Today we take for granted that a watch can tell time, have an alarm, able to check your email, act as a phone and a whole host of other cool features.  Back in the late 80’s most of these ideas were still in the “science fiction category”.  Then along came Casio and they introduced watches that were way ahead of their time.  With the introduction of the Calculator watch, we.. Read More

When energy is stored in the mainspring, by winding, the train wheels begin to turn. This energy is carried from the barrel through the center, third and fourth wheels to the escape wheel. Considering the escapement as a unit, it can be seen that the escape wheel supplies the power, whereas the pallet transfers the rotary motion of the escape wheel into a back and forth motion of the pallet… Read More

Watches with “Complications” are some of the coolest timepieces sold today. I thought that this blog post would look over some watches that do a bit more than just tell time. Most of the complex tasks done by these watches are done with the Bezel.  A Bezel is the outer metal ring surrounding the watches crystal. This ring would have various numbers or markings and can rotate in one or.. Read More

There’s an indicator in your car showing when the fuel is about to run out and it’s time for us to head to the gas station. The power reserve indicator has a similar function in mechanical watches, showing the amount of power still reserved. In 1948, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced a power reserve indicator designed for production in a series of watches called the Powermatic which utilized the LeCoultre Caliber 481. Thus, Jaeger-LeCoultre was  the first watchmaking company.. Read More

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

I receive phone calls and emails every week from customers that tell me their watch is not running well and they haven’t had it serviced in “many years”.  They are sometimes proud that they have worn their pride and joy for 20 plus years and never had it serviced.  I try and explain to them that although it is nice to hear that the watch is still running well, this.. Read More

I had the opportunity this month to work on one of these beautiful watches, so I thought that it would make a great blog post. This watch is a fantastic timepiece, well make and just a real beauty.  It is based on the Hamilton 992B movement with the chronograph function added.  Here is the progression of advances of the Hamilton 992B line of watches. Basic Hamilton 992B Hamilton 4992B Hamilton.. Read More

Shock Resistance is a fairly recent term in the world of watches. As more and more people are leading active lifestyles, watch brands are going to great lengths to create timepieces that are resistant to damage when dropped or when subjected to stringent and constant motion The balance wheel is one of the most critical parts of a mechanical watch. The balance and hairspring  are the parts that regulate the watch.. Read More

The world is set up for right handed people, that is just the way it is.  Unfortunately there are a lot of “lefties” out there that need to make their way in a right handed world.  My son Tom is one of those people.  He is a natural lefty and does everything with that hand.  That is a common trait in our family, my brother is left handed, Jan can.. Read More

Wrist watches have many different types of complications: chronographs, GMTs, perpetual calendars , day and dates. One compilation that is not very common is an alarm in your watch. Alarms are common in digital quartz watches but somewhat rare on a mechanical watch. Alarm watches have been around since the early part of the 1900’s when Eterna first patented an alarm wristwatch in 1908. That patent was put into use.. Read More