Remembrance tricks

[Neverenoughwatches]

I seen a few of these ideas but scratching and marking up the movement this badly . Each end piece has a corresponding mark on the plate. Its not quite the same as service marks,but goes back to today's discussion about watch repair standard. Clearly a professional trick.

[spectre6000]

Are they not identical?

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

Are they not identical?

You would think so, i guess the repairer was just making sure not to mix them up in case not. Possible cap height difference. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Neverenoughwatches

[Waggy]

I've come across a few movements where the person before me has scratched in numbers on the plates, in a huge size... seeing this you know you are in for a rollercoaster ride of a repair/refurb.

[oldhippy]

Repairers used all sorts of practices/ ideas. What the customer couldn't see the repairer got away with.      

[Neverenoughwatches]

5 hours ago, Waggy said:

I've come across a few movements where the person before me has scratched in numbers on the plates, in a huge size... seeing this you know you are in for a rollercoaster ride of a repair/refurb.

So far its looking ok , just one dial foot that had an attempted gluing back on. But 4 service marks on the caseback, i just thought the deep scratch marks were a bit extreme when each end piece could have been popped in a labelled container.

1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

Repairers used all sorts of practices/ ideas. What the customer couldn't see the repairer got away with.      

Just us ocd hobbyists that get upset about it years later, its not exactly a Patek.

[Jon]

On 12/7/2023 at 10:08 AM, Neverenoughwatches said:

But 4 service marks on the caseback, i just thought the deep scratch marks were a bit extreme when each end piece could have been popped in a labelled container.

I agree, there's no excuse not to put them in individual marked pots. I don't even scratch a service date into a caseback, because if you think about it, who does that benefit? The customer can never see it to tell when the watch was last serviced. The invoice will tell them that and most of the time it's not just a date, which means nothing to the next guy servicing the watch. It just devalues the watch as a whole by scratching anything anywhere on a case or movement, but I'm a bit of  a purist when it comes to stuff like that

[VWatchie]

On 12/7/2023 at 11:08 AM, Neverenoughwatches said:

Just us ocd hobbyists that get upset about it years later, its not exactly a Patek.

I try to think of every watch I work on as invaluable as it very well could be to the owner (which is mostly myself ), but I get you!

[Neverenoughwatches]

39 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

I try to think of every watch I work on as invaluable as it very well could be to the owner (which is mostly myself ), but I get you!

I think its best not to pick up any bad habits regardless of what watch it might be. A short cut attitude can become the norm if you let it get out of control.

[LittleWatchShop]

2 hours ago, Jon said:

I agree, there's no excuse not to put them in individual marked pots. I don't even scratch a service date into a caseback, because if you think about it, who does that benefit? The customer can never see it to tell when the watch was last serviced. The invoice will tell them that and most of the time it's not just a date, which means nothing to the next guy servicing the watch. It just devalues the watch as a whole by scratching anything anywhere on a case or movement, but I'm a bit of  a purist when it comes to stuff like that

A certain watch shop I know, writes a code in the case back with a permanent marker (sharpie).  They keep a database of the codes so that they can record the service history. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Jon said:

I agree, there's no excuse not to put them in individual marked pots. I don't even scratch a service date into a caseback, because if you think about it, who does that benefit? The customer can never see it to tell when the watch was last serviced. The invoice will tell them that and most of the time it's not just a date, which means nothing to the next guy servicing the watch. It just devalues the watch as a whole by scratching anything anywhere on a case or movement, but I'm a bit of  a purist when it comes to stuff like that

There was more on the dial side on the retention plates for the date ring. Maybe the guy was old  and just had a crappy memory, couldn't be bothered to write notes or sketches or label up separately.  It's an old mid 50's design movement so before photographing was such an easy process, we take that for granted these days. Poor old guy might have had a dozen watches stripped down on his bench, struggling to make a living and here we are slagging him off 60 years later .

[watchweasol]

Hi. Exactly so NEW,  when I started there was no videos , no internet. What you learnt was from the few books you could lay your hands on  and working on old watches and clocks.  There were no scopes cameras and no high magnification it was all done with a loupe. I got my bits from. T.G Loaders,  watchmakers supply co or AG Thomas by snail mail although it was faster than today’s post as long as Dick Turpin was on holiday.  You made mistakes of course but as parts were hard to get and a long wait not many. The old adage.   Measure twice. Cut once.      Today we have a vast array of help, plentiful access to parts and  books, tools we all take for granted. So spare a thought for the old guys of long ago and not so long ago trying to make a living.

[rossjackson01]

7 hours ago, watchweasol said:

So spare a thought for the old guys of long ago and not so long ago trying to make a living.

My thoughts are with you

[RichardHarris123]

Whilst I totally agree, no one realised in the past that things were difficult, it was as it was.  We all remember the Yellow Pages or other nationalities equivalents, we knew no better or at least had no other option.  The Internet has made searching things much easier and videos to watch, instead of 2d drawings are a great help, also cheap ( at least relatively) microscopes, make life easier.  The skills of watch repair though, haven't changed for hundreds of years. 

[watchweasol]

Hi the skills are the same but partaking in the horological art has got much simpler interning terms  of information and teaching guides. We had none of Marks courses back then  it was down to brain power and observation.

[LittleWatchShop]

22 minutes ago, watchweasol said:

Hi the skills are the same but partaking in the horological art has got much simpler interning terms  of information and teaching guides. We had none of Marks courses back then  it was down to brain power and observation.

I often think about my dad fixing watches every day. No camera, no videos, no internet...

[rossjackson01]

44 minutes ago, watchweasol said:

Hi the skills are the same but partaking in the horological art has got much simpler interning terms  of information and teaching guides. We had none of Marks courses back then  it was down to brain power and observation.

I have nothing but admiration for you and your ilk. How you learned is great anathema to me. 

I have 3 books on watchmaking and have not understood beyond the foreword. Even now, after two years of practice I struggle. I have always learned visually and physically. I see, I learn, I do, I learn. YouTube and the internet courses have allowed me to understand and at this stage be able to work on watches , not with great skill yet, but as a result I can practice what is preached by others.

Thank goodness for you and colleagues of your standing who give so much to us novices. Don't stop.

Regards

 Toss

[VWatchie]

8 hours ago, rossjackson01 said:

I have 3 books on watchmaking and have not understood beyond the foreword.

I have to agree with you here. Understanding books by for example De Carle and Fried takes quite a bit of effort, and some of the material is no longer relevant or relevant to the areas you are currently interested in. Also, as a beginner, it's difficult to assess what's relevant and what's not depending on current practices and what you're trying to accomplish. Without the Internet, I'm not at all sure I would have managed to get as far as I have.

[Waggy]

6 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

Without the Internet, I'm not at all sure I would have managed to get as far as I have.

Agree completely with your comments, if I get stuck my first point of call is an internet/YouTube search, followed closely by a post here, whilst I am waiting for one of the gurus on here to respond I will turn to the books. The other way I use the books is to dig a little deeper on something I already understand (or think I do!). So I use the books as a learning tool or backup to the internet, If I had to learn something new from them I'd find it very difficult if not impossible.