Pad printing
Teca-Print AG is a manufacturer of pad printing machines in a town in north-eastern Switzerland. For the last year and a half, we have been using their machines to pad print onto our watch dials, and...
View ArticleBuilt to last
"Explore the world, but make sure to return home," is an old Slavic saying. Yet 'returning home'—even for a short holiday stop-over—can be a weird experience. After 30 years, streets look smaller, and...
View ArticlePad printing at TecaPrint, continued.
One of the largest challenges with ultra high quality pad printing is the tension between two important characteristics - clarity, and depth. Both of these characteristics are technical challenges in...
View ArticleToo old, too dumb, and unwilling to invest
Every once in a while, we get a customer with an "un-fixable" watch. Something that requires a part or tool no longer in existence, an ungodly amount of man-hours, or an enthusiasm-eroding invoice...
View Article"Two and a half years later" by a Watchmaker's Wife
In the micro-machining industry, Josh Hacko is a man whose time and attention is both scarce and sought-after. So, I count myself lucky, because for me, he is the most accessible man in the world: my...
View ArticleJewelling a titanium mainplate - NH55 update
Today is a very exciting day! We are assembling the first mainplate from our batch of NH55 watches. The NH55 is incredibly unique in many ways - Timascus dial, with guilloche, individually laser...
View ArticleTo be a rock and not to roll
The first ever Seiko 5 Sports watch from 1968."Life is not fair!" - said the Gen-Y kid the other day. And I couldn't agree more. Those born post 1980s have missed the best of the music, the best of...
View ArticleComparing Astron to Royal Oak is a compliment to AP
Let me be completely honest: I hate engineers. As a customer, that is. They are just too smart. Here is a classical scenario, played thousands of times, on my dealers table:"So, Nick, I appreciate...
View ArticleThe smallest part in the NH55!
Small parts will never cease to fascinate me. Good thing watchmaking is my profession! There will never be a dull day. The smallest part in the NH55 is the banking pin. Funnily enough, it's also the...
View Article1/100th second chronograph
To continue the release of the new Seiko Speedtimer, we have just received in the mail two limited edition models to offer to you today. A super cool feature of this chronograph that we didn't discuss...
View ArticleModern artisanal watchmaking, a deep dive into "feathering"
Innovation is difficult. Especially when it feels like everything has already been done. In watchmaking, this is almost the norm. Mechanically, the modern wristwatch has stayed the same for a...
View ArticleA small favour to ask
Yesterday, Josh and myself interviewed yet another young man, keen to move to Sydney. A Danish machinist, 23 years young, with one year of post-apprenticeship experience in making complex titanium...
View ArticleIs an automatic watch the right watch for you?
(Or would you be better off with a battery operated one?) Battery operated watches have a number of benefits over a mechanical self-winding (automatic) watch. Without exception, quartz watches keep...
View ArticleAn unexpected act of kindness that almost brought a tear to my eye
As strange as it sounds I have never received a watch as a gift except once. A while ago after the watch night talk a visitor to our workshop pulled out a Russian watch in a cardboard box. "This one is...
View ArticleThe frosted meteorite
It only took an hour or so for about 20 subscribers to figure out not just the brand but the exact model of my new watch. You guys are just crazy. Serious respect, beyond humbling. Of course, this...
View ArticleBeyond watchmaking
You are only as good as your last job. Yesterday afternoon, Josh started a new medical part project. A few hours later, the part was designed, the mill was tooled, holding jig made - and part machined....
View ArticleMayday, Mayday!
The old Jewish saying goes like this: The devil will always find work for idle hands. Hold this thought for a moment, while I confess: Sydney Watches has acquired a small start-up business, licensed...
View ArticleUpdate from the workshop: Screw them
In June this year Dad and I went to the EPHJ fair in Switzerland. The fair is home to all the suppliers to the watch industry. Contract manufacturers, service providers, machinery sellers, tool...
View ArticleFive generations of WOLF
If there ever was a story of business longevity in the ever changing niche of luxury goods, then it has to be the story of the Wolf family. Founded on the motto that 'ones prized possessions must be...
View ArticleA small way of saying 'Thank you'
The Curl Curl video is finally uploaded. Almost a year in the making! We always say that Mark II is a love letter to Titanium - so we simply let the waves speak for...
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