The "Doctor" is Always In!

Watches for “Lefties”

All year long, left handed people have to live in a world that is made for “righties”. Doors, desks, tools, and so many other things in this world are designed for the convenience of righties. Have you ever seen a leftie write with a pen or pencil on a piece of paper? Odds are, they ended up smearing the ink all over the paper! Life for lefties isn’t always easy… Read More

The history of Mickey Mouse and other Disney watches

While the Disney Company of today may be a merchandising machine, it was not always this way. The early days of the Disney brothers’ company saw them often strapped for cash, prompting Walt Disney to first sell merchandising rights of Mickey Mouse to a man he me in a hotel lobby who wanted to sell writing tablets featuring the famous mouse — Disney earned $300 cash from this first deal… Read More

What is a bumper automatic watch?

Imagine making a device that won’t ever need charged or a new battery. What would it look like? What would it do? That’s exactly the thought behind automatic watches. The self-winding timepieces keep working through everyday use and the wearer’s natural motion.  A bumper movement is a type of self-winding, automatic movement. However, unlike a modern automatic, which has the rotor spins a full 360 degrees, a bumper moves back and.. Read More

A little about the Rolex Calibre 3235 movement

The Caliber 3235 is actually not a completely new movement. Instead, it is a new generation movement. it continues to build on the already existing 3135 movement.     The Rolex Caliber 3235 was officially released at Baselworld 2015 Rolex has replaced more than 90% of the parts of the prior caliber the 3135. In the new design of the 3235 Rolex’s criteria as a Superlative Chronometer is twice as exact.. Read More

A little bit about Russian and Soviet watches

Watches come in all shapes, sizes, colors and are manufactured all over the world. This week we’re going to look at the watches of Russia. Soviet watches and clocks have had an important history in timekeeping, as they provided time signals for navigation and targeting by aircraft and naval vessels, timed world chess matches, coordinated traffic on Trans-Siberian Railroad and were the first timepieces in space. One of the most.. Read More

What is a World Time Watch?

Some people travel a lot and need to keep tabs on different time zones at different hours of the day. A world time watch accomplishes a similar task to the GMT or dual timezone; it shows the wearer a time zone in an area of the world other than home. A  GMT watch can only monitor one other selected time zone, the world timer shows the time for the main 24 time zones.. Read More

It’s hip to be a square with these watches

In the band’s 1986 smash hit, Huey Lewis and the News famously sang it’s hip to be square. The single reached No. 3 on the Billboard charts, but that was 35 years ago. So is it still hip to be a square? If you’re following along with recent watch trends, then the answer might be yes. Watches, since their inception, have typically come with rounded faces. Clocks are circular, after all… Read More

What is a LeCoultre Reverso?

Many watches trace their roots to functionality over form before eventually evolving into elaborate, expensive timepieces. Likewise, many watches also have roots in sport. The Reverso is no different. First introduced in 1931, this watch was made specifically for British Army officers playing polo in India. The officers needed something that would tell them the time, yet also would hold up to the constant bobbing, swinging and other movements associated.. Read More

What is a Rolex Thunderbird?

In 1953, Rolex unveiled the Turn-O-Graph ref. 6202 model.  The inaugural Turn-O-Graph ref. 6202 was actually the first serially-produced Rolex wristwatch to feature a rotating bezel. The Turn-O-Graph watch was positioned as a device that offered an easier way to measure and record time. This new principle consists of a bezel around the watch face. This bezel is marked from zero to sixty and is easily turned by hand. To.. Read More

My medal stand watches: The gold, silver and bronze timepieces

Since we are right in the middle of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, I thought that it would be a good time for me to list my top three favorite watches.  I have been a watchmaker since 1977 and have done thousands of repairs. I have worked on just about every good mechanical watch that I can think of — everything from a Bulova to a Rolex.  Like any technician,.. Read More