A few months ago we received a very warm email from a long standing customer of ours - Rob, a rebelde owner. At the time of writing he was visiting his ailing mother in the UK. She spent a number of days attempting to gift him her life savings of approximately $1,000 and finally - after much resistance - Rob bowed to her wishes and accepted her kind gift.
In his own words he wrote, "I don't want to spend this money on 'nothing' but I want something for the rest of my life to remember her. Therefore I thought of the Rebelde 50". Rob kindly requested to have his mother's birthday engraved on the back of the watch movement.
To say that we were overcome after reading Rob's email is an understatement. It was a huge compliment to us that someone could think of us so highly. There was really no greater honour. The problem was that we were not set up for engraving. So we took the watch to the best hand engraver in Sydney who was reluctant to even answer the door to Karin and merely said to read the sign, he was not taking any new orders until 2019. Then Karin did some more walking around town and found the second best hand engraver in Sydney who point blank said he wouldn’t touch it because of the delicacy of the components.
We then tried to solve the problem in a more elegant way by offering engraving on the outside of the case, which would be much easier to do, but Rob politely declined the offer. We then realised we actually had no choice but to do it ourselves.
Clearly the first step would be to disassemble the watch. The second step would be to make the special jig (part holder) so that the bridge could be placed into the Kern milling machine. The third step was to find the location on the bridge where engraving would be clearly visible, yet fit into the existing pattern. We decided that the engraving will follow the contours of the centre wheel. The fourth step was to write a CAM program which will turn a 5-axis milling machine into an engraving machine. The next step was to program the machine to actually do the cutting and do the necessary calibration in relation to the height of the tool and the depth of engraving.
It was clear that there was no room for mistake, nor was there a second chance. The rebelde 50 bridge was manufactured in Switzerland and finished as per our specification, plus rose gold plated. This was a one-off order and ruining a bridge would mean the replacement of an entire mechanism.
Josh and I spent a few evenings just contemplating the challenge. More than once I suggested that we should really pull out and refund the purchase rather than make the mistake of ruining a perfect mechanism. To his credit, Josh said, “I’m going to do it”, and he did…all by himself…including the final step of reassembling the watch movement.
***The sharp cutter
A few months ago we received a very warm email from a long standing customer of ours - Rob, a rebelde owner. At the time of writing he was visiting his ailing mother in the UK. She spent a number of days attempting to gift him her life savings of approximately $1,000 and finally - after much resistance - Rob bowed to her wishes and accepted her kind gift.
In his own words he wrote, "I don't want to spend this money on 'nothing' but I want something for the rest of my life to remember her. Therefore I thought of the Rebelde 50". Rob kindly requested to have his mother's birthday engraved on the back of the watch movement.
To say that we were overcome after reading Rob's email is an understatement. It was a huge compliment to us that someone could think of us so highly. There was really no greater honour. The problem was that we were not set up for engraving. So we took the watch to the best hand engraver in Sydney who was reluctant to even answer the door to Karin and merely said to read the sign, he was not taking any new orders until 2019. Then Karin did some more walking around town and found the second best hand engraver in Sydney who point blank said he wouldn’t touch it because of the delicacy of the components.
We then tried to solve the problem in a more elegant way by offering engraving on the outside of the case, which would be much easier to do, but Rob politely declined the offer. We then realised we actually had no choice but to do it ourselves.
Clearly the first step would be to disassemble the watch. The second step would be to make the special jig (part holder) so that the bridge could be placed into the Kern milling machine. The third step was to find the location on the bridge where engraving would be clearly visible, yet fit into the existing pattern. We decided that the engraving will follow the contours of the centre wheel. The fourth step was to write a CAM program which will turn a 5-axis milling machine into an engraving machine. The next step was to program the machine to actually do the cutting and do the necessary calibration in relation to the height of the tool and the depth of engraving.
It was clear that there was no room for mistake, nor was there a second chance. The rebelde 50 bridge was manufactured in Switzerland and finished as per our specification, plus rose gold plated. This was a one-off order and ruining a bridge would mean the replacement of an entire mechanism.
Josh and I spent a few evenings just contemplating the challenge. More than once I suggested that we should really pull out and refund the purchase rather than make the mistake of ruining a perfect mechanism. To his credit, Josh said, “I’m going to do it”, and he did…all by himself…including the final step of reassembling the watch movement.
So why am I bragging about this?
Two reasons. First: if you are loyal to us, we will remain loyal to you.
Second: this is a message to Swiss brands with service centres in Australia. I know for a fact that almost all of you read this newsletter. I also know that you continue to ridicule Australian independent watchmakers, telling customers that it is in their interest to avoid us because only you can provide adequate service. You arrogantly continue to perpetuate this lie, knowing so well that the reason we cannot repair your brand watch is not lack of skills but your ban on supply of watch parts. You are taking advantage of our Government’s disinterest in forcing you to respect the Australian consumer rights law. But customers are not dumb. They know what you stand for and what we stand for. A few years ago you won a battle but the war hasn't even started. I promise a bloodbath - we are training a new generation of young Australian watchmakers who will kick your bottom so hard that you will never dare to badmouth us again.
Empty words? Well, here is one more example of where we are heading.
The young man in the photo is Josh Shapiro, an independent watchmaker from California. He hand makes his own watches using 19th century machines. His speciality is engine turned dial engraving – or as commonly known – guilloche.
A couple of weeks ago, Josh from California contacted Josh in Sydney with a rather strange request. Shapiro follows our Instagram account and saw what our workshop is capable of. He wanted a tool made for his 100 year old Swiss guilloche machine. He explained the purpose of the part – to provide drawings - and he stated that he is a bit desperate because no-one else in the US could help him.
Our Josh programmed the part on our EDM machine, hardened the steel in our own oven, quenched it, machined the part and had it shipped the next morning. Unfortunately, I cannot show you that Australian made part – it is a trade secret – but here is the feedback:
“Josh the tool is amazing. It solved the problem I have had for the last 5 years. Image machining with a dull cutter that doesn’t get worse or better, and you learn to make extremely good cuts but it’s a lot of work and takes a lot more time. Then one day someone hands you a sharp cutter.... That’s what this was.”
Watchmaker Shapiro is now ordering 3 more parts from us, even more complex, and he says that ‘want us to remain his best kept secret’.
Yes, our time is yet to come - but the goal is set firmly: we are simply going to be known as ‘one sharp cutter’.
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