Why watches are so fascinating

[llsteve80]

Masterpiece Watches

Mechanical watches have always been a source of fascination for me. It is astonishing that someone could build something that is so small, and with so many parts that can still tell time accurately. But a watch is more than just an object that tells time, a watch can be technological masterpiece, a work of art, tell a story, or a combination of these things. The remarkable watches that are more than a device that tells time are all mechanical, meaning the entire watch is comprised of a conglomeration of gears, springs, levers, and other moving parts all working together to accurately reflect the passing of time. Many people take this for granted. What many may not realize is that clocks and watches were first produced before electricity was discovered. It is feasible, in our modern day, to have clocks with atomic accuracy, but that takes computers and advanced technology to accomplish. The heart of mechanical watches is a spring, and everything in the machine, or movement, is configured to display the correct time without the aid of computers or other modern technology. Some of these mechanical masterpieces have further complications, or features, that also enable the watch to tell the date, day, year and more. This all makes something to be appreciated, as all of this machinery must be able to fit on one’s wrist.

Some parts and features of a watch have names that are unfamiliar to most. The dial is what has the numbers on it, sometimes called the face. The minutes, hours, and seconds are portrayed by hands that point to a specific location on the dial to show what time it is. The hands are run by the movement, which refers to the mechanism that drives the watch and regulates time. This is all contained in the case, which keeps the elements from destroying the delicate movement. Some watches also have extra features, such as date, day, stopwatch and any other feature that does something besides tell time. These additional functions are referred to as complications. One example of an often unheard of complication is the tourbillion, which is where the balance or heart of the watch rotates around an axis in order to compensate for the effect of gravity on the already delicate part that is essential to keeping accurate time.

About 300 years before electricity was even used, between 1500 and 1510, the first portable clock, what could perhaps be known as a watch appeared. No known specimens of these original watches exist today. These watches were worn on a chain around the neck. None of the watches made between the 1500’s and 1900’s were exactly alike, as they were all handmade. Every single part had to be made by hand, one watch at a time, without the aid of modern tools and machinery. Complete mastery of how clocks and watches worked was needed in order make one that worked accurately. Watches were made individually like this up until the 1850’s, when an American company started making machined parts that were interchangeable. This eventually led to the capability to make wristwatches, what we generally think of as watches today, available when they were first necessitated due to portability during World War I. Men in the trenches found it easier to strap a watch on to their wrists than to fish around in the pocket for one. Prior to the war, it was only fashionable for women to wear wristwatches.

An early example of handmade ingenuity is the repeater watch, which would “repeat” the hours, quarter hours, and minutes audibly. This is a technological masterpiece because the repeater originated in the days when people didn’t have an effective method of seeing watches after dark since electricity was not discovered yet. The first repeaters were produced sometime in the early 1700’s. Repeater watches work by a mechanism in the movement that has two hammers that strike the case or another part designed to act as a bell. The first hammer strikes the hours, 7:00 will be 7 strikes, then the other hammer, which strikes at a different pitch strikes the quarter hours, 7:30 will be 7 strikes, then 2 strikes, and finally the two hammers alternate to strike the minutes. One innovation included a pin that protruded from the watch that would strike the owners thumb when pressed, silencing the chime and allowing them to tell the time from their pocket. This mechanical innovation is important to note because it appeared before even the first light bulb was invented. It is amazing to think somebody was able to make something so complicated yet still fit in one’s pocket before Benjamin Franklin ever even flew his iconic kite in the thunderstorm. Repeating watches are great examples of early technological masterpieces.

While repeating watches are early examples of technological masterpieces, the Rolex Daytona is an early example of a watch that tells a story. When a collector hears “Daytona,” they think of a story. The Daytona is a chronograph, or watch with stopwatch function added to it. The early models of the Daytona are referred to as “Paul Newman” Daytonas, which refer to Daytonas produced before 1989, when a new design was introduced (Massena, 2001). According to legend, Paul Newman wore one of these models in the 1969 racing movie Winning. Another theory is that he wore one of these Daytonas in the poster for the movie, neither which has been confirmed. (Newman himself does not recall how his name got attached to the watch). The only things confirmed are that Newman was a racing fan, and that he had owned several Daytonas in his lifetime. While the Daytona was not the first chronograph created, it may be the most famous. Rolex called their chronograph the cosmograph, and added markers to the outer rim of the case to help out race car drivers and their crews in calculating average lap speeds, hence the name Daytona, referring to the race track at Daytona Beach, FL. How Paul Newman’s name got attached to the watch may be a mystery, but Newman wore a Rolex for over 30 years and was an avid racing fan. Besides being a racing fan and actor, Newman was a known philanthropist in his day. His brand of salad dressing, Newman’s own, has donated over 125 million dollars to charity. In 1995, Newman won a race sponsored by Rolex; the Rolex 24H and received a new Daytona, which had the inscription “Rolex 24H at Daytona, Paul Newman, Rolex Motorsports Man of the Year, 1995.” Newman donated this prize to a charity auction, sponsored by Antiquorum, a watch auction house four years later. It is not hard to see how collectors gravitated towards naming such a legendary watch after such a legendary man. He won races, was a famous actor, and a notable philantropist. All of the history behind the watch and the man makes the Daytona one of the most iconic watches available, besides telling time, to many, it tells a story of timelessness, charity, and the life of a very inspirational man.

Paul Newman, and The Paul Newman Daytona. Newman appears to be wearing his namesake watch in this picture.

If the Daytona is the exemplary watch telling a story, the Patek Philippe Calibre 89 is the exemplary watch that is a work of art and a technological masterpiece. The Patek Cal 89, finished in 1989 to celebrate watch company Patek Philippe’s 150 year anniversary contains 1728 parts including 24 hands. The 3 pound pocket watch has 33 complications, including full calendar, leap year indicator, dual time zone, thermometer, moon phase indicator, time of sunrise and sunset for the given day, what day Easter will fall on, and even a star chart. It can be argued that something of this magnitude is also a technological masterpiece. Only four were produced, one each in platinum, white gold, yellow gold and rose gold. After construction of the watches, all the machinery used to produce them, as with all of the machinery for their limited edition watches was destroyed. All four were purchased by an unidentified royal family, but were later split up. This watch, with its almost unimaginable amount of parts and complications is truly a work of art. These watches took nine years to create, and necessitated an amount of craftiness, an art, and skill to produce. It is amazing to acknowledge all of these parts working together in harmony to display so many different complications at the same time. Patek Philippe spending nine years on this masterpiece watch is akin to Michelangelo spending years on his masterpiece, David.

The front and back of the Patek Cal 89, respectively. Notice the star chart on the back as well as the date on the front with leap year indicator, noting how many years until leap year.

While the Patek Cal 89 is a masterpiece and work of art pocket watch, a master watchmaker named Paul Gerber created the world’s most complicated wristwatch. Besides the obvious difference of being a wristwatch, the watch built by Gerber was made by an individual, not a company. The watch was specially commissioned by Lord Arran, who wanted to add additional functions to an already complicated watch. This would prove to be difficult, and needed both time and effort to complete. Gerber worked on one function alone, the chronograph, for eight years. The total time from start to finish to design, assemble, and test this watch is 14 years (Bosse, 2003, p4). Just the amount of time needed to finish this masterpiece is impressive. The watch is one of a kind, set in a platinum case, containing a chronograph, power reserve indicator, calendar, and minute repeater. The base of the watch is a 100 year old irreplaceable movement for which there are no blueprints or designs (Bosse, 2003, p3).Gerber had to carefully measure each dimension of this base in order to be able to design parts for it. Most of the parts were made specifically for this watch, and will likely never be used in any other. One part, the tourbillion, is at the time of Bosse’s article, the world’s smallest. The end result is a one of a kind masterpiece that required skill and artistry to create. This watch is both a work of art and a technological masterpiece; furthermore, one man had to pour 14 years into perfecting it in order to make sure it was done correctly on the first try, as there would be no other tries available. Gerber’s ultra complicated watch is definitely one of a kind, and is the perfect example of artistry and mastery in the world of watches.

The ultra complicated movement of Gerber’s creation. This is only the back; much more is hidden in between here and the dial. The golden wheel on the bottom left is the tourbillon, the smallest ever made for a watch. This is what the watch looks like assembled, with a see through case back designed to show off the movement.

Another watch that portrays both skill and artistry is the Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon. This watch features a multi-axis tourbillion. Again, a tourbillion is a watch in which the main time keeping part rotates around an axis to compensate for the differences in gravity when one moves their wrist. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon takes the concept a step further, with the balance rotated around multiple axis (DeCorte, 2005, Part 1). Ron DeCorte, a watchsmith, moderator, and author at perhaps the most respected watch collector community website, was able to have an inside look at this limited edition watch before it hit the market. In his article on the experience he states “The Gyrotourbillon (Gyro) is the brainchild of Eric Coudray and designer Magali Métrailler. Their collaboration of engineering and design is cased in a modest sized platinum package that is easy on the eyes and the wrist. Visually, the complex mechanical attributes of the Gyro are presented in a mature and natural way without being overly dramatic or busy. Internally, the complexity is mind- boggling, having almost 600 parts and requiring a totally new engineering direction from top to bottom. The Gyro will be produced in a limited series of 75 watches, total, over the next 5 years.” Besides the one of a kind gyrotourbillon, the watch also has a calendar and a feature called a power reserve that shows how many days power are left before the owner has to wind the watch. One thing that makes tourbillons hard to produce is that they require a larger amount of power than traditional watches. The gyrotourbillon is even more complicated of a piece of machinery so it needs even more than the traditional tourbillon. Interestingly, the time we read can be different than solar time, or the time that would be found on a sundial. The Gyrotourbillon has a “solar” hand, that refers to what time it is according to the sun, which is off by a maximum of 16 minutes, the difference in our actual time being due to the Earth’s semi-elliptical orbit around the sun. This watch actually is able to figure out, with the help of the calendar, what time a sun dial would show on any given date. Further complicating the movement is that the calendar is perpetual, meaning that it automatically compensates for leap year. All of these complications, fitted into an object that fits on the wrist are a display of craftsmanship and skill. Even more, the designers were able to add all of these things together in a manner that is pleasing to the eye, which also makes it a work of art.

This is the JLC Gyrotourbillon, in its Platinum case. To fully appreciate this watch, it is best to see a video of the complicated gyrotourbillon. One can be found here:

These watches, while they still tell time, all have another purpose. They reflect ingenuity, craftsmanship, artistry and history. The minute repeater was introduced in a time where people usually did not have portable light, a time before electricity, the Daytona reminds people of Paul Newman and his connection with racing, philanthropy, and of course Rolex, and the Patek and Gerber watches show the world what can be done with skill and craftsmanship. Watches like these are collectable and important for their various reasons. Whether they are works of art, technological masterpieces, or tell an amazing story, they are all more than something that just serves the purpose to tell time.

[T-MAN]

Wow!! Did you stay up all night to write this or is this an article from somewhere? If you wrote this, this is publishable material. Congrats!

In addition to the reasons you give that watches are great, (eg masterpiece work of art, tell a story, etc) which I agree with all, is that a watch is one of, if not the only, acceptable pieces of jewelry for men in every culture, profession and circle of society.

[cornerstone]

Fascinating post!

[maxman]

Very Interesting read,some great Infomation here. Thanks for taking the time and making the effort,nice job.

[llsteve80]

T-MAN, yes, I wrote this for a class a few years ago, I was worried about posting it online right away because the school runs everything through copyscape and some other similar tool, and they can use the paper for up to a year for education, so I didn't want them finding me on here. I totally agree about watches being one of the only acceptable pieces of jewelery for men too, unless you are married.

Thanks to everyone else too.

[plaifender]

amazing. GREAT writing there!

[T-MAN]

T-MAN, yes, I wrote this for a class a few years ago, I was worried about posting it online right away because the school runs everything through copyscape and some other similar tool, and they can use the paper for up to a year for education, so I didn't want them finding me on here. I totally agree about watches being one of the only acceptable pieces of jewelery for men too, unless you are married.

Thanks to everyone else too.

I was going to mention wedding rings being the other acceptable form of jewelry for men but then in some cultures/religion it is not worn. For example even though in Islam wearing a wedding ring for men is fine and is no problem, wearing gold for men is not fine and many men choose not to wear rings for this and some other reasons and in some families/regions wearing one would be looked down upon although a watch would not. Hence my statement about every culture, profession and circle of society

Great article.

[Jetpac]

That post pretty much summed up my facination with watches! i dont think i could add any more to it!

Thanks for adding the bit about the JLC Gyrotourbillon ive never seen that before, thats incredible!

do they make any decent reps of that watch?

Edited December 6, 2010 by Jetpac

[llsteve80]

That post pretty much summed up my facination with watches! i dont think i could add any more to it!

Thanks for adding the bit about the JLC Gyrotourbillon ive never seen that before, thats incredible!

do they make any decent reps of that watch?

I wish, I don't think I've even seen a crappy rep of this watch. The gyro is just too complicated to pull off, I think I read something about a 10 hour assemble for just that part. Any rep would be glaringly inaccurate.

If anyone is interested, I've attached the bibliography to this post in a .txt file. I'm sure many of you read some of these articles already. Most of my sources are from the web, there is a severe lack of books that are readily available on the subject.

bibliography.txt

[PeteM]

That is a great write up mate Thank you for sharing

Though I would disagree based on my own research with the historically aspect of the wristwatch within that piece most notably in respect of its use and beginnings around the First World War.

I would interested to know how you used this or its context in relation to what you were teaching and who it was for?

PS I have never seen the word Conglomeration used so poetically !!

[Lobster]

this is a fantastic write up. truly sums up the rationale for many people here to collect time pieces.

it's amazing that it does not matter whether the watch is gen or rep, some of us are just proud of the work we put into acquiring or building a watch.

watches, at least mechanical ones, are indeed timeless for me. Mechanical art and human genius.