Any fellow Horologists out there?
 

Over the past year I have been getting into the hobby of studying and collecting watches. Not just any old quartz digital watches but old style mechanical ones. This seem kind of silly like collecting jewelry but allow me to explain by example (below image).

PATEK CALIBER 240 MOVEMENT
-Automatic winding (no battery, microchips, or electrical wires)
-27 quartz jewels
-200+ parts but only 3.75mm thick
-Perpetual calender (does not need a date change on the 31st of the month like most non-digital watches)

As much into computers as I am, I find things like to be amazing. Mechanical ingenuity at its best. No computer chip or button-shaped battery in sight. Not to mention that all of the best watches and movements are entirely hand-crafted. Overall I would say I see beauty in this, much like a car fanatic sees beauty in an old SS muscle car without the need of a computer to guide it. Does anyone else feel this way, or is my new found obsession silly?

Some of my favorite watch makers:

Patek Phillipe
Corum
Chopard

These are just some examples of fine watches that I have seen.

I don't think collecting jewelry is silly but that's beside the point. What you are collecting are some of the finest examples of machinery and precision craftsmanship, available. Most people don't have the background to appreciate how difficult it is to build, or even design, something this precise. :thumpsup:

I think it is an awesome pursuit. I'm something of a time (not necessarily clock, but *time*) fanatic. Therefore, I have an inherent interest in timekeeping devices.

Mechanical watches are incredible, almost unbelievable examples of human ingenuity. It is no wonder that the standard Christian ipso-facto example of intelligent design for the universe is the old saw that "if you put the pieces of a watch into a box and shook it, no matter how long you shook it, you'd never end up with a working watch."

Of course, no one has actually tried shaking a box for four billion years, now, have they?

-27 quartz jewels
Just curious how there can be 27 quartz jewels and not 28 , is both sides ( top and bottom) considered a full quartz movement ????

Cool hobby !!!! Mechacanical watches are art as far as I am concerned !!!!

I have my dads Omega Automatic water proof seamaster from WAY back in the day , still works , still keeps exelant time . I am afaraid to open it up .

Zip, couldn't a shaft going through an intermediate plate have a jewel in the center as well as each end? That would make an odd number. But I'm assuming there is no standard number of jewels because of different designs. :confused:

But Bruce , jewel on jewel would scratch the jewels , where jewel on hardened steel would whear properly ?? Just curiouse ???

I believe this is caused by the jewel placed on the Arbor bearing (part of the winding mechanism of the main spring). Watches with more than arbor would have an even amount of jewels. Also, 27 jewels is a common number used in many watches, including the higher quality battery-powered ones. Its all based on the number of common friction points present in the watch movement.

I have seen jewel on jewel used before but its rare (does not fit in with common movement designs). The jewels are beveled to a round shape to reduce contact and lubricated with a very small amount of specially made oil. The jewels (mostly rubies or quartz) greatly increase the life of the internal parts of the watch.

It's a big trade over here. I remember one day I made a grave error in my travel plans and ended up stuck in Geneva airport overnight (long sotry). At any rate the few of us that were wandering around eventully sat down and started chatting, it's just something that happens. Turns out one of the guys is a professional watch trader, colleting oddities across eastern europe and bring them back at a fiar margin. His last trip had gone a bit awry.

During WW2 a shipment of military issue Rolex's bound of England was stolen from an airport in Corsica, these watches are specially marked, very unique and very valuable. Ever since they have been occasionally surfacing all over Corsica. This guy manages to track two of them down, ends up sending some time over there, shacks up with this girl. Girl has another guy, guy raids apartment, chases guy and then proceeds to stalk him all the way across europe, phoning him every now and then, telling him where he is and how he's going to kill him. Police were useless, he's dodging onto trains, taxis, busses. He managed to give him the slip in Austria and is taking the first plane in the morning to New York. He had nearly 40 watches with him, tiny incredibly intricate ones, the 2 military rolexs, all sorts, was amazing. I think in total somewhere around 60k worth. i was honestly tempted to purchase a couple, there was some beautiful things in there.

Sorry that was entirely off topic but it's just a random travel tale that came to mind.