Horological Meandering

amerix
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a call goes out for John "ei8htohms" here!

and some other watchmakers here who are not necessarily involved in the actual making of watches but are very close to the way they are serviced, which is their profession. Forgive me, John, if I didn't get this right - I am drinking my single malt, as usual - without ice!

To my wishes and understanding, functional finishing (or polishing) is the most important of all. Certainly in places that are impossible to see through a transparent back, such as the so-called keyless works, the ones connected to and also part of the winding stem, where often a lot of dirt gets swept under the carpet - some of it due to insufficient polishing of parts that receive the most mechanical wear.

As I understand it, in the good old days of pocket watches and even later, they usually had solid backs, which could only be opened by watchmakers or those who had the necessary tools, fingers and curiosity. There were marvels to behold: perlage, anglage, stamps and seals - even before taking the entire movement apart.

Many of the finely smoothed parts were properly (!) made to reduce wear, but also to show any traces of dirt or corrosion.

Some finer elements of finishing (perlage) also served as dirt traps to prevent any stuff, even bits of metal, from wandering into the more sensitive areas such as the escapement.

Very important was the signal to a future watchmaker that this is a piece with a certain standard and so should be treated accordingly - or even with great respect. If the company had continued to exist, then they could find a lot about their own product and the individuals that made it.

There was a time when every watch-repairer who had worked on a particular watch stamped his personal seal (required or not) into a space inside. Unfortunately, most of these seals can no longer be deciphered! And a lot of historical watches have been botched somewhere down the repair chain - sometimes more the customer's fault than the watchmaker's, who often stood under time-stress from his usually non-understanding client, who did not possess a backup watch or two.

So much for functional polishing, for aesthetic beauty - not necessarily a contradiction - I'll leave that to others.

Regards,
amerix
This message has been edited by amerix on 2010-11-29 10:28:47

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