Machines and engines

I'm keen on mechanical clocks and watches.  Many hours of amusement.

Pretty much my main mechanical fetish. I don't like anything that ticks though, sweeping hand, hand wound or automatic. Quartz is fine but only if the case is thick enough to hide the tick. The intricate nature of mechanicals is more interesting. German or Japanese mechanicals are best imo. 3 hand over chronograph too. I like field watches, divers, and of course fliegers. Swiss is good, but not at mid budget, generally. Not keen on anything with most ETA movements.

I watched this earlier and found it awesome. I'm not a dress watch guy but I do have a thing for Lange and Söhne. I'll probably never own one but this was great. Attention to detail and finishing excellence.

https://youtu.be/DGAsib-4mCk

All mechanical movements "tick" - it's just a case of how noisy it is.  When you're setting a watch to rate the watch timing machine works by using a microphone to record the movement noise, and you adjust the rate of the watch by changing various things to get the different sounds the movement makes to occur at the right frequencies.  Clocks can be rated differently depending on the movement.

For every day wear I prefer a nice simple face.  I  like the face style of the early "field watches" and "fligers" too, but I'd want a sapphire crystal in the back so I could watch them working :-).

The thing is, for a "Swiss" watch, how much the watch costs bears very little resemblance to what movement it has in it.  And many of the "Swiss watches" have ETA movements. But you could find an ETA movement in a relatively inexpensive watch, but also the same ETA movement in a very much more expensive watch.  The ETA movements often go back to the earlier manufacturers who were  bought up by the Swatch group on the cheap when the Swiss watch industry was taking a battering from Japanese etc. Quartz and digital watches.

I spent a year doing a watchmaking course part-time, and compared to Chinese knock-off versions of an ETA movement the ETA version was light years better quality and far easier to work with!

I'm quite partial to some of the IWC, CWC, Laco watches.

Yeah, it did spring to mind. It could be a managable way of life. I gave up long ago about money, and I think that a modest living inside something I actually care about, plus can cope with is the way forward.

That would be ideal, I'd imagine fixing Railmasters all day woukdn't be too sloppy!

For someone with ASD, I don't think it's not a bad choice of career if you can live on the money.  Much of the time will be spent at the bench working on your own.  The guys I spoke to at the BHI said it was something you did because you loved it rather than for the money per-se.

One of the guys at EFHC who had a few more years experience than me, plus he worked in the jewellery industry already IIRC, got sponsored by Omega I think to go to the British School of Watchmaking.

Thanks for the links Windscale. When or if my situation improves, it's something I've considered persuing. I've still got time, and a bit of knowledge beforehand, so it's certainly an option. I'd like to do high-end repairs, more than anything. I like restoring stuff.

Looking at those Amazon links I see Breguet. Swatch swallowed that up too. I like pocket watches, but I'd only buy one as a collection piece. I'd like one of those really old Glashütte pocket watches. Germany had a pretty rich history of horology, predating the Swiss in a lot of aspects. The Nazi's and the Communists both destroyed Glashütte's industry, but since the wall fell, they have gone straight back to doing what they do best. It amazes me how what is essentially a village, has so many great watchmakers.

Yeah, I like the Series Two probably best out of the Roger Smith pieces. It's great that Smith has started using tourbillons too, but that makes them more unobtainable, we can still look and drool though. Breguet has a lot to answer for, the invention of the tourbillon, and it's current surge in popularity puts some models way out of reach!

I can't imagine they woukd have been Seagulls. Mind you I have seen a few nice models from Seagull. The 6497 was Unitas originally, but got sucked up into ETA. Nice movement to be looking at! Panerai have made some nice personal touches to the 6497, although it bumps up the price, and Panerai being on the dial does too! I find Panerai's designs a little brash and large. The largest watch I own is a 43mm case and that's because it's a shell case. I usually go around the 38mm to 40mm range. You've got me thinking about doing something like you did, it sounds pretty cool, and it could lead somewhere. 

> Have you ever regulated a watch to run at a totally different beat rate? Say 28800 BPH to run at a 21600 BPH? I'd imagine the wheels need to be changed to a different ratio. 

Yes you're right, you'd have to redesign the going train to work at the different beat rate.  How much you'd have to change would depend on exactly what beat you were changing it to.

>  I like the Hamilton Khaki Field mechanical that was recently released

Yes I've looked at one of the Hamilton Khaki field watches that I quite liked but I don't recall what model it was.

> That's something I'd like to do myself. Must have been great!

Yes, I'd like to do more, but I'm more interested in learning to design clocks/watches and then manufacture the parts.  Unfortunately we don't really have anywhere where we're currently living to house a load of machine tools :-(.  It's hard now in the UK to find anywhere to learn because the Horology industry has died so much.

I went to Epping Forest Horology Centre: http://efhc.org.uk/wordpress/ and spent a year working with Lalit and others.

The British Horological Institute run courses as well: https://bhi.co.uk/ and they have a distance learning course.

You can do a BA in Horology at Birmingham University: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/courses/horology-ba-hons-2019-20

And finally there's the British School of Watchmaking who are the only place in the UK that offer the Swiss WOSTEP certification: https://www.britishschoolofwatchmaking.co.uk/

If you're interested in that sort of thing I'd recommend:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Watchmaking-George-Daniels/dp/0856677043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540928011&sr=8-1&keywords=george+daniels+watchmaking

And:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Horology-Charles-Andre-Reymondin-Jeanneret-Pelaratti/dp/2940025126/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540928055&sr=8-1&keywords=Theory+of+Horology

For some serious watch/clock pron:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Watches-Cecil-Clutton/dp/0856670588/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_g7045452205?_encoding=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0&ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Breguet-George-Daniels/dp/0856670049/ref=la_B001KIKTWA_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1540928184&sr=1-3

George Daniels is a thoroughly interesting man though sadly no more.  I've often wondered if he was an Aspie.  His legacy lives on in his sort of "accidental prodigy" Roger Smith - https://www.rwsmithwatches.com/.  The SO and I went to see Roger's Great Britain watch when it was available for viewing in London: https://www.rwsmithwatches.com/watches/great-britain/ and much drooling ensued.  Probably never be able to afford one, but if money was no object I'd be happy to wait however long it took for Roger to knock me up something :-).

 > When we're talking Chinese knock-offs, you mean Seagull, not Selita! The Selita is pretty good. 

I don't know who manufactured the Chinese ones we were using - they were completely unbranded.  They were an ETA 6497 copy and I also ordered an ETA 6497 (ETA were not the original designer/manufacturer). The ETA was superb to learn on.  We had a tray of the Chinese movements and as a class we spent a lot of time over the year going through all the movements trying to cobble together a whole movement each that actually worked :-/.  We were basically learning to do the Haynes manual complete strip-down and rebuild and then casing them plus we also looked at some older type pocket watches etc.

> Have you ever regulated a watch to run at a totally different beat rate? Say 28800 BPH to run at a 21600 BPH? I'd imagine the wheels need to be changed to a different ratio. 

Yes you're right, you'd have to redesign the going train to work at the different beat rate.  How much you'd have to change would depend on exactly what beat you were changing it to.

>  I like the Hamilton Khaki Field mechanical that was recently released

Yes I've looked at one of the Hamilton Khaki field watches that I quite liked but I don't recall what model it was.

> That's something I'd like to do myself. Must have been great!

Yes, I'd like to do more, but I'm more interested in learning to design clocks/watches and then manufacture the parts.  Unfortunately we don't really have anywhere where we're currently living to house a load of machine tools :-(.  It's hard now in the UK to find anywhere to learn because the Horology industry has died so much.

I went to Epping Forest Horology Centre: http://efhc.org.uk/wordpress/ and spent a year working with Lalit and others.

The British Horological Institute run courses as well: https://bhi.co.uk/ and they have a distance learning course.

You can do a BA in Horology at Birmingham University: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/courses/horology-ba-hons-2019-20

And finally there's the British School of Watchmaking who are the only place in the UK that offer the Swiss WOSTEP certification: https://www.britishschoolofwatchmaking.co.uk/

If you're interested in that sort of thing I'd recommend:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Watchmaking-George-Daniels/dp/0856677043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540928011&sr=8-1&keywords=george+daniels+watchmaking

And:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Horology-Charles-Andre-Reymondin-Jeanneret-Pelaratti/dp/2940025126/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540928055&sr=8-1&keywords=Theory+of+Horology

For some serious watch/clock pron:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Watches-Cecil-Clutton/dp/0856670588/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_g7045452205?_encoding=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0&ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Breguet-George-Daniels/dp/0856670049/ref=la_B001KIKTWA_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1540928184&sr=1-3

George Daniels is a thoroughly interesting man though sadly no more.  I've often wondered if he was an Aspie.  His legacy lives on in his sort of "accidental prodigy" Roger Smith - https://www.rwsmithwatches.com/.  The SO and I went to see Roger's Great Britain watch when it was available for viewing in London: https://www.rwsmithwatches.com/watches/great-britain/ and much drooling ensued.  Probably never be able to afford one, but if money was no object I'd be happy to wait however long it took for Roger to knock me up something :-).

 > When we're talking Chinese knock-offs, you mean Seagull, not Selita! The Selita is pretty good. 

I don't know who manufactured the Chinese ones we were using - they were completely unbranded.  They were an ETA 6497 copy and I also ordered an ETA 6497 (ETA were not the original designer/manufacturer). The ETA was superb to learn on.  We had a tray of the Chinese movements and as a class we spent a lot of time over the year going through all the movements trying to cobble together a whole movement each that actually worked :-/.  We were basically learning to do the Haynes manual complete strip-down and rebuild and then casing them plus we also looked at some older type pocket watches etc.

Yeah, it did spring to mind. It could be a managable way of life. I gave up long ago about money, and I think that a modest living inside something I actually care about, plus can cope with is the way forward.

That would be ideal, I'd imagine fixing Railmasters all day woukdn't be too sloppy!

For someone with ASD, I don't think it's not a bad choice of career if you can live on the money.  Much of the time will be spent at the bench working on your own.  The guys I spoke to at the BHI said it was something you did because you loved it rather than for the money per-se.

One of the guys at EFHC who had a few more years experience than me, plus he worked in the jewellery industry already IIRC, got sponsored by Omega I think to go to the British School of Watchmaking.

Thanks for the links Windscale. When or if my situation improves, it's something I've considered persuing. I've still got time, and a bit of knowledge beforehand, so it's certainly an option. I'd like to do high-end repairs, more than anything. I like restoring stuff.

Looking at those Amazon links I see Breguet. Swatch swallowed that up too. I like pocket watches, but I'd only buy one as a collection piece. I'd like one of those really old Glashütte pocket watches. Germany had a pretty rich history of horology, predating the Swiss in a lot of aspects. The Nazi's and the Communists both destroyed Glashütte's industry, but since the wall fell, they have gone straight back to doing what they do best. It amazes me how what is essentially a village, has so many great watchmakers.

Yeah, I like the Series Two probably best out of the Roger Smith pieces. It's great that Smith has started using tourbillons too, but that makes them more unobtainable, we can still look and drool though. Breguet has a lot to answer for, the invention of the tourbillon, and it's current surge in popularity puts some models way out of reach!

I can't imagine they woukd have been Seagulls. Mind you I have seen a few nice models from Seagull. The 6497 was Unitas originally, but got sucked up into ETA. Nice movement to be looking at! Panerai have made some nice personal touches to the 6497, although it bumps up the price, and Panerai being on the dial does too! I find Panerai's designs a little brash and large. The largest watch I own is a 43mm case and that's because it's a shell case. I usually go around the 38mm to 40mm range. You've got me thinking about doing something like you did, it sounds pretty cool, and it could lead somewhere.