Following the thread about the new Journe chronometer, I'll open a discussion about what a chronometer is with some random historical jottings. A chronometer shows the correct time at all times. Imagine the following situation: - A watch gains 8 seconds during the day, but by leaving it dial-up over
Clock pendulums were traditionally referred to in terms of the time to make one half-swing (eg from left to right), probably because most of the escapements acted on both the L->R and R->L swings and you design the wheel train to count the "ticks". A pendulum with a half-swing of one second and a cl
Just for the sake of being difficult... An automatic has several advantages: the stem seal is less susceptible to leaks due to wear, less wear on the crown wheel etc, less risk of damage due to careless or rough winding, can get away with a much smaller winder so there's less rick of damage to your
When I'm wearing my pragmatists hat I prefer automatics for a variety of good technical reasons. When I'm in my more normal minimalist less-is-better mood I go for hand wound. When I'm wearing my realists hat I go for quartz. Alex
I think it's an incredibly personal thing: we can suggest a zillion possibilities, but it's his ideas and how it looks in the flesh that count. Also, think about servicing costs etc, you don't want to lumber the guy with something that costs an arm and a leg and six months to service, especially if
Today had been a long day in the workshop, partly finishing off building it, and partly doing some work on something I'm making. I know there are people here who consider a Greubel Forsey single-tourbillion a beater (they keep the multi-whatsit one for best) but I never wear a watch when I 'm doing
I've hesitated posting this, but here goes... I got into watches about a decade ago through wanting to understand how they worked. This led to some intensive reading as I tried to get more knowledge. Then I discovered chronometry which led to precision clocks which led to me actually working on them