Approved

 

The Geneva watchmaking fair is an annual event that showcases the crème de la crème of the Swiss manufacturing industry. From spring and jewel makers to complex part makers to complete movement, case, and bracelet manufacturers. The large exhibitors are CNC machine makers as well as measuring equipment specialists. Plus, everything in between that is watch related.  The cherries at the top are the small stands featuring craftsmen sub-specialised to a razor narrow field - like marquetry box craftsmen, crystal cutters, diamond setters and guillochers. Unlike anchor exhibitors, those small independent craftsmen come and go. Often, a trade fair could generate enough work for a few years, so there is no guarantee you'll see them next time - if ever. I was really excited to see the guillocher whom I first met six years ago. His workshop has 20 guilloche Rose engines and employs 7 masters. I've told him about our recent acquisition of a straight line machine, which was a collective effort of our small team and our newsletter subscribers. The chat was cordial and with plenty of mutual respect. "What is the biggest challenge in your business?" I asked. "Money!" - he replied quickly. The big brands, who are his best customers, are overly focused on squeezing as much profit as possible out of his work. In the past, dials were made mainly in gold. Nowadays, it's almost exclusively brass. The end result is not the same: nothing beats gold for lustre and clarity of the cut. After a while, I got a little braver - but I didn't want to rush or push my luck. "I'll stop by tomorrow again, but with two small requests, if you don't mind." He was obviously curious but simply happy to oblige. The next day I showed up at his stand around closing time. Two requests? He asked.  Yes. The first one is to allow me to take a bunch of photos of himself, behind the rose engine. Second: I would like to show him my watch with a Curl Curl guilloche dial, with the expectation that he honestly and mercilessly marks Josh's work.

Getting the watch out of the pouch, unwrapping, and handing it over to a master guillocher was far more stressful than anticipated. He took the Mark II carefully, placed it under the light, twisting it around, looking for reflection, while assessing the pattern and colour.  He was quite surprised when I told him that our dial was made of titanium, not a soft brass, commonly used in manual processes.   "The pattern is quite exquisite. Very well defined, mature. I like the colour as well" he said. Obviously, I was pleased and relieved. "But now, I am going to examine it under high magnification. You know what that means, don't you? I will be looking for imperfections!" And this was exactly what I was hoping for. To the naked eye, every guilloche is fine. The beauty is revealed under the loupe, but the fireworks happen when the dial is examined under the microscope. For us, the closer, the better. Quite frankly, I don't remember the exact words, but he was struggling to hide the excitement. I don't speak French, and he struggles with English, yet I am pretty sure he said 'magnificent'. More than once. And that was it. While the entire interaction was probably less than a minute or two, to me, it was played in slow motion. The weight of the entire Geneva fair and the weight of the past 10 years of independence was lifted of my shoulders, with the single nod of a master. Finally, the reason why we do what we do made perfect sense. Our time has come. _____________ To order your NH MK2 Curl Curl brochure and to add your name to the order list, email: mail@clockmaker.com.au  The next batch of watches is already in production, with the release date of August 1. Price $6,900