One challenging restoration: Patek Philippe Nautilus bracelet

This was one of those annoying jobs: fixing other ‘watchmaker’s’ errors. In short: the previous repairer decided to ‘fix’ a worn out Patek bracelet pins with mild steel pins. In about year or so, these new pins were literally eaten away by sweat. Consequently, the bracelet disintegrated into a number of pieces. According to the owner, Patek service centre was not impressed and suggested ‘full bracelet replacement only’ quoting $17,000. Can we help? The job was approached in stages: drilling out all pins, paying special attention to alignment. Then making the new set of pins – this time out of stainless steel. Reaming out gold mid links by hand, then riveting the links together one at the time, polishing by hand. Last stage: making one missing Nautilus casing screw. The screw was made in CNC lathe meaning programming, tooling and turning of just one piece in a machine designed to produce thousands of the screws at time. Kind of transporting single 10kg box on a semitrailer from Sydney to Perth! Possible, but crazy. Total repair cost: $1,200. Would we do it again? Probably not.

The most challenging part of the restoration was finding the exact centre of the pins to drill through. This photo shows a microscope installed directly into the spindle of schaublin 102 lathe.

Ligne or Line? It's actually - Lin

Well, that would depend whether you're French or English. Lets stick with the French. Ligne (pronounced 'lin'), is an archaic unit of measurement commonly used in French and Swiss horology dating back to the 1700s. It is a pre-decimal unit of measurement. Basically, 1 ligne is 2.2558mm. Watchmakers made movements in lignes where the average size was around 19 lignes (or just under 43mm in diameter). As continental Europeans moved to the decimal system, Swiss and French watchmakers refused to budge. So even today, measurements in lignes are often quoted in relation to the watch movement diameter. Lignes as a unit of measurement is easily distinguished by metric and imperial units with the number followed by 3 primes (e.g. 18'''). For students of horology: the movement diameter is measured at the outside diameter of the bridges, not at the dial/casing flange. Novice watch enthusiasts sometimes confuse lignes with calibre or what Americans call size. For example, the Omega movement  mentioned yesterday was calibre 19LBN, happens to be exactly 19 lignes in diameter. But this a pure coincidence. American pocket watch movements are referred to by sizes. For example, size 10 is 1.500 inches or 38.10mm or converted in lignes, 16 and 7/8s. Clearly, the relationship between lignes, millimetres, inches and sizes is not 'blindly obvious' and to covert between we need help of tables. To this day, the French and Swiss stick with lignes and Americans with sizes, and neither side is willing to adopt the logical decimal unit of measurement.

Being Australian watchmakers ourselves, we simply state that our NH2 movement is 36.60 mm in diameter.  Which would make it just over 16 lignes and just under size 8.

Kick start your career in 2020!

2020 is just around the corner and the time to make a very important career decision is NOW. And you're neither too young or too old to learn!

Watchmakers CNC Machining Course  Duration: 52 weekly sessions, 2 hours per session (6pm-8pm Wednesday evenings). Where: NH Watchmaking workshop, Brookvale, Sydney. Starting: First week of January 2020. Objective: Introduction to CNC machining- measuring, design, drawing, programming, tooling, turning and milling. Focus: Practical 'CNC skill-building' training relevant to watchmaking and other high precision industries. Cost:  Age 12 - 15                                             FREE         16 - 29 (students)                           $4,000         30 and over (employed / retired)    $6,500 Payment: In advance or in 4 quarterly instalments for students. The number of attendees for this course is limited to 6. How to apply: Please send a detailed 'expression of interest' letter to nick@clockmaker.com.au. We would like to hear why you would be interested in attending the course, your current involvement in the industry (if any) and anything else you feel relevant to secure your seat. Clearly, our intention is to open our workshop to young people who will benefit the most from this unique opportunity, as well as to students who are either considering a mechanical engineering career, or are already trained as technicians / engineers but lack practical workshop CNC experience. As specialised watchmakers and the only watch parts manufacturer in Australia, our workshop is equipped with modern, state of the art high precision CNC machines not commonly found in Australian workshops or even universities. This course is only available to Australian citizens or permanent residents. We would appreciate it if you help us spread the word (Facebook/ Watch Forums) by downloading and sharing the link to our PDF flyer.  https://nicholashacko.com.au/CNCMachingCourse.pdf

Major C. P. Heydenrych

Its been ages since we spoke about railroad pocket watches! Today, the focus of our interest is a 1925 Omega SAR-SAS railway pocket watch number 1498, fitted with a 19 LBN calibre movement. The watch arrived in very poor condition, with a number of movement parts missing and heavily worn out engraving on the nickel case back. However, the writing on the porcelain dial is well preserved and it is one of those rare quad sign examples which bears railway designator as well as Omega brand name, local co-brand, and co-brand location. (SAS-SAR, Omega, C.P. Heydenrych, Johannesburg) South African Railway watches are so rare that any example in any condition is worth our attention. Unfortunately due to current workload I will not be able to undertake any restoration right now. But I can't wait to get my hands on to it. In the meantime, the preliminary research is presented here for your enjoyment:

SAS-SAR stands for South African Railways - Suid Afrikaanse Spoorweg, spelt in both English and Afrikaans respectively. The railways have always been an essential part of South Africa’s transport system, and the SAR infrastructure is the most developed across the continent. In 1860, the first locomotive was introduced to South Africa which connected Durban to Harbour Point, by the Natal Railway Company. Other railway lines linked towns and cities within South Africa, constructed and operated by Cape Government Railways and Netherlands South African Railway Company. In 1910, the four British territories of Cape, Transvaal, Natal and the Orange Free State republic gained nominal independence from Britain. These four provinces formed the Union of South Africa and as a result, the railway lines across the country were merged creating the South African Railway. The railway pocket watch dial on today’s agenda is inscribed:   SAR-SAS Omega C. P. Heydenrych Johannesburg But who exactly is CP Heydenrych? Carel Petrus Heydenrych of Johannesburg was the son of Johanna Jacoba Heydenrych (born Theunissen) and Carel Petrus Heydenrych. He was an important military figure: A Major and Colonel who served with the Rand Rifles during the Boer War and with the Witwatersrand Rifles during the First World War. His war achievements were recognised with an honorary war medal in his name: The Major Heydenrych Medal.

After the Great War ended, CP Heydenrych commanded the South African Armoured trains throughout the 1920s. An armoured train is a locomotive that is protected with armour - artillery and machine guns for example. Armoured trains proved popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially during wars, as they could easily transport large amounts of firepower.

Johannesburg, 18 March 1922. Major CP Heydenrych, Lt-Col RC Wallace and Major JM Greathead with troops at troop train on station platform. Since 1893, working on the railroad required officials to carry railroad timekeepers to ensure trains were on time in order to avoid catastrophic collisions. By the end of the 19th century, Omega, together with its brand sister Gurzelen Brandt, had garnered a reputation of producing outstanding railroad watches, supplying South African Railways with the very watch we have in our workshop. The nickel case back has the issue number 1498 and did have a locomotive motif engraving, however this has been completely worn away with time. In it's original condition, it would've looked something like the pocket watch on the left:

As a railroad commander, the Omega SAR-SAS pocket watch would have most probably been a part of CP Heydenrych’s uniform. However, it is unlikely that this pocket watch is a one-of-a-kind unique timepiece. What is more likely is that there were a number of pocket watches made by Omega, and due to Major CP Heydenrych's military status, the porcelain dial bears his name almost like a 'special edition' of the SAR pocket watch. Omega railroad pocket watches are far more than just a timepiece. They are a piece of history which carry huge horological importance. And this watch in particular not only preserves railway history, but the military achievements and life of Major and Colonel Heydenrych. "Railroad watches may be considered as the first reference watches of the manufacture, much before the record precision chronometers, the Olympic chronographs or the NASA Official Speedmasters." – A Journey Through Time.

From the workshop: bespoke ratchet wheels progres

In two words: all good. Thanks to all rebelde owners who took up the offer - you guys are keeping us busy! Here is a photo of yet another in-house made fixture. Purpose: to hold the batch of ratchet wheels during milling and engraving procedure. And below: a few wheels ready for installation. Your part comes with it's own drawing, signed by Josh and Andrew. Kind of 'a thank you' note that you can add to your rebelde set. One thing we have underestimated is the amount of admin work involved in the ratchet wheel project - it takes dozen of emails to sort out initials, invoicing, payment processing and shipping for each wheel. Good news is that we now have a real time 'spreadsheet interaction' between the city office and our Brookvale workshop so either side can see where we are up to. Learning heaps about efficient internal communication.

Omega Koku Tetsu on black sage himo

It has been ages since we've talked about railway pocket watches! But if you appreciate the historical importance and undeniable horological value of watches which have played such a significant role over the past hundred years, then this short note will delight you. A Journey Through Time is Omega’s Bible and a ‘must have’ book in your library.  While section five, "Official Watches", bundles railway watches with shooting and military pieces, it still provides records of Omega's involvement in the production of railway watches, showing examples sold to various Government Railway authorities from the late 1800s to 1980s. An important account, but far from being complete or definite. For that reason, we are always excited when new pieces are discovered and catalogued - like the three Omega pocket watches from the early 1950s for Japanese National Railways that we recently acquired. All three pieces are almost identical, yet with some case, dial and hand variations, 48mm nickel ‘open face’ stem wound and set. The case back is stamped with two kanji characters: Koku (country) and Tetsu (steel) which translates to Japanese National Railway. The issue year is Showa 27 (1952) and issue numbers are 148, 681, 1076. Form the inside, the case backs are stamped 141 21 and 141 22 which are Omega model reference numbers. One also bears the stamp 'GR' which is the same GR we've seen on other Omega watches supplied to Government Rail - in other words, a special issue. The serial numbers are 12.4 mill range corresponding nicely with early 1950s Omega production. Mechanism: the trustworthy Cal. 38.5L.T1. It is important to remind you that Cal 38.5L was first introduced in 1932 and remained in production until 1966. It was an inexpensive mechanism to manufacture and in 34 years of production, Omega made 998,700 movements. I do however dislike the fact that 38.5L is non-incabloc which means a slightest drop would be fatal to balance staff. As any watchmaker would testify: finding an original balance staff in a Cal 38.5L is almost unheard of! Hands and dial variations: I will leave this for further in-depth study once more examples become available. Small curiosity: one JNR piece comes with a nice, well-preserved black sage himo. All three pieces are sourced directly from Japan and trust me, it took a fair bit of arm-wrestling to convince three individual collectors to part with them. But I am very pleased that JNR Omegas are reunited, once again. The search continues!

Omega: A Journey Through Time (ISBN 9782970056225) is out of print, occasionally available on ebay. And slightly off the topic, but still on subject - page 213, Omega pocket watch for Bulgarian Railroads, erratum:

The caseback monogram is not АЖБ but  ДЖБ. It is easy to confuse Cyrillic letters А and Д, but in this case there is no room for misinterpretation: the monogram ДЖБ stands for Bugarska Drzavna Zeleznica or Bulgarian State Railway (not Royal Bulgarian Railroads).

Yes, while Bulgaria in 1925 was ruled by a Tzar Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver aka Boris III, the railway was owned by the state. And while we are on Bulgarians... here is a pic of Boris's father, Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. All the medals aside, Ferdinand is one of a few monarch who lost 3 wars - the Second Balkan war of 1913, World War I and World War II. Not much luck picking the winners...

The most expensive watch in the world

This weekend, history was made. A one of a kind Patek Phillipe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A-010 sold for AUD $45.3 million. The previous world record for the highest priced wristwatch sold at auction was Rolex Daytona 'Paul Newman' but Patek sold for more than double. What is so special about it you might wonder? The world record price is a combination of three factors. Firstly, Patek 6300A-010 is simply an amazing watch. It is one of the most complicated Patek wristwatches ever made featuring over 20 complications which include no fewer than five chiming modes, two of which are patented world firsts. It stands out as the first and only Grandmaster Chime made in stainless steel. It features a hand guilloched hobnail rose gold dial on one side, as well as a black ebony dial on the other. To put it simply, this is the Grand Daddy of Patek Phillipe watches. The second factor is the venue. The watch was part of 50 one of a kind timepieces auctioned by Christie's on behalf of a charity event called Only Watch. This bi-annual event held in Monaco is a who's who of horology; both mega brands and independent watchmakers submit one piece for auction where all proceedings go to charity. The third reason is rather bizarre: there is simply so much cash floating around. While AUD $45 million for a wristwatch is insane, this is still just pocket money for a billionaire. There are currently 2,153 billionaires on the planet with a combined wealth exceeding GDP of 153 countries and this list does not include the thousands of billionaires who made their money dealing in illegal stuff. Overall, the auction was a success where both brands and charity were winners, with a number of pieces setting brand records. At the auction: Tudor sold for half a million Australian dollars, Hublot sold for $350,000, Hermes sold for $307,000, Louis Vuitton for $409,000, Chanel for $190,000, and Bell & Ross sold for $80,000.

By the way, if you happen to be the owner of the most expensive watch in the world then I would like to remind you that your Patek is not water resistant. The more complex they are, the less waterproof. And no, you cannot wear it in the shower.

Celebration Time - Godfather wanted!

We invite you to be a part of the NH2 Timascus project. It's simple: NH2 No. 5 and NH2 No. 6 have been freshly assembled and are now ready to be named. Your suggestions are welcome! If your suggestion receives the most number of likes then we will send you a small thank you gift - A Rebelde carbon fibre ballpoint pen. Give it your best shot, or simply like other's suggestions. To take part in the competition, like or comment on our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B4lUOssJEeN/

Is this a Seamaster or a Speedmaster?

As humans, we've come a long way. But what is particularly amazing about our journey is how much we have conquered in the last 200 years. From horse and carriages to space travel, from transmitting messages in Morse code to email, from navigating at sea with only the help of a mechanical clock to global positioning systems accurate to the centimetre, all that in just a couple of generations. It is no wonder that we take technological changes for granted. Our ability to record and reproduce voice with high fidelity dates back to the early 60s which is not really that long ago. The credit for hi-fi goes to Yamaha. (Neither of my three youngest assistants knew what hi-fi stood for because they simply don't remember pre hi-fi times). We only achieved the ability to measure and display 1/100th of a second with a wristwatch in 1988. And the credit for this goes to Omega. In 1988, Omega released the legendary Seamaster Polaris. It was powered by quartz movement calibre 1670. The electronic calibre is equipped with a microprocessor integrating 50,000 transistors, allowing for the first time ever the display of 1/ 100th of a second by means of a hand, and with perfect readability. The memory is also able to register up to ten simple, additional, intermediate, final, lap, and total times. It was the perfect watch for timing sporting events at the Olympic Games in 1988, held in Calgary and Seoul. Omega Polaris was the first watch designed for nerds and in a way, the first 'smart watch'. It takes plenty of intuition to familiarise yourself with all of the stopwatch features that Polaris offers. With all due respect, it wasn't a watch for a common man. What was also revolutionary about Polaris was the case and bracelet. Polaris was offered in two versions, stainless steel and gold as well as titanium and gold. And I vividly remember the day when I saw Polaris in the window of Jeweller Wempe on the Koenigstrasse in Stuttgart. If only I could afford it!

Killing Sarastro with bémol

Mozart was a pure genius - he composed his first opera at the age of twelve. But composing is probably the wrong way of describing what was actually going on. The creative process was not a matter of putting together bits and pieces of music; the whole opera, all of the instruments, notes and voices were already composed in his head. He worked fast, filling pages after pages of partitures like a summer thunderstorm pouring onto dry land. Mozart's last opera was The Magic Flute which premiered on September 30, 1791. Mozart died two months later at the age of 34 and he was buried in an unmarked grave. But The Magic Flute was an immediate success. 228 years later, it is still the second most performed opera of all time. It is well recognised that aria "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" (Hell's vengeance boils in my heart) sung by the Queen of the Night is one of the most powerful and most important operatic masterpieces in history. The vengeance of hell boils in my heart, Death and despair flame about me! If Sarastro does not through you feel The pain of death, Then you will be my daughter nevermore. Disowned may you be forever, Abandoned may you be forever, Destroyed be forever All the bonds of nature, If not through you Sarastro becomes pale! (as death) Hear, Gods of Revenge, Hear a mother's oath! The queen, consumed by rage, instructs her daughter to kill Sarastro, her rival. This short aria is written for the soprano coloratura and it lasts only 2 minutes and 49 seconds. An incredibly difficult aria to sing - which requires not just the soprano’s vocal range from B3 to F6, but the ability to convey dramatic intensity in a very powerful manner at the very top of range. A soprano who can combine acrobatic abilities with power is extremely rare. And for the past 228 years, every soprano who ever lived wanted to be known and remembered as Mozart's Queen. The first Queen was Mozart's sister in law, Josepha Hofer. At the time of the premiere, she was 32 years old and had an extraordinary upper register and an agile voice. It is said that on his death bed, Mozart hushed his wife, Constanze: "Quiet, quiet! Josepha is just taking her top F". Unfortunately, we will never know how the first Queen of the Night really did sound on stage but we do have recordings of some great queens from the past 90 years. This made me wonder: which great diva sung the aria the way Mozart had heard it in his mind? Thanks to the internet and YouTube, we have recordings of over 40 queens from 1935 to now. Most of them are no longer with us, but their voices still are. Nowadays, there are only a handful of sopranos who perform in The Magic Flute who are regarded as the best living queens. And then there is an endless list of contenders. Last weekend, I immersed myself in the quest of finding the best Queen of the Night. Stating the obvious: while the winning voice would be selected subjectively, a rather firm set of objective criteria served as guidance: -    In his mind, Mozart heard the voice of a powerful German speaking woman,       and accordingly, the perfect Queen should be German / a native German           speaker -    Rage! In this performance, power is essential -    Hitting the high F6 perfectly, impeccable staccatos -    Dramatic coloratura -    Clarity -    Dramatic onstage performance On Friday, glued to the screen, the quest began with six hours of watching and listening to every Queen of the Night I could find, in every version of The Magic Flute available online. I went to bed with total chaos in my head, wrecked and worn out. By late evening Saturday, refreshed and reinvigorated, the search continued. Unfortunately, the Chinese, Korean and Japanese divas and contenders were no longer of interest: while their vocal capabilities were as brilliant as any, their German was rather unconvincing. Had Mozart himself ever seen an Asian woman raging in perfect Austro-Bavarian? I doubt it. I narrowed the list down to eleven divas:  Diana Damrau, Erika Mikolsa, Edita Gruberova, Natalie Dessmay, Susanne Elmark, Luciana Serra and Edda Moser - all still living - and Lucia Popp, Cristina Deutekom, Joan Sutherland, and Maria Callas, who are sadly no longer with us. The longer I listened, the more obvious the differences between the sopranos were. By early Sunday morning, my ears and brain finally tuned in, with fine 'details' unnoticed before beginning to emerge. Two minutes and 49 seconds, over and over again, hundreds of times... I got out of bed around lunch time Sunday completely brainwashed with "...meine Tochter nimmermehr" and "Hört! Hört! Hört!!!" echoing endlessly. Two looped phrases, two powerful voices, two divas - it was clear that one of them was going to be my winner. The best time to immerse yourself in music is when everyone else is already in bed. Headphones on, dimmed lights, alone in a room. Damrau, Deutekom, then Edda Moser, just for a final check. Then Deutekom twice, Damrau. Deutekom again. And again... At 7:30 Monday morning I was ready for work. With no time to waste, I played "Der Hölle Rache" just once - the 1960s version performed by Cristina Deutekom. Cristina Deutekom (28 August 1931 – 7 August 2014), was a Dutch operatic coloratura soprano. In 1963, she made her debut with De Nederlandse Opera as Queen of the Night, but after some lesser roles with the company, she contemplated giving up singing altogether since her career did not seem to progress. Yet while she was 'warming up ' her voice for those smaller roles, Cristina would sing some of the most difficult Mozart arias in her dressing room backstage. One day, her warm-up session was overheard by Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, a diva herself: "Child, do you know what you are singing there?" Schwarzkopf was shocked to hear that she was not performing Mozart's masterpiece all over the world. "I do not think much of any impresario that does not recognise such talent", she said and introduced her to her own manager, Rudi Rothenberg. In no time Cristina went on to conquer the major opera houses in succession with the 'Queen of the Night' being her most prominent role. Like Mozart's sister in law Josepha, Christina was 32 years old. In 1968 she was critically acclaimed by The New York Times to be "the greatest Queen of the Night of our time". The vocal range which covers two octaves, stone hard German r's, perfect punctuation, impeccable staccatos, rage and power, surgically clean-cut triplets, twelve bars lasting 'bonde', terrifying bémol - all sung effortlessly by Deutekom, a Queen like no other. Headphones on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQpTGKXAxqA