I just wanted to share some pics from a Watchmaking 101 class held at the Horological society of NY, sponsored by Hodinkee. The class is limited to just 6 students with one on one instruction from watchmakers including 3 professional watchmakers from Rolex.
They have the class disassemble and then reassemble an ETA 6497 movement and provide a lot of additional education on the inner workings of the assembly and watchmaking in general.
It was a real blast, if you are near NYC, I highly recommend attending. Classes fill up quickly when they are available: http://www.hs-ny.org/education/
Great stuff. It's one thing sitting there watching somebody else do this, but quite another to have a go yourself.
Impressive education programme from HODINKEE / the HODINKEE Fund and the Horological Society of New York.
Thank you very much for sharing.
Great pics. Sounds fantastic. Did you worry you'd sneeze at a crucial point?
Ah, finger condoms :)
I dissembled and rebuilt a Reverso movement at Jaeger-LeCoultre a few years back - it really is a very enjoyable thing to do but does help if you can see through both eyes!! ;)
Certainly gives you an appreciation of how hard it must be to build some of the grand complications and that's without any nod to regulation, lubrication or finishing!
Thanks for the post....great shots.
I suspect it's harder than it looks...and it looks pretty hard!
Fantastic pics - that looks like great fun! I've thought about buying a wrecker just to have a go at something like this, but I fear my peepers might not quite be up to the job.
The desks you are using does it have a separate slide under the top , noticed what looks like a darker wood slide under the main top in the image ...great images !
Originally Posted by jimmbob
Apparently the 6497 is the first movement you will work on in any watchmaking class because its pretty hard to break and its a large movement. The most difficult step was probably putting back on the balance bridge, which has the balance spring and wheel attached, getting it to sit just right with that loose spring was pretty hairy. All in all, I was surprised how I could do it with so little experience and my relatively unsteady hands, albeit with great instruction. It was pretty amazing to wind it up at the end and see the movement come to life and hear the escapement tik-tok-ing away...
I was talking to one of the spuds from Rolex about watchmaking school, he said its about 40 hours a week for 2 years, a lot of which is really building the muscle memory. I asked him how long before someone like me might be comfortable servicing his own watch... he replied, "probably about 2 years..." :-)
Getting used to the loupe was probably one of the hardest things to do, surprisingly (to me at least), you are supposed to keep your other (eye without the loupe) open the whole time. This is so you can easily switch between eyes focusing on the movement and the desk/tools. My eyes were pretty strained by the end of the night.
I did something similar in London Harrods, courtesy of JLC, a few years ago.
The four of us were sat at a fully equipped workbench, confronted by a naked calibre 822 movement from a Reverso Grande Taille, in a recreated JLC workshop. After a presentation on the general principles of mechanical watchmaking from a watchmaker trainer from Le Sentier (the excellent, and patient, Jean-Yves Adreani), we disassembled the movement, laid out the components, and then put it all back together again. I'm not very mechanically minded, and physically assembling the movement - quite apart from enhancing one's admiration for the dexterity of those who do it - enormously enhanced my understanding of the principles and engineering of a mechanical watch. Oh the thrill when, having dropped all the wheels in and tightened the bridge, the winding mechanism actually worked without anything flying lose; and of passing the ultimate challenge when the fiddly escape wheel was judged to be balanced correctly. Finally, J-Y showed us how you drop in the hairspring, and it was a marvel to see the movement start beating.
I now have a very impressive looking Diploma, signed by their CEO, certifying that I have 'successfully passed the watch training course on Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 822 of Reverso Grande Taille'. Which means that I now change the batteries on my kids' watches with an extra swagger. (Though perhaps if they've made a habit of this it explains the recent scare stories about Richemont servicing...)
What a lovely thread.
I'm sure it takes many of us back to our first experience of dismantling a watch.
I couldn't believe that the balance wheel could dangle from it's cock without the spring distorting.
My first morning as an apprentice I was given an ST96 to dismantle.
That's quite a rugged movement too.
Shaking and with clammy hands I somehow managed to get it apart.
In the afternoon I was sent shopping through Dublin for watch parts.
Being Dublin I had the micky taken a bit !
When I asked for pegwood I was given some wooden clothes pegs.
Hadn't a clue...
It was great to visit the material dealers who mostly occupied rented rooms in old Georgian city houses.
One I remember well was Heywood and Co, Henry Street.
The guy there told me, with watch repairing I would have a job for life !
How true.
Good luck to all who take the plunge !
Brendan.
Great pics. Not sure my fat fingers are up for this.
Nice
I've been collecting basic kit these last few months and can't wait to plunge into vostok disassembly
Just need to take care of the most basic thing of all, a good lamp
Wow, I would love to have something like this going on near me, it looks brilliant! I really wish I'd trained from school.
That's very impressive and the pic are top class, looks Fantastic
sorry if this is a really stupid question, but is this workshop for already competent/experienced watch makers to gain further knowledge, or is it something designed for inexperienced watch enthusiasts to simply have an experience of working on a watch movement, if it is the latter, this is something i would love to attend ( if there was a similar thing in the UK), a brilliant idea to gain a greater understanding of the inner working of a watch movement, great pictures by the way.
Stu
This class was for inexperienced folks to get a taste of what watchmaking is all about.
Very good I always wondered about them, seen them on Hodinkee, like I said if anybody knows of such a day long or perhaps weekend long workshop like this within the UK then I would be interested in attending one, looks a fantastic experience
Stu
They sure got it good Stateside!
I would dearly love to have a career change and attend the Rolex subsidised http://lititzwatchtechnicum.org in Pennsylvania for 2 years.
In the UK you either need a job at Swatch Group or go into it under your own steam.
Great thread and excellent pics.
If only there was something like this in the UK!
Could be a good little business idea for a watchmaker, set up about 4-6 workstations and have a 2 day workshop disassembling and reassembling a movement, would be very interesting, as i know i am certainley someone who only really takes things in by actually doing them.
Stu
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Could be a good little business idea for a watchmaker, set up about 4-6 workstations and have a 2 day workshop disassembling and reassembling a movement, would be very interesting, as i know i am certainley someone who only really takes things in by actually doing them.
Stu
Damn, I would love to be on that course.
The BHI 5 day residential course (Basic Mechanical Watch) is where I started and I`d recommend it to anyone. Treat it as a self-indulgent holiday, it'll cost a few hundred pounds, but it's a great experience. As far as I'm aware it's the only thing of it's kind in the UK thesedays.
Eyestrain is a strange one. I suffered with it at first but nowadays it doesn`t bother me unless I work with a really strong loupe for too long without a rest. I guess the eyes get trained eventually.
One key factor that's overlooked is the height of the workbench; this needs to be around 39" which is much higher than a standard table or bench. The technique is to rest the forearms on the bench whilst working, hence the need for the height. Once that's sorted out it makes things a lot easier.
The 'muscle memory' factor can`t be overlooked; working on watches is a challenge in hand/eye co-ordination and it's unlike most practical activities. The only way to develop the skill is through practice, but once you've grasped it, it's like riding a bike and you don`t lose it.
Paul
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