Wednesday, July 31, 2019
A Mark 1's journey to the Namibian Dessert
There is no doubt that many Mark 1's lead a very exciting life. Christoph sent us this fabulous photo of his Mark 1 on its journey around the world - including the Namibian Desert! Keep your MK1 photos coming!
As I type this: 91 Mark 1 watches have been delivered so far - and not one has been returned back. I am very proud of the fact that we are able to deliver what we've promised: an affordable, assembled in Australia watch containing SOSC-capable automatic Swiss movement in 40mm case that is as good as any similar Swiss made watch.
We now have enough Mark 1's in stock ready for immediate delivery. Just pick your strap (brown/black/tan/Italian/kangaroo) and your watch will be in the mail same day. Of course, pick up is welcome.
Price: $2,800 (five year guarantee)
To order send an email to Nick@clockmaker.com.au
Esther Valladeris?
The truth is we don’t really know much about Russian watches with oil-painted dials, but we do know that most of them feature typical navy scenes: battle ships and flags. Without any doubt, they were painted by Russian sailors who, like all other sailors, traditionally kept themselves busy on long voyages with either painting or carving. In some cases, those miniature paintings featured scenery of far-away countries; their ports, exotic flora and fauna. And, in some rare cases, they depict local beauties. This is what we know.
But if we allow our imagination to retrace their voyages, then a dial like the one above, on a 1954 watch, can tell us even more, and even answer this seemingly impossible mystery: who is the dark haired beauty?
Clearly, she is beautiful and exotic, and an artist took his time to depict her in detail. Spanish or Caribbean? I propose the latter. Precisely: Cuban. Indeed, Cuba was one of the most exotic destinations for a Russian sailor. We can only imagine how excited a blonde Slavic sailor felt being confronted with a culture so vastly different and completely overwhelming to his own. Language, weather, food, rhythm, stars, not to mention Cuban beauties. An experience he yearned to remember forever, if in no other way but as a miniature piece of art on his watch dial. A souvenir, a story-telling point, an everlasting memory.
Do we know her name? Not with any certainty, but if I were to guess, I think she is Esther, a famous Cuban singer from the 1950’s. The resemblance to Esther in her red dress is simply too obvious to ignore.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Off your butt, Greeks
Every dealer has his own little secrets and I certainly have a good share of my own. However, with half the Greek population of Sydney, and probably three-quarters of Melbourne, visiting “the old country” I would feel bad not sharing this secret with you.
It’s called Σ.Π.Α.Π. SPAP stands for Siderodromi Pireos Athinon Peloponisou, the Greek rail company founded in 1882. The first rail line between Piraeus, Athen and Elefsis was completed in 1884. It extended to Corinth and Patras not long after.
This SPAP Railway watch is one of the most prized pieces in my small Railroad collection. Actually it’s so rare that I have only ever seen one in my entire life.
To my Greek subscribers: how many souvlakis, kleftiko and baklava can you have before the holiday boredom kicks in? Off your butt, and start roaming the markets, antique shops and eBay for Σ.Π.Α.Π.
For the rest of us: once again, we turn our focus to railway engravings on the case back. And look how beautifully and cleverly the letter “S” (Σ) is engraved – a little zig zag railway, down to sleepers!
Technical Details:
Movado Σ.Π.Α.Π Railways Pocket watch
Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railway
Σιδηρόδρομοι Πειραιώς-Αθηνών-Πελοποννήσου or Σ.Π.Α.Π. - Siderodromi Pireos Athinon Peloponisou" S.P.A.P.
Movado means "always in motion" in Esperanto.
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Friday, July 26, 2019
What is the smallest drill bit in your toolbox?
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Thursday, July 25, 2019
When duty calls
The other day I was contacted by a subscriber who found a late 1920’s/early 1930’s Royal Australian Airforce watch numbered issue with the owner’s name still on the case back. The request was for a full service.
Unfortunately the watch was in very poor condition, long past servicing days. Really a booby trap. But the subscriber had already contacted Canberra Military Archives and had got in touch with the daughter of the serviceman in an effort to reunite her with her father’s watch. Clearly, I didn’t have much choice but to do my best.
The repair took the whole afternoon, and eventually I got it up and running. To my surprise, not only did it survive its first night but, as I type this, it is still keeping reasonably correct time. In the spirit of reunification, this repair job is going to be pro bono. Of course, the full credit goes to the subscriber who - like a Good Samaritan - donated his time and the watch.
Preserving a piece of Australian military history is reward in itself.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Ferrovia Italiana
Today our focus is on watches made for Italian State Rail. A brief introduction to Italian Railway.
Italy's first rail line was the Napoli-Portici line which was built in 1839 to connect the Naples Royal Palace to the sea. Following on from the creation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, a project was started to connect the entire country by rail from the Alps to Sicily. Italy's State Railways (the Azienda Autonoma della Ferrovie dello Stato) was instituted on 22 April 1905 to take over the majority of Italy's railways which up until then was private.
Italy's first high-speed train was the 1939 ETR 200 which travelled from Milan to Florence with a top speed of 203kph. This allowed the rail network to compete with airlines. However, WWII put an end to this service. After armistice on 8 September 1943 Italy was divided, as were its train operations. Salerno was the Headquarters for the South and Verona for the North. The post-war era was particularly difficult as most of the rail network had been severely damaged and the rolling stock was obsolete. Almost 20,000 kilometres of new rail tracks were built by 1952. New trains were introduced with many rail sections electrified and often doubled.
After 80 years, the Azienda Autonoma delle Ferrovie dello Stato was replaced by Ferrovie dello Stato. The workforce was halved. Privitisation occurred in 1992 with the creation of Ferrovie dello Stato SpA, however, shares were still owned by the Italian Government.
Nowadays rail tracks and infrastructure are managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) whereas the train and passenger sections are mainly managed by Trenitalia. Both of these are subsidiaries of Ferrovie Dello Stato (FS), once Italy's only train operator.
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Monday, July 22, 2019
WAGR Western Australia Government Rail - research update
Due to an amazing set of circumstances, I was able to get in touch with a watchmaker who spent decades repairing WAGR-issued watches! We've spoken twice over the phone, with over 2 hours of solid historical data from a man who has not only seen, but repaired every type of WAGR watch in circulation.
Today, I will skip the 'cool' pieces and issues and bring your attention to the very last issued WAGR batch, dating from 1980. Unfortunately, this is not a story of precision and high-end workmanship but rather a sad account of incompetence at State level. At that time, WA Rail was literally prostituting itself by issuing Q&Q wrist watches. And if that were not pathetic enough, the engraving on the dial was the worst marking I have ever seen: crude scraping.
The first issued Q&Q was a white dial model.
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Zero chance you'll figure this one out. Sorry.
Let’s have some fun: I'll throw in a bunch of historical data, and you have to figure out the Swiss maker/brand name (without Googling).
In 1891, in the well-known Jura mountains, a talented master watchmaker named Henri Frédéric Sandoz founded a watch company. He and the Schob Brothers - his partners - opened markets all around the world, particularly Canada, Russia, Far East and the US. Henri was a pioneer and entrepreneur and, thanks to his engineering and watchmaking abilities, was the first to create machine tools for the Swiss watch industry.
In 1891, in the well-known Jura mountains, a talented master watchmaker named Henri Frédéric Sandoz founded a watch company. He and the Schob Brothers - his partners - opened markets all around the world, particularly Canada, Russia, Far East and the US. Henri was a pioneer and entrepreneur and, thanks to his engineering and watchmaking abilities, was the first to create machine tools for the Swiss watch industry.
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Thursday, July 18, 2019
Sometimes the best deals are those that come unexpectedly
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What a find
We just got delivery of 20 Swiss made Darwil watches manufactured in the 1970's. They all come from one collector and they have one thing in common: not a single piece is in working order. Although the watches are not working the majority of the components inside are still recyclable.
So here is the deal. If you order any watch tool from our online store (even if it's $10) we will throw in a free, non-working Darwil (until all 20 watches have been allocated). What a fantastic watch to practise disassembly and re-assembly and put your newly acquired tools into good use.
Have fun!
Visit our shop here: https://shop.clockmaker.com.au/
Flexing
Sometimes machinists make strange objects for one reason only: to flex. I have to say “to flex” is not a word from my vocabulary but it is commonly used amongst our young watchmakers. And here is an example of what a flex is: a piece of steel machined to look like a miniature staircase.
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Wednesday, July 17, 2019
A watch hero
On June 22 1941 Nazi Germany attacked Soviet Russia. The operation known as "Barbarossa" was the biggest single land operation in the history of wars. The surprise was complete: in just a few months Leningrad was under siege, Crimea was conquered and the Germans were on Moscow's doorstep. Five million Russian soldiers and civilians were killed in five months.
There was no time to be wasted: the First Moscow watch factory had to be evacuated. A convoy of 170 trucks loaded with watchmaking machinery and 488 machinists and technicians were en route to Chistopol, a small town located on the Kama river in Tatarstan, 1000 kilometres east of Moscow.
Severe winter weather caused delays, but by the spring of 1942 the newly-established Chistopol Watch Factory (Чистопольский часовой завод ЧЧЗ) was fully operational, manufacturing both pocket and wristwatches. Like all military facilities, Chistopol was designated a number: Factory 835. While its main activity was the production watches, CWF also produced magnetic fuses and various other military devices. However, the 488 evacuated watchmakers were not enough to meet war production demand and the factory employed and trained local boys and girls as young as 14 and 15 years of age.
World War II ended in 1945. The Soviets defeated the Germans - at enormous cost: over 26 million Russian soldiers and civilians lost their lives. But Muscovite watchmakers didn't return home: they stayed in Tatarstan, continuing to make civilian wrist watches, and the Chistopol Watch Factory was renamed simply to Vostok - East.
A war era Chistopol pocket watch definitely deserves a spot in your pocket watch collection. My plan here is simple: to encourage you to look for one, while providing some basic 'how to decipher' details.
How do you identify a Chistopol pocket watch?
1. Dial, signed: Чистопольский часовой завод (Chistopolsky Watch Institute).
2. The movement is stamped "ЧЧЗ". Note: this is not number 443. 3. "15 камнeи" = 15 jewels. "2-48" is manufacturing date: this particular watch was made in the second quarter of 1948. 4. "ЧK-6" is the movement calibre. "373764" is the individual serial number. 5. The case back is stamped "ГОСТ 918-41". This could be confusing to novice collectors. "ГОСТ" is a Russian Technical Standard. "918" is the Standard number and "41" is 1941, the year when the Standard was issued. In other words, this is to certify that the pocket watch was made according to official Russian Standard, and this number on the case back is the stamp for all watches, regardless of the year of production.
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NOS
Arguably the most common misnomer in horology is "NOS". According to countless online dealers’ descriptions, almost every second watch is described as NOS. Clearly this attribute means different things to different sellers, yet there is no room for misinterpretation: NOS stands for New Old Stock. Precisely, a watch that has never been sold to a customer. Not a watch your uncle bought 20 years ago and has never worn, your nanna’s piece discovered in a shoebox, or a watch you bought on your last trip to Vegas - and forgot about it upon arrival.
NOS comes from only two possible sources: (a) directly from the manufacturer who built the watch decades ago but the watch has remained in the factory’s safe; or (b) from a dealer who acquired the watch from a manufacturer and never sold it. That is the definition of true NOS and clearly everything else is not NOS. Yes, a timepiece can be described as “in NOS condition”, meaning a watch which looks like new, showing no signs of wear or use. However, in these instances one should be careful not to mislead.
NOS stock was common in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when mechanical watches came back into fashion and Swiss manufacturers and dealers opened their safes to clear their unsold stock from the previous decade. One of the most famous examples of such supply was a case when a rather large quantity of Breitling watches manufactured in the 1970’s appeared on the market. Another known event that can trigger an NOS avalanche could be a brand takeover, when a new owner acquires the brand and clears its old stock. In recent years I don’t recall any NOS event on a large scale.
However, there is one country where NOS stock stills appears on the market – Russia. It is no secret that Russians are not fond of Communist past and there is very little appreciation for anything associated with the pre-Gorbachev era, so – with a bit of luck – finding a true NOS pocket watch is still a possibility.
Monday, July 15, 2019
You are invited
Investment potential? Absolutely.
Story? Incredible.
Historically relevant? More than ever!
Collectable, super cool and sophisticated? Yes, and that is just the start of our exciting journey!
No, we are not talking about Rolex or Patek - we are talking about Australian Government-issued railway timepieces from the 1880’s till the 1980’s. A fascinating horological story written for over a century, still to be told, and recorded for generations to come.
It is my pleasure to invite a handful of subscribers to an upcoming watch talk night. The goal is to share the little I know about Railway pocket watches, and show you some of the examples I've unearthed so far. I’ll also guide you on how to start collecting pocket watches in general: from practical tips on models, brands, periods, mechanisms and styles, down to an assessment of online and over the counter pieces.
As always, seats are strictly limited so we need to hear from you as soon as possible. At this stage, the proposed date is Wednesday 7 August from 5:30-7:30 pm.
Cost per person: $90 with light refreshments and coffee included.
This presentation is suited to all enthusiasts, regardless of age.
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