Transcription
Hey everybody, my name is K. Slap, watchmaker from the Netherlands. And if you are working on watches at home, this is going to be the most interesting video on the internet, I promise. A few basic steps make you see the logic of any mechanical movement you cut in front of you, and assembly rebuild will be child's play, I promise.
I'm going to give you a mantra, and I'm going to repeat it several times so it will be stuck in your brain forever, and after that, assembly will be child's play, I do promise you that. For 200 years, hardly anything has changed in watchmaking. The logic is always the same. There is a main barrel, four wheels, an escapement, and a balance wheel. If you want to take it a bit further and if you say power source, gear train, and oscillator, it will be even applicable for every, uh, movement, even quartz. But stay with, uh, mechanical watches. There's a main barrel, one, two, three, four wheels, an escapement, and a balance wheel. And that is at least from 1820, when movements look like this. Well, this is completely rubbish, but still, a main barrel, one, two, three, four wheels, an escapement underneath, and a balance wheel. The configuration may be different, but the logic is always the same. If you once see the logic, it will be so easy during a rebuild, I promise you that. Trust me.
Even if a watch is beautifully decorated, it is always the same. And even if it's modern, there's a main barrel, one, two, three, four, escapement, balance wheel. And even if it's got a different shape of movement, I think you see it already. There, one, two, three, four. Configuration may be different, logic is always the same. Last one, and don't won't that won't bother you again. Here, even if it's a completely different shape, quite small, there's a main barrel, one, two, three, that one, two, three, and one underneath for escapement, balance wheel. I think we've established that now.
It will be so much easier to recognize the parts. If you disassemble the watch and you think, "Ah, how was it?" For every single movement, it is the same. If there's an automatic winding module on top, on the dial side, if it's driving day-date, uh, uh, moon phase, chronograph, whatever you can think of, the logic is always the same. There's a main barrel, four wheels, an escapement, and a balance wheel.
Now, think of your exams. You start with the questions you know, and after that, if there is still time, you are going to ponder on the questions you're really not sure of. Or you start with the known, and then you build on top of that. Same here. You can never try, trust the previous watchmaker. The first thing we say here is, we build watches as they should be, not how they came in. Can be completely different. So, even if somebody else already disassembled the watch and you're not sure what it is, think of the logic, and we start with the known, and after that, it will be child's play. Trust me.
Because if I'm working on movements here during the daytime, because we have a professional, um, um, workshop, most of the time, I really don't know what kind of movement I'm working on. It's completely irrelevant. Only if you need parts, then it is relevant to know what caliber it is, what brand, what make, what model. But after that, it is always the same. If it's tiny or large, the logic will be always the same. So, we start with, we with what we know, and the rest will follow. There you go.
Every single mechanical watch from the 1820s has got a main barrel. Well, if you don't recognize that, I suggest you start picking up fishing as a hobby and stop with watchmaking. Cheers.
There are a couple of more excellent tips coming up, I, I promise you that. So, we already know there is a main barrel, four wheels. Well, I think we recognize the wheels there. This, we still don't know what it is. Let's pretend an escapement and a balance wheel. So far, so good, right? Always the same in any watch you work on. Maybe there's a pile of more, uh, parts here when it's got, uh, different complications, all stacked on top. This is the basic of every single mechanical watch. Well, then we know this is a bridge for the main barrel, of course. This is a bridge for the gear train. We start with what we know and remember. And this is, I think, essential. You are in control. There is no time pressure. There isn't a patient bleeding to death. Uh, if you start thinking, "Well, how should it be?" There is no pressure. You are in control. You see that the pile of parts is getting less, less, and less. Well, this looks like a part on top of the escapement, the pallet fork. And after that, you always recognize the ratchet wheel because it's got a square. You got the winding wheel, and after that, it is child's play. Look, we are already here, just by reasoning simple steps. Main, I think you know by now, main barrel, four wheels in the gear train, escapement, balance wheel, always the same.
But now you found out the parts, but the gear train, in what order should it be? I, I still don't know if that this is the right order. Kind of lovely, lovely tip. I would like to show you. Yeah, here I show you on the microscope. And remember, this is applicable for every mechanical watch you ever come across. Few exceptions, but they are very, very, very few. I'm quite aware of that because we work on watches here from, well, the 1800s until brand new, extremely, uh, auto, loery, high level. It is the same. Once you see the logic, it is child's play.
So, the gear train, we're not quite sure how it should be, in what order. There is a telltale sign in the main barrel. There, there is where all the power comes from. There's a huge mainspring. You wind it, and the start, the watch start running. On the other hand, here we have the balance spring, extremely delicate, only for timing, going back and forth, just like the pendulum of a clock. And if you're interested, please have a look at how a watch works. But let's focus on the gear train. Once you see it, it is child's play. It is so simple. There is where all the power comes from, right? Real heavy, slow rotation, high force power. Do you see that the pivots close to the power source are wide, are big? It's getting smaller and smaller and smaller, the closer to the power source. Slow revolutions, but real heavy power. And to the escapement and the balance wheel, tiny pivots, high rotation, and less power. So, just by looking at the pivots, you can already reason what the, um, uh, sequence will be, the order.
Back to the other one. So, we know we have four wheels. There, there, and there. Well, you already always going to recognize the escape wheel, right? Again, there is no shame in fishing, but if, if you don't recognize an escape wheel, stop. And of course, some of you say, "Yeah, but in the 1800s, 1820s, there wasn't an, uh, Swiss lever escapement." Yeah, but even with a cylinder escapement, duplex escapement, uh, even the George Daniels' one, the coaxial, the logic is the same. Don't think in logic. So, you already always going to recognize the escape wheel. The largest with the heavy, heavy pivots is the center wheel, closest to the power source. That one, always closest to the escapement. You only have to think about these two wheels. They may be like this, or there may be like that, or like that. That's it. The rest is child's play, and it will only fit in one way. And if you put it in the main plate, you see it immediately. So far, so good. I think you catch my drift.
Then, a lovely tip, I think, is when you have an empty main plate, where do you start? All the pivots, jewels, what are we going to do? Well, if you have an empty main plate, and well, I think you even see here the difference in the pivots. One, two, three, four. Now, I would stop repeating it, repeating, because you already know what it is. Where do you start? It's all holes, pivots, what, what now? What again? Lovely tip, because 99.9999, whatever, uh, percent of mechanical watches you're going to work on, is the Swiss lever escapement. Cheers, everybody. This Swiss lever escapement has got a few givens. That it's always the same, and that is, poof, here. This is the balance wheel, pallet fork, escape wheel. 99.99999, those are always in one line. The balance wheel, this is a double roller, but it, uh, represents the balance wheel. The pivot point of your pallet fork, and the escape wheel is always in, almost always, few exceptions, but they are far and wide between, always in one line. Back to what we are working on. Whatever you are working on, there are always three holes in one line. See that? Well, you can recognize the pivot point for the balance wheel. Usually, it's got a, a shock system of some kind, and you see there's a lot of space milled out just for the balance wheel. Next top, always is the pallet fork, or escapement. If you work on another, another escapement, but almost always pallet fork. So, the next will always be the escape wheel. One, two, three. There we go. There's a fiber. If you know that one, and you already know that one, the center wheel, closest to the power source. You only have to think about them two. Maybe it's this, that, or other way around. Child's play. When you see, once you see this logic, you don't care what movement you are working on. It is completely irrelevant. It is always the same.
When your parts are cleaned, even if parts are completely, um, um, all over the place, relax. You are in control. And start with the known. What do we know of the part? After that, you start making the simplest sequence, and then you place it in the movement. You see the pile of parts getting less and less and less. And after that, you have just a few parts. Don't be intimidated by a pile of, uh, parts. Start just like your exams. Start with what you know, and then work your way back. And maybe there are complications on top of that, and automatic, and whatever. The basic is always the same. I really do hope this was helpful. It helped me through difficult times and some very obscure, uh, movements with an insane layout. Sit back, relax. You are in control, and I'm sure you're going to make the watch running again. Really, the hope, uh, you enjoyed it and was helpful. Um, please hit the like button. And if you think, uh, I'm such kind of some kind of idiot, my teenage daughter completely agrees with you. Hope it was helpful. See you. Bye-bye.