TikTok or tick tock?

Watchmaking is a unique trade. There are two fundamental pre-requirements which would ultimately make the difference between an average watchmaker and a master: attention to detail, and willingness to learn. Unfortunately, most apprentices either lack the attention to detail, or give up learning prematurely. This is often the case with both apprentices, and mature watchmakers who work for big brands, where daily routine revolves about repairing a handful of watch calibres. Same, the same, - and more of it. Where volume is more important than creativity, and repairing really means replacing almost the entire mechanism, there is not much to learn.  Working on as many different watches as possible - especially during early forming years is absolutely crucial for early development. George Daniels repaired vintage pocket watches for 50 years before developing his own escapement. Attention to detail is like the ability to sing or paint - it is a gift. A gift which requires constant nourishing in order to blossom. If you are considering watchmaking as a profession, or you are already on the path of becoming a watchmaker, then I strongly recommend adopting habits that will help you laser sharpen your attention to detail. Disconnect! Facebook, TikTok, online gaming, and all that rubbish is for low IQ time wasters. Something you simply have no time for. But it is not just about time: the fast changing images, accompanied with the fast beat repetitive “music”, will turn you into a brainwashed junkie. Take notes. Pen and notebook!  Write it down. Draw. Sketch. Note it. Keep a record. Document. Lock it in time. Calculate. All this and more – with just a humble pen and paper. An apprentice without a pen and notebook is not worth investing in. Keep the workbench tidy. A couple months ago, we employed a mature machinist and toolmaker. He is our highest paid employee, but he is worth every cent. Josh is completely blown away with how clean and tidy his bench is. This is a habit acquired decades ago, paying off well. Not to mention the obvious: excellent results are not a product of chaos or ‘bench anarchy’, but tidiness; you can not chase microns on a messy bench. Like toolmaking, watchmaking is an art form; misplacing and losing parts will quickly lead to frustration. The devil is in the details. Reading technical manuals and technical books is essential. An apprentice who finds reading (and writing) either too difficult or too boring is like a blunt tool. Take time to observe. Sit down, slow down and focus. Create an environment that would allow you to focus on detail by showing care for and attention to every feature or aspect, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. Look carefully and ask "why" and "what if" and you will see it clearly.

The Breguet of Moss Vale

It has been a week since we visited the best clockmaker in the world and I still can't get over it. Deryck Noakes was born and raised in South Africa, but in the early 90's migrated to London to pursue clockmaking. In London, he had the opportunity to study and restore some of the most remarkable clocks by famous 18th and 19th Century makers. Very swiftly he established himself as a go-to clock maker of  high-grade, custom made clock.

I said it last week, and I'll repeat it again- Deryck is a mechanical genius with a rare ability to see in his mind hundreds of gears and levers working in harmony and then reproduce those images and motions in clockwork. Furthermore, he makes all the components himself in his workshop from gear and pinion cutting, down to making jewels, and hand carving of ivory.

Twelve years ago, Deryck and his family migrated to Australia and set up their workshop an hour and a half south-west of Sydney. This was the biggest gift Australia could have received. Ironically, Australia is yet to discover Deryck, a humble man, focused on creating masterpieces- not self promotion.

Whilst we spent over three hours with Deryck, our main focus was on two clocks only. The first was the planetarium mentioned previously, and the second- a regulator in the style of Breguet No. 3671 currently in the British Royal Collection. Deryck describes his clock as an 'in depth analysis time-piece built in honour of Breguet's genius'.

What makes Breguet's clock so special?

A traditional clock with one pendulum could be easily set and adjusted to keep perfect time, however in the case of even the smallest disturbance it would take hours for a regulator to restore its original rate keeping.

Over 200 years ago, Breguet realised that two pendulums working in harmony, swinging in opposite directions would influence each other resulting in improved accuracy in time keeping. Also, such a system, if disturbed, would return to its original rate far quicker than a single pendulum clock. Breguet's  No. 3671 was a practical realisation of the theory behind two synchronised pendulums. After his death, his Double-Pendulum Resonance Clock was acquired by King George IV, one of his long term admirers, in 1825, and to this day, it remains an inspiration to every clockmaker trying to create a masterpiece of their own. Deryck's double pendulum regulator not only pays homage to Breguet, but features three distinctive solutions that elevates the original design to the next level.

Aesthetically, Deryck's clock displays the finest workmanship one would only expect from the most skilled craftsman. With a case of flame mahogany, and fully french polished with true mercury gilded mouldings standing two metres tall, Buchanan No. 5 is a very complex, very refined, and technically impressive scientific instrument which would be appreciated by any sophisticated horologist. The No.5 was completely built in Australia and arguably this is the finest Australian made clock of all time.

While over the decades a number of clockmakers have attempted to create a 'tribute to Breguet's clock', arguably only Deryck has lived up to the challenge. It goes without saying that the acquisition of Buchanan No. 5 should be on a list of priority cultural pieces for the Australian Government to attain. It would be an irreversible loss if the clock was ever to leave Australia. Personally, I am not in a position to acquire the clock due to current commitments to manufacturing project but otherwise it would be an honour to call myself the first guardian of Deryck Noakes' regulator. Even partial ownership in a syndicate would be quite a special pleasure if it means keeping the clock in Australia.

If you are wondering why there are no photos of Deryck and his sons, I am respecting his wish to not publish any pictures of them.

To be continued...

(For further reading, please see the following link for more information on King George IV's collection of Breguet timepieces: https://www.timezone.com/2012/07/31/the-royal-collection-a-l-breguet-clocks-and-watches-by-jessica/)                       

A bizarre conversation in the factory fires up our most important tool – our imagination

To be perfectly honest with you, the novelty of making the most perfect regulator gear wore off pretty quickly. While the machining process is painfully slow - and painfully expensive - the end result is predictable:  each wheel is identical to the previous one down to a couple of microns. Yes, we are dreaming the dream of every horologist who has lived in the past 500 years.  But perfection, without imagination, is simply boring.

On Wednesday Andrew and myself were just about to cut the last spoke, and we started thinking about how to design a recess which will accept a power maintaining spring. Traditionally, the spring itself is just an unattractive steel wire hidden behind the gear.

"I am sure we can do better than that, my boy" was enough to kick the young apprentice’s mind into gear.

"What if we make the spring out of brass?  What if we design it to become an integral part of the wheel itself?" He asked. 

"Sure - but why stop there?" I replied. "Let’s make it in the shape of a little sea monster who will hold the return pin in his mouth".

We argued a bit whether the sea monster had ears, does our mystical creature look more like a worm or a caterpillar, while Josh poured cold water on the idea by pointing out that brass has a very poor elasticity memory and our spring is not going to work at all. 

But it did.

It worked brilliantly: it fired up the most important tool we have - our imagination.

We can all clearly see that every regulator clock we are going to make will have a small, imperfect hand-filed and hand-finished "living" mystical creature in it; a dragon or a rabbit, perhaps a snake or a lizard, which will live inside the perfect mechanism like a little clock guardian. 

As crazy as it sounds, I wonder why in 500 years of gear cutting has no-one thought of this?

A quick update on the watchmaker's regulator

It's coming up alright.  The drawings are pretty much done and, with a bit of luck, we will start machining the first parts on Wednesday so stay tuned.