Beads and jewels


How Watch Making Has Changed

Before wristwatches became ubiquitous in ouremery.
society, pocket watches were the standard for
personal timekeeping. The first pocket watchGemstones like garnet, rubies, sapphires and
is thought to have been made in Germanydiamond. Garnets would be cut with diamond
towards the end of the fifteenth century.points into tiny disks and would then be set
Bearing a close resemblance to thein  tiny  plates  of  gold.
traditional clock, early pocket watches
operated in very much the same manner asThe intricate process of assembly the works
their  clock  cousins.required precisely made screws and other
components that would often be plated or heat
A deviation from traditional clock designs,treated by hand. The small gears were stamped
pocket watches used the combination of afrom brass using very precisely made dies and
mainspring, hairspring and a balance wheel.springs  were  formed  from fine spring wire.
This is in contrast to traditional clock
designs that used a swinging pendulum andDial faces were similarly stamped out of a
counter  weights.base metal, enameled and the markings
stenciled in place and the dial would be
Like today's wristwatches, pocket watchesfired again. Once fully assembled, the
consist of two main components, the innerfinished watch was subjected to cold
works and a metal case. Many different metalstemperatures of around forty degrees
were used for early pocket watchcasesFahrenheit and then exposed to higher
including gold and silver. The case wastemperatures up to around one hundred degrees
usually of a two piece clamshell design. TheFahrenheit. This process was undoubtedly used
cases of early watches were impervious toto test the watch in different temperature
dirt and moisture, which meant the watches,extremes  to  ensure  consistent  operation.
needed a good bit regular cleaning. As time
went on, other less expensive metals wereLike countless other consumer products, the
used for case works including mild steel andway in which modern wrist watches are
pot  metal.manufactured has undergone incredible changes
since the Industrial Revolution that broke
The inner works of the early pocket watchduring the turn of twentieth century. This
contained a number of gears and wheels heldimportant period in world history ushered in
in place between two metal plates. The lowerentirely new ways to mass produce products
plate or pillar plate rests next to the dialfor a growing world population. In every
while the upper plate might have come in twofacet of manufacturing there were incredible
pieces though the best made watches utilizedtechnological advances that improved
a single piece upper plate. The plates wereefficiencies and helped reduce production
precisely drilled and bored to hold the othercosts.
components  in  the  proper  place.
Most of us have heard about the way Henry
To prevent wear of the moving parts, hardFord changed the way automobiles were built
gemstones were used with the moving pegs orby developing the production line assembly
axles. There were four wheels in the worksmethod. Cars would constantly roll off the
known as the barrel wheel, the first wheel,Ford assembly line, as workers would fit
the second wheel and the third wheel. Thevarious parts to the chassis in a precise
barrel wheel is used as the attachment fororder  and  within  a  predetermined  time.
the  mainspring.
What few of us think about are the other
The motion is transmitted by the uncoiling ofchanges that made this type manufacturing
the spring and is regulated by the escapementoperation possible. Critical to the success
that is kept moving by the combined action ofof the mass production line was the
the mainspring and the hairspring providingdevelopment of standardized parts, components
an oscillating movement. The wheel that hasthat  are  nearly  identical  to  each other.
sixty gear teeth around the circumference
engages the escapement wheel and transmitsPrior to the development of mass production
motion to the minute hand. It also meshesassembly lines, most mechanical assemblies,
into the pinion of the center wheel thatincluding watches were built from components
transmits  motion  to  the  hour  hand.that were made individually most often by
different producers. This meant that very
Movement is controlled by a lever that isoften, parts from one machine be it a car,
connected to the hairspring. By moving thelocomotive or sewing machine, could be not be
lever to the left or the right, the tensionused  on  another  machine.
of  the  hairspring  is increased or reduced.
As other watch producers adopted the practice
The plates of the works were made from plateof parts standardization and integrated
stock of steel or brass and would go throughquality control, the reliability of wrist
a series of machining operations that wouldwatches was greatly increased. The use of
include being placed on a pantograph machinestandardized components meant that those
which would exactly copy dimensions from aparts that subject to wear did so in more
master part to the part being machined. Afterconsistent and predictable way, requiring far
machining, the plates would be polished usingless maintenance and repair than those
several types of abrasive materials liketimepieces assembled as one of kind items.



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