A small favour to ask

Yesterday, Josh and myself interviewed yet another young man, keen to move to Sydney. A Danish machinist, 23 years young, with one year of post-apprenticeship experience in making complex titanium parts for the medical sector. "Do you really understand how far and how remote Australia is from  the rest of the world?". He simply said, yes, I do. "There are countless high tech workshops in Europe - so why us?" - we insisted. "What you have to offer is super unique, and a chance to learn how to operate a variety of machines is priceless. I wish to learn and to grow".   For the past few years, I am struggling to explain to my self the following paradox: how come that there are plenty of kids who would leave their parents, friends, home, then travel half way around the world just for an opportunity to learn machining and engineering skills, while we struggle to attract local Aussie kids? What is wrong with us? Or what is wrong with our own young people? And I am still loking for an answer.   Right now, we have two Canadians; Declan, a machinist, and Emily, an office assistant. They left the comfort of their home for an opportunity to visit Australia, learn new skills and have some fun along the way. And they are having a ball. They are well paid, appreciated, supported and happy. We are literally begging them to extend their stay. So clearly, there is nothing wrong with us.   Quite frankly, when the idea to open a high tech watchmaking workshop first crossed my mind, I was expecting to be inundated with 'please take me' employment requests. It's not happening. Finding young and enthusiastic people to join us, is without any question the most difficult and most challenging aspect of running a business.   But I am not giving up. There is a chance that you may have a smart kid endlessly playing games, bored to death, unsure about the future, who would greatly benefit from some hands on work. I know - you don't want your kid to end up on a factory floor, working for me. You want him to finish university, get a well paid job, a house overlooking the harbour. But not all kids end up as CEOs, and the very few who do, aren’t genuinely happy.   Hand me over your kid for a year a two. Josh will teach them everything he knows in a very structured manufacturing facility, run almost like a military operation. After  a couple of years, they may decide to stay with us and chase microns - or they can pursue the dream you have pre-planned for them. I am prepared to take a chance. Are you as well?

The Sydney Watches Pty Ltd workshop is located in Brookvale, in the Northern Beaches and specialises in manufacturing high precision mechanical components for watchmaking, scientific, optics, medical and space industries.   PS I would appreciate if you can forward this on to your Facebook / fav social media. We need any help we can get, and we need it fast.

Modern artisanal watchmaking, a deep dive into "feathering"

 

Innovation is difficult. Especially when it feels like everything has already been done. In watchmaking, this is almost the norm. Mechanically, the modern wristwatch has stayed the same for a century, or more - and progress, innovation and novel ideation is difficult to conceptualise. So much so that desirable traits in watchmaking are intentionally anachronistic! Within the niche of watchmaking decoration, there are relatively few novel ideas that have surfaced in the last 20-30 years, during the rebirth of modern artisanal watchmaking. The big players of movement decoration: Geneva waves, perlage, more niche - anglage, sunburst graining, straight graining, frosting, diamond cutting, and spotting. Even though this non-expansive list is already reasonably long, there are not many unexplored rabbit holes. In fact, many of these techniques have been around as long as horology has existed!  So what can a small rag-tag team of rogue Australian watchmakers operating out of Brookvale offer the world?  Our humble contribution to the art of horological finishing is not a large one, and to be completely honest, it's very hard to even see without some intentionality. But I hope by the end of this write-up you can foster a modest appreciation of what we hope is something meaningful and novel - feathering.  Feathering is what we call the delicate grained faceting of dial components such as hands and indexes. It's a laborious, time consuming process that produces a subtle, but very deliberate visual effect.

Done manually, individually, with the aid of microscopes, specially made jigs, tweezers and abrasives- feathering is demanding. There are three very notable things about feathering, the facet angle, the direction of the grain, and the centring of the spine. Let's explore.

The facet angle of the feathered finish is something that does have roots in other finishing techniques. Dauphine hands, popularised in the 40s and 50s and used in dress watches, were often were faceted down the centre of the hand. This became a common finishing technique, and leveraged monocrystalline diamond cutting tools to give brilliant mirror finishes. The end result is a highly reflective, almost gem-facetted look. The angle of this facet is quite important - too steep, and the faceting can interfere with the form/shape, too shallow and the light-play, and reflection of each facet can look weak. Finding the optimal angle is a tuning knob for creating strong visual depth, but also retaining mechanical function.

One large difference between standard faceted hands and feathered hands is the type of finish that is applied to the facets themselves. Feathering is incredibly special since the facets have grain applied to them - pointing to the spine in a way that eludes the natural grain of a feather! The inspiration for this type of finishing came from the feathers of native Australian birds along the northern beaches - sulfur crested cockatoos, seagulls, lorikeets. The grain on these facets is on a 45 degree angle to the spine, pointing towards the end of, in this case, a hand. The direction of the grain is crucial - grain parallel or perpendicular to the spine is possible, but creates a totally different effect - in fact a 5 degree change in the angle is visually noticeable! For the engineering inclined, and those who like to think about how things are made - how would you approach making this grain? The direction of the grain, and the angle of the facet both create a very interesting compound angle problem that needs solving!

Your eye is a cruel judge. We've all head the phrase "Just eyeball it". In watchmaking this has an inverse meaning... Often things can measure well on the micrometer, or profile projector, but when your eye acts like a final point of QC, small imperfections that are difficult to measure any way other than visually totally dominate the part! One of the biggest areas where this holds true is with the centring of the spine of the feathering. The two facets lean together onto the centre of the part forming a spine. If one facet is cut too deep, or if the other facet is cut at the wrong angle, the location of this spine relative to the part and features on the part, is thrown off. A change of just 5 thousandths of a millimeter is enough for your eye to distinguish between something pleasing, or not pleasing! Our eyes are attracted to uniformity, and having the spine of the feathered part crooked, or off centre is totally devastating. This means that when we do the manual decoration of feathered parts, we are constantly checking to see if this spine is centered. Just a few microns makes a massive difference.  I could talk about feathering for hours... Like how we do it in Titanium, a notoriously difficult material to use abrasives on, or how achieving consistent results is one of the most challenging engineering problems we've had to solve since starting our manufacturing journey, or how we even manage to feather a seconds hand, barely wider than a human hair! ... But maybe those stories are all best saved for a "watch talk night" one day in the future...  The feathering process, and it's intricacies are numerous, in fact our internal "how-to guide" is about 10 pages long. It's a process that demands total zen, and a mastery of many skills. Some days feathering a part can take 10 minutes, other days you can spend an entire day and not have anything to show for it. The pursuit of perfection is endless - something that encourages constant improvement, and with that in mind we humbly present our contribution to the world of horological finishing - feathering.  Josh

1/100th second chronograph

To continue the release of the new Seiko Speedtimer, we have just received in the mail two limited edition models to offer to you today. A super cool feature of this chronograph that we didn't discuss last week is that the 1/100th second hand actually spins! You might be thinking: "Yeah of course it does?" Well, not really. There are several quartz chronographs that can record time in the sub-seconds realm. But not all of them display spinning hands. The internal computer will record the actual time between start and stop, and then display that time once the chrono has been stopped. Their hands need only move to the correct numbers once. This is a neat way to save battery as a constantly spinning motor is quite draining. Seiko on the other hand, instead of reducing the function and enjoyment, goes the way of solar charging, so no compromises. Seeing that little hand go is sure to put a smile on your face. While this entire range pays homage to the world's first analogue chronograph, released by Seiko in 1983, the colour scheme of SFJ005 is inspired by the world's first analogue chronograph that displayed the elapsed time in increments of 1/100th of a second. Yet another world first from Seiko, this watch was first released in 1992.

SFJ005 40th Anniversary Limited Edition 42mm case size. Black and silver stainless steel case and bracelet. Gunmetal and black dial. Sapphire crystal. Stopwatch measures XX in 1/100th of a second increments with split time. Solar movement - calibre 8A50. Water resistance 100 metres. Boutique price: $1,450

The second limited edition, SFJ007, is in honour of the World Athletics Championships that will take place in Budapest this August, for which Seiko will be the official timekeeper for the 18th consecutive time. The black textured dial is inspired by the surface of a running track, while the hands and outer sub-dial rings are inspired by a gold medal. In addition, on the case back is featured the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 events logo.

SFJ007 World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 42mm case size. Black stainless steel case and bracelet. Black dial. Sapphire crystal. Stopwatch measures XX in 1/100th of a second increments with split time. Solar movement - calibre 8A50. Water resistance 100 metres. Boutique price: $1,500

SFJ003P Black 42mm case size. Stainless steel case and bracelet. Black dial. Sapphire crystal. Stopwatch measures XX in 1/100th of a second increments with split time. Solar movement - calibre 8A50. Water resistance 100m. Boutique price: $1,350

SFJ001P Silver/Black 42mm case size. Stainless steel case and bracelet. Black and Silver dial. Sapphire crystal. Stopwatch measures XX in 1/100th of a second increments with split time. Solar movement - calibre 8A50. Water resistance 100m. Boutique price: $1,350

The smallest part in the NH55!

 

Small parts will never cease to fascinate me. Good thing watchmaking is my profession! There will never be a dull day. The smallest part in the NH55 is the banking pin. Funnily enough, it's also the part that requires the most accuracy, a shift of just 1-2 microns in the shape of the part can have a very large effect on the timekeeping performance of the watch. The banking pin is pressed into the mainplate of the watch, and acts as an endstop/travel limit for the movement of a part called the pallet fork. The larger this pin, the less travel the pallet fork has, the smaller the pin, the further the pallet fork can move. In this way, the diameter of the banking pin plays a crucial role in the timekeeping performance of the watch, and therefore demands a lot of attention in the manufacturing process.  The business end of the banking pin is 0.4mm in diameter. Nominally, 400 microns, but during the assembly process it can sometimes happen that the watchmaker putting the watch together needs a smaller or larger pin, to adjust the travel limits of the pallet fork. It's for this reason we have to make the same pin, in a series of small increments. Each banking pin is measured and sorted in each bin. This does slightly relax the demand on the manufacturing process, and allows for a little more of a shotgun approach, but if anyone has ever read or knows about tolerance matching in assemblies, then you'll understand that the "ease" is a double edged sword.

For example, what happens when you need many more pins of a specific diameter!? You don't really want to shotgun your production and have every 10th pin be the one you need, and have piles of pins that will never be used. On the contrary, it's much better if the manufacturing process is accurate enough so that you can manufacture within the tolerance band (just +- 1um!), at any given time.  So, how are they made?  The parts start off as 3.00mm round bar, of a very specific grade of material, LAW100pb. The bars are 3m long and are supported hydrostatically by a bar feeder as they enter into our Citizen R04 lathe. The R04 is the first machine we purchased, all the way back in 2016!

As the material enters the lathe it is introduced to cutting tools - these cutting tools are so sharp that they are actually lapped with a fine diamond slurry so that the cutting edges peel off material with almost no force. This is very important since the forces in the cutting processes has a large impact on the final dimensions of the part. Too much force, and the parts will deflect and be pushed out of tolerance.

Oil cools and lubricates the machining process, and ensures long tool life and great surface finishes.

Once the turning process is complete, the part is cut off its parent bar and sucked into a parts catcher, the parts are then collected and are ready to be measured.

All of these processes are very finely tuned... From the lapping of the cutting tool, to the selection of what material is used, to the program that runs the CNC lathe, to the handling of the part during measurement, to the installation in the mainplate... There is virtually zero room for error. Every time there is some disturbance in the process, a dull tool, low quality material, incorrectly calibrated measuring equipment, etc, the effects are felt throughout the entire process. Ultimately, in the end, by you!  Josh

Comparing Astron to Royal Oak is a compliment to AP

Let me be completely honest: I hate engineers. As a customer, that is. They are just too smart. Here is a classical scenario, played thousands of times, on my dealers table: "So, Nick, I appreciate your help, and showing me all those watches, but here is a question: Why should I invest in a $10K Rolex or Omega, when my $10 Bali watch operates on the same principle as the most expensive Swiss watch?" And they are right. Both the cheap replica and an expensive original are powered by the old fashioned spring, wound by a straight forward auto winding system; both watches show the time in the same analogue way, and both have a little heart, a mechanical oscillator which generates 'ticks and tocks'. Yes, there is a huge difference in the quality of workmanship between the two, but at the end of the day, there is literally no difference in core engineering. Selling a mechanical watch to an engineer is like selling Windows 3.1 to Generation Alpha. And for that reason alone, a smart dealer never opens a conversation with 'what is your budget' or 'what is your favourite brand' but 'what do you do for living?’ Avoid engineers whenever possible, as soon as possible. Luckily, there is a way to sell a high grade watch to engineer. "Let me show you this one: It is a Seiko Astron. Powered by the Sun, synchronized by Global Positioning satellite System. Accurate to one second in 100,000 years. With 6 months power reserve, self-adjusted to correct time - and time zone - twice per day. Water resistant to 100m with overcharging power protection. And a flight mode, of course. Housed in a surgical grade titanium case. Completely and entirely made in Japan." Sold. An Astron to the inquisitive, engineering mind is what 'Queen of the Night' is for Mozart worshipers. Astron is a watch engineered for smart watch enthusiasts who want the best, the latest, the most advanced horological technology known to humans, at a price even a stingy engineer is happy to pay. Just a few weeks ago, Seiko released the latest Astron powered by their 3X62 calibre movement. In a nutshell, a mechanism even smaller and thinner than the previous generation, which allows even more efficient solar charging throughout the dial. A watch of even smaller dimensions (41.2 mm case, 12mm thick). The highlight: a single subdial which makes the watch 'dressier' than a classic sports-looking Astron. A watch for a modern man, a traveller, a man who cares about his appearance while thoroughly understanding and enjoying the cutting edge of engineering. A couple of years ago, when I first started selling Seiko Astron watches, I asked Seiko to send me a broken Astron, so I can pull it apart, and show my subscribers 'the guts'. Talk in detail about the micro motors which drive the hands, provide photos of antenna, GPS receiver, solar power unit and the rest of electronics. To this day, I am still waiting for such a watch to arrive. Why? Certainly not because SEIKO does not care about you and me - but because they simply don't have any broken Astron. In a rare occasion that an Astron fails to work, the watch is sent back to Japan, repaired to 'Japanese' standards, quietly, fuss-free returned to the customer, in as good as new condition. As a watchmaker, I find that to be the greatest miracle of all.

Black SSJ015 41.2mm case size. Titanium case and bracelet. Black dial with dare window at 3 o'clock. Sapphire crystal. Lumibrite hands and indexes. GPS solar movement - calibre 3X62. Water resistance 100 metres. Our price: $3,300

Limited Edition SSJ017 41.2mm case size. Silver titanium case and bracelet. Silver dial with date window at 3 o'clock. Sapphire crystal. Lumibrite hands and indexes. GPS Solar movement - calibre 3X62. Water resistance 100 metres. Our price: $2,950

Blue SSJ013J Our price: $2,950

Titanium/Rose Gold SSJ014J Our price: $3,150