Reply With QuoteI have no idea what you're talking about but great job😁👍
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to share a couple of photos from a project that I completed recently during my watchmaking apprenticeship in Geneva.
I won’t talk too much about the apprenticeship or the company, but part of it was to complete a school watch based on a set of technical drawings and a procedure.
The watch is based on an ETA 6497, we were provided with a main plate and an ébauche for the bridges which were all pierced, shaped and finished by hand.
The bridges for the wheels are all split off with new locating feet marked out and drilled. The bridges were shaped using multiple graded files, the external bevels were also mostly done by hand with some of the internal bevels on the barrel bridge completed on the lathe with jigs and fixtures.
I then sand blasted the top surfaces, polished the bevels and straight grained the sides.
The main plate was also sand blasted and then perlaged, all the brass parts were then gold plated.
We separated the great, third and second wheel from their staffs, circular grained them and then rose gold plated them.
Snail grained the ratchet and crown wheel and polished the click and screw heads.
The balance, is screwed but also has a micro-metric screw for the regulator pins, so multiple options for timing. The balance spring was also counted and cut by myself to have the correct frequency.
Please see the pics below, it’s was a hell of a lot of work and lots of mistakes along the way, but the end result isn’t bad, but I’m by no means any kind of expert haha.
If anyone has any questions I’d be happy to explain in a bit more detail where I can.
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I have no idea what you're talking about but great job😁👍
Looks amazing and a lovely thread topic for a change.
What would be nice, would be to see some work in progress photos if you have them?
Congrats on your Apprenticeship
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I'm not a trained eye. But that does indeed look great. Something I wish I could do, but are no where near. I hope you're proud of it. Good job
Lovely job Tom, that looks stunning - an achievement to be proud of!
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Unfortunately I don’t have many photos of the making of it, to be honest I had a huge problem with the location of the bridges so I thought it was dead in the water, but after a re-think and lots of re-work I managed to salvage it.Originally Posted by Ikincooper
Also, thanks for the compliments :) One day I hope I can make the whole thing from scratch.
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Really interesting, thank you for sharing and congratulations on qualifying from your apprenticeship. What’s the significance of 1140, were you apprentice number 1140?
I love it!
Not usually a fan of offset secondhands, but it does suit the watch too.
It's just a matter of time...
Yeh that's right, I'm apprentice 1104 :)
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That’s awesome! Well done. Lovely looking watch and movement.
Yeh I know, it's actually meant to be a Lépine pocket watch, but unfortunately the cases weren't available so I bought a wristwatch case, dial and handset.
If it had been a pocket watch we'd have had a 6 o'clock sub-seconds.
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Very nice piece. That’s a keeper if ever there was one.
Fascinating! What a beautiful looking watch!
Is watchmaking something you always wanted to do?
That is a handsome movement. The main plate finishing is superb and the custom bridges look great.
I've never seen a "keyhole" (for lack of a better term) regulator, did you make that? Also, I've not heard the description and wonder which is the great wheel? Finally, I really like that dial. Did the school supply it or did you have to make or source it yourself?
Very cool, congrats again, lovely watch.
Love it, thanks for sharing Tom. And well done!
Well, I’d always had watches, ever since I was a kid, but never thought about it as a profession. I trained as a Draughtsman and worked in several different fields, but kind of hit the glass ceiling (is that the right term?) and couldn’t really progress any further without having some sort of engineering degree (all of the jobs I was looking at required one), whilst I was looking an opportunity came up for a paid apprenticeship in Geneva.
Thanks, yeh I’ve not really seen that style of regulator before either, it was provided to us, presumably a high end ETA part? To be honest I should have filed that off, because if you use it with a probe to set the beat you will almost certainly scratch the top of the cock.
Erm, maybe my terminology isn’t quite right, but by great wheel I mean the centre wheel.
I actually sourced the dial from eBay, a company in Switzerland designed and manufactured them, I think it cost me about 45 CHF. The seller was named ‘Mt-Swissmade’, but they don’t appear to be selling anything anymore :/ The handset was from there too.
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Hi Tom, fantastic work! Not sure where to start with the comments, so many details! The bridge work for the wheels aesthetically i really like and the the anglage work from the pics looks pretty fine too. Love how you had to also cut the balance spring too!
What's the plan going forward? Working on restoration, servicing more modern movements?
Yeh thanks, the design wasn’t my own, I’d prefer something a bit more curved maybe or just a nice decorated three quarter plate, but thanks for the compliments :)
Yeh the balance was cut by measuring it on a fairly modern piece of kit, but in the old days you’d have used a balance spring vibrating tool. I believe you compared your spring to a calibrated spring in the tool, the goal was to get your spring to oscillate at the same frequency as the calibrated one. You can adjust by lengthening or shortening the attachment point.
It was a tool like this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Watchmake...-127635-2958-0
So I work in a service centre for the brand that trained me, but eventually it would be nice to do some private jobs for myself, but it’s a bloody expensive game haha.
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Yea I can see design wise the open working may not be to everyone's style and I guess all part of the learning experience!
Yea the old vibrating tool is pretty rad and shows what had to be done in the old days, and one of those tasks you go thank god for modern machines!
Hope the job goes well, and yea not a cheap game to get in to! What you need is almost like a makers space for watchmaking where you can rent proper space to do your own work. But seen some interesting home kits from aspiring watch makers on IG which is fun to follow!
Yeh I actually have an IKEA sit/stand desk which I hope to do a little basic work on, but there’s still a hell of a lot to get and that’s just for servicing, to actually make a watch from scratch you’re easily looking at spending five figures.
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Very impressive, what’s the next creation?
Thanks, but no plans for now, just going to concentrate on the new job and soak up as much as I can.
Would be nice to design something at some point. I’ve designed a case before, but not a movement.
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That is a handsome piece. Getting over the bumps in the road along the way and completing your training is something to be proud of. Boy done good as the phrase went back in the day.
Tom I think the wave of positivity coming over in the above posts show you really have nailed this project. Its a tough audience on here, who value the intricacies and function of watch movements. Praise from them is worthy indeed.
Congratulations and every success in your next endeavour's.
Steve
Very nice, well done 👍
Most interesting post for a while, for sure!
Tom, congrats!
Looks great, congratulations.
Really refreshing to have a thread about a watch build project.
Nice one Tom. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post, thank you.
Really like that. Great job. What an experience and opportunity. Best of luck with the new career.
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That looks fantastic a really handsome watch and the movement is lovely.
Best of luck with the job.
Hi Tom, great work and thanks for sharing. Good luck with your future career.
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Interesting read and thanks for sharing the good and the bad. Are you able to tell us who you did your apprenticeship with and where you're working now?
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to roll your eyes one me. Doesn't change me being curious as to which companies put people through this kind of training. Can he not say because he doesn't want to which is fine or can he not say due to some contractual requirement?
Looks like tou done a great job. Liking the movement finish.
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That is stunning, fantastic work!
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That look great and well done on your apprenticeship.
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Thanks for the compliments everyone, I was blown away this morning.Thanks for taking the time out of your day to roll your eyes one me
Re. who I work for I don't think it's a contractual thing, although it does talk about social media, but more the brand's reputation and how my watch could influence that. I'd rather not say, but they've been very good to me and I'm very happy to have been trained and then to work for them.
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Absolutely fantastic to see and a lovely watch to show for your considerable efforts.
Looks great Tom, love the work!
Thank you Tom for taking the time to answer that. It's appreciated. Whatever the brand I'm sure their investment in you will be worth it if the above is anything to go by.
I think not naming the brand is probably for the best. You would become the forum’s unofficial contact for questions and complaints and I’m sure that would suck all the enjoyment from the job fairly quickly.
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read and respect what the OP wrote.Thanks for taking the time out of your day to roll your eyes one me
Excellent work and an interesting write-up. Nice looking watch too. Congratulations on your apprenticeship.
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
Love this - real watchmaking - very impressive. Very best for the future Tom
Oh look someone else actively taking time out their day to be negative towards someone else for no reason, thanks for your feedback 👍🏻
If you had read correctly, the courteous way would have been to send him a PM. He might have replied privately to a question he had politely declined to answer in his OP.
Instead you chose to ask in public, and now you're complaining for being shown the error of your ways. Nice.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Congratulations Tom on making your own watch and the movement looks really cool.
That is something, I could never do, as I don't have either the patience or the eyesight to fit the small parts.
Now, looking too the future, could I please ask you to contact me, when you start your own manufacture :-)
That way I am ahead of the game, when you become the modern day Philippe Dufour (My watchmaking hero) Roger Smith etc etc.
Well done, the industry needs fresh skills.
That's brilliant, must have been a proud moment putting it all together and seeing your watch run and look so good.
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