One of the most difficult watch complications to produce, a minute repeater transforms a watch from mere timekeeping device to miniature music box. Pioneered by master horologist Abraham-Louis Breguet at the end of the 18th century, the minute repeater was always thought of as being the pinnacle of watchmaking design. To put it quite simply, a minute repeater watch can chime the exact time with the push of a button. Invented.. Read More

In this weeks blog post, I thought that I would go over some simple questions and answers on how your watch works. I have a lot of  customers that are getting a mechanical watch for the first time, so they are a bit confused on the “care and feeding of their new watch” . I hope this info is helpful. Can you wind an automatic watch? Yes, you can wind.. Read More

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