PREPARING FOR THE BIG EXAM!

                                                                      WEEK 73

Pierre Aubert, James Punshon, Jayne Zhuo

Origin : Sydney, Australia. Toulouse, France. Singapore.

Age : 38

Watchmaking class: Technician Course

Current mood: Hi everybody, Jayne here!

Our technician course is coming to a close :( It's hard to believe how far we have come! Had a full on week of preparing for our final exam, working on perfecting the 2892 and the 7750.

Hopefully everything goes smoothly on the day!

Will be sad when school is over, has been a blast!!

Wish us luck!

Name: Markus McDonald.
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden. 
Course: 2 years full skill course.
Current mode: This week I continued to expand the gear train module with last week focusing on getting back in and tackling both theory and servicing of the gear train, including the areas such as the barrel.

This week I continued with this section making tools and expanding the module to include the  end-shake and jewels.

This was a good week as I was not only able to tackle more of the technical aspect but get back into the routine whilst preparing for the gear train exam. 

Michael

Origin : Malaysia

Age : 28

Watchmaking class : 2 years Fullskill Program

Current Mood: After finishing the winding stem restoration, Henrik introduced to turn between the centres in the 8mm lathe and start making some pivot gauges. It was challenging to turn blue steel with HSS gravers. Looking forward to the actual burnishing of the pivot.

Alex

Origin : Kaohsiung, Taiwan 

Age : 27

Watchmaking : 2Y Fullskill Program

Current mood: Back to the school!!! Been preparing tools for the upcoming course as well as organizing notes. Gonna start practicing on the assembly and disassembly of some movements and shock absorbers!! Excited for what is to come!! 

                                                STEP 1: SPECIALIZED TOOLS! (MARKUS)

                                Markus making special supports for the horia jeweling tool

                                        STEP 2: DEAD CENTER TURNING! (MICHAEL)

                                     STEP 3: BACK TO THE DREAM! (PIERRE)

                                        Pierre started to make bridges for his school watch, using the jig-boring                                                    machine to drill the holes.

HENRIK's WORDS:

We are already preparing for the technician final exam, lots of overhauling of watches! Very intense week for sure! Michael got introduced to turning between dead centers, this is a very important skill for any watchmaker to obtain to the highest personal level as its one of the most important part of classical watchmaking, indeed one of the most important skills for the art of watchmaking! Alex got introduced to the technician course and we talked about screwdrivers tweezers and the shock-absorber manipulation. Markus is progressing well with the geartrain course and has covered all the different parts of it and will be ready soon for practice exams. See you next week and have a great weekend! 

BACK TO WORK!

 WEEK 72

Pierre Aubert, James Punshon, Jayne Zhuo

Origin : Sydney, Australia. Toulouse, France. Singapore.

Age : 38

Watchmaking class: Technician Course

Current mood: James here! First week back after a lovely Swiss summer break. Hardest part of this week was remembering where I put all my rodico!

Finished off our repair module this week, which for my self included a restoration of a 1920's Lemania Chronograph, which i really enjoyed. Strangely enough, this was made here in La Chaux-de-Fonds, but I purchased it in my home country of Australia. It made it around the world and back again!

Preparations have begun for the final exams. The next few weeks will be busy, but I think everyone is excited to show what we have learnt!

Until next time!

Name: Markus McDonald.
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden. 
Course: 2 years full skill course.
Current mode: This week: After a long and necessary holiday we returned back to school, this was a good change of pace for me as I was able to get back to the work. 

Specifically this week I continued to expand my knowledge of the gear train the engineering and the protocols. Specially altering, checking the wheels and servicing the barrel.

This although straightforward had certain complexities that made it a new experience being both challenging and rewarding.

Michael

Origin : Malaysia

Age : 28

Watchmaking class : 2 years Fullskill Program

Current Mood: It’s good to be back after the summer holiday. Managed to finish the winding stem restoration project. Firstly, calculate all the required dimensions using calipers and profile projector. Made a brass piece sample and a steel winding stem is then produced with better finishing and better fitting. I am very glad with the results although the polishing could be better. Looking forward to next week. More micro mechanics!  

Alex

Origin : Kaohsiung, Taiwan 

Age : 27

Watchmaking : 2Y Fullskill Program

Current mood: n.a.

STEP 1: REPAIRS! (PIERRE)

Pierre had an issue with one of his repairs, here he is analyzing if there was a problem coming from the escapement as the new Witschi timing machine has the possibility to compare both sides (entry and exit) noises, this gives us the possibility to compare the amplitudes, for entry and exit sides, for example, if one pallet had a deeper total lock it would have lower amplitude on that side of balance arc.

STEP 2: QUARTZ! (TECHNICIANS)

The technicians also learn to analyze quartz watches.

STEP 3: PRIVATE REPAIRS! (JAMES)

STEP 4: RESTORATION! (MICHAEL)

MICHAEL WORKING ON HIS RESTORATION PROJECT.

WITH THE REAL ONE AND THE BRASS PROTOTYPE

PROTOTYPE LOWER, UPPER IS THE REAL ONE.

HENRIK's WORDS:

First week of school after summer holidays! It feels great to be back at normal work again.This first week was also nice as we learn a lot of new things, Markus got introduced to two new subjects for the gear train course; inspecting wheels for faults and truing them in the flat as well as how to service the barrel with mainspring. The technicians also learn several new things; Automatic and calendar mechanisms, how to water resistance check a watch as well as how to do the final control of the completed watch repair, Michael completed his winding stem for an antique pocket watch where he had to learn how to design a new one as it was missing. During my break I also met with Peter from The Naked Watchmaker and we did some more projects together which was really nice! enjoy one here; https://www.thenakedwatchmaker.com/blog/2020/8/5/school-watches-le-locle-1941-1945 I also got invited to talk with Dan and Johnny at the In The Metal podcast That was a new experience for me as it was also live, you can find the talk here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoTAWSZHeOM it was very fun for sure! See you next week and have a great weekend!

SUMMER BREAK!

WEEK 68

The summer break arrived! This was our last week before we take our well deserved summer break. The Technicians continued to practice as much as possible on cases, dial and hands, and how to do the proper clean casing-up. Michael finished his final winding stem exam and started to design a winding stem for an antique pocket watch where it was missing. Alex continued with making some more pivot gauges after finishing his brass anvil and Markus continued studying the winding and setting mechanism and its lubrication. Today we also had our big summer clean and the school now looks like new again! See you in 3 weeks and enjoy the summer!

STEP 1: CASES! (TECHNICIAN) 

Vintage cases to practice case polishing on.

Pierre polishing a steel case.

James polishing an acrylic crystal.

Pierre water resistance testing a watch he just finished casing up.

SUMMER OUTING!

WEEK 67

Pierre Aubert, James Punshon, Jayne Zhuo

Origin : Sydney, Australia. Toulouse, France. Singapore.

Age : 38

Watchmaking class: Technician Course

Current mood: Hi Jayne here. Thought this week will end with a happy note of me servicing my first ever alarm watch with AS1475 movement. So excited with the idea of wearing it with alarm set for my last bus home. Sigh, just at the very last step of completion, I accidentally dropped the movement while setting the time and broke the pallet fork pivot. Guess now would be another good learning point. Yay that's why we are here for the course - to learn to fix things! Other than that, had a great time cleaning up the melted gasket of this vintage 1950s watch. It's all nice and shiny now, almost ready to be worn.

Name: Markus McDonald.
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden. 
Course: 2 years full skill course.
Current mode: This week was very interesting as I continued to build upon the fundamental with Both an Incabloc shock absorber exercise that focused on dexterity whilst disassembling the shock absorbers a crucial part of the watches anatomy that allows for accountancy and performance. 

An introduction to oiling, which is one of the most crucial skills in the technician section of this course and watchmaking as being able to evaluate which areas are in need of lubrication and applying the right amount of oil or grease is crucial in getting the time piece to run smoothly. In conclusion this week was both interesting and educational.

Michael

Origin : Malaysia

Age : 28

Watchmaking class : 2 years Fullskill Program

Current Mood: We went to Interlaken and hike half way up to the Rothorn peak at 2349.7m . It was a great school trip! Been doing trial exams on winding stem for this week. Looking forward to the real exam next week before summer holidays. 

Alex

Origin : Kaohsiung, Taiwan 

Age : 27

Watchmaking : 2Y Fullskill Program

Current mood: The semester is close to its end. Still have no plan for the upcoming vacation due to the outbreak. Anyhow, calling it a day for i am out of words. Until next week.

STEP 1: PRIVATE REPAIRS! (JAYNE, JAMES)

OLD ALARM WATCH WITH CALIBER AS 1475.

RUBBER SEAL MOLTEN AROUND THE EDGE OF THE CASE (BLACK APPEARING RING), THAT WILL BE NASTY TO REMOVE!

 CLEAN!

 DISASSEMBLED WATCH.

ASSEMBLING IT BACK AND LUBRICATION AFTER CLEANING.

 JAMES DISASSEMBLED CHRONOGRAPH FOR REPAIR.

JAMES SEARCHING FOR A MAINSPRING FOR HIS CHRONOGRAPH.

STEP 2: TECHNIQUES! (TECHNICIAN)

PRACTICING THE REMOVAL OF VERY TIGHT CHRONOGRAPH SECONDS HANDS, WITH SPECIAL TOOL!

A TINY PIN IS PUSHING THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE CENTER OF THE HAND ON THE CHRONOGRAPH RUNNER PIVOT WHILE THE HAND IS SUPPORTED UNDER, THEREFORE DAMAGE TO THE HAND CAN BE AVOIDED, THE PIN IS THEN SCREWED FURTHER DOWN ON THE PIVOT AND EFFECTIVELY PUSHING THE MOVEMENT AWAY FROM THE HAND. 

PIERRE PRACTICING HAND SETTING.

STEP 3: SUMMER OUTING! (ALL)

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY PIERRE!

THE BOAT WE WENT WITH TO BRIENZ, DEPARTING FROM INTERLAKEN.

CLASSIC WAY TO GO UP THE SUMMIT!

 VIEW FROM THE BOAT!

 THE STRAWBERRIES ON THE WAY UP WERE DELICIOUS!

THE VIEW! 

THE SUMMIT!

HENRIK's WORDS:

This week was very fun as we went on our summer outing, this year we went to Interlaken to go with boat to Brienz to hike to Planalp to take a steam train to take us to the Rothorn summit. Pierre had his birthday at the same time!

Otherwise work continues as usual, the technicians are working on private repairs very interesting ones! and also learning more how to deal with dial, hands and cases. Markus is moving on with the lubrication of the winding and setting mechanism and other similar work. Alex finished his brass anvil and Michael is now ready for next weeks final winding stem exam. Next week is also the last one before we go on our much deserved summer holiday! Have a great weekend everyone! 

SAV!

WEEK 66

Pierre Aubert, James Punshon, Jayne Zhuo

Origin : Sydney, Australia. Toulouse, France. Singapore.

Age : 38

Watchmaking class: Technician Course

Current mood: Pierre here! Very very busy but interesting week as we started the repair course! Private repairs are also part of the equation :)! We all learned a lot, but I have to admit that I am very much looking forward to the summer break..! I need to reset! Have a great weekend and see you next week guys!

Name: Markus McDonald.
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden. 
Course: 2 years full skill course.
Current mode: This week went well as I both reinforced the fundamentals and explored various calibers such as the ETA 6498, 7001 and 2824. 

This was very interesting as each caliber whilst sharing function and certain elements varied in design and size making each caliber an interesting puzzle and a different challenge.

The 2824 was the most challenging out of the calibers as the movement was a automatic/date, with the structure being completely different from the 6498. However I was able to finish and develop an understanding of it along with each caliber making the experience rewarding.

Michael

Origin : Malaysia

Age : 28

Watchmaking class : 2 years Fullskill Program

Current Mood: It has been a very tough week for me. Try to speed up to finish a winding stem in 8 hours time frame. Did a trial exam as well. Learnt to refresh thread die using diamond files under a microscope. Practice makes perfect. Looking forward to our Interlaken school trip next Monday!

Alex

Origin : Kaohsiung, Taiwan 

Age : 27

Watchmaking : 2Y Fullskill Program

Current mood: The week was long, been struggling with the brass anvil. Lady luck simply wouldn't smile on me with this one, whatever could have gone wrong went wrong. It was the worst week of my time here..... Anyhow, finished almost all the machining today except for the jig boring. I just want this to end...

STEP 1: BRASS ANVIL MACHINING! (ALEX)

BORING OUT THE DRILLED HOLE TO FINAL SIZE!

MILLING THE LARGE SINK!

MILLING SLOTS!

STEP 2: MR. SIMONIN! (JAYNE, JAMES, MICHAEL & ALEX)

STEP 3: CLIENT REPAIRS! (PIERRE)

MISSING SCREW AND DESTROYED BRIDGE FROM SCREW HITTING OSCILLATING WEIGHT.

BROKEN SCREW FOUND IN WATCH WRECKING HAVOC INSIDE THE MOVEMENT! IF AFTER DROPPING YOUR WATCH YOU HEAR A WEIRD NOISE FROM THE INSIDE WHEN MOVING IT ABOUT, BRING TO PROFESSIONAL WATCHMAKER.

 DIRTY AND WORN TEETH OF A WHEEL.

 PLENTY OF DIRT AND BRASS FILINGS! THIS IS THE REASON WHY MECHANICAL WATCHES NEED PROFESSIONAL CARE, AND SERVICE AT REGULAR INTERVALS, CLIENT HAD NO CLUE OF THE STATE OF HIS WATCH! 

 IF CLIENT CONTINUES TO WEAR THIS WATCH WITHOUT REPAIRING AND OVERHAULING IT, THIS DEVICE CALLED A SHOCK ABSORBER WILL DRY OUT AND THE LESS THAN 0.10  MM BALANCE STAFF PIVOTS RUNNING AT A FREQUENCY OF 28800 VPH WITHIN THE ABSORBER WILL CERTAINLY WEAR THEM OUT, WHICH WILL NEED A NEW BALANCE COMPLETE OR BALANCE STAFF IF AVAILABLE. LIKE A CAR NEEDS SERVICE AT REGULAR INTERVALS WATCHES NEED THAT TOO, THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT A CAR ONLY RUNS A FEW HOURS A DAY AND A WATCH RUNS ALL THE TIME! DONT FORGET TO TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR PRECIOUS THINGS IN LIFE! 

SPORTS USE!

STEP 4: CALIBERS! (JAMES)

JAMES LOOKING TO IDENTIFY THIS CHRONOGRAPH CALIBER, TO BE ABLE TO SOURCE SPARE PARTS. BESTFIT CATALOGUE WAS USED TO FIND IT. 

LANDERON 54!

STEP 5: NEW TECHNIQUES! (TECHNICIAN)

 JAMES TRYING OUT TO EXTRACT A CROWN TUBE FROM THE CASE.

PIERRE PRACTICING THE REMOVAL OF HANDS.

STEP 6: DIE RESTORATION! (MICHAEL)

AFTER MAKING A LOT OF THREADS FOR WINDING STEMS THE TOOL WILL GET WORN AND NEEDS RE-SHARPENING!

HENRIK's WORDS:

The technicians finished the chronograph course and are now working on servicing and repairing complete watches, they started the SAV (after sales service, service après vente) course this week and we covered a number of techniques around the dial, hands and the case. They all also brought private repairs from clients, family and friends to have repaired as well. We also had a visit to Mr. Simonin and his book and tool store nearby us, I got some nice stuff as well! Michael had his first winding stem practice exam and Alex is working on his brass anvil and got introduced how to use the boring tool in the jig boring machine. Next week will be interesting for sure as we also go on our summer outing 😊 See you next week and have a great weekend! 

STEP 7: ARTICLE! (HENRIK)

GOT A RESTORATION ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE HOROLOGICAL JOURNAL BY BHI, THANK YOU!