Handmade pocket watch, circa 1736

[Malcolm Schweizer]

It had a separate winding key that looked like a skeleton key, which fit a tiny rod. I really was amazed by the whole thing.

[george wilson]

I was a friend of the World's largest horological collector. He needed a lewngth of that tiny "bicycle chain",but he had the little press they used to make those chains. So,he stamped out enough parts to make the chain he needed.

[Halgeir Wold]

Quite some years ago I visited the Greenwich Observatory and museum. I don't know if the clock display, named " the quest for the longitude" is a permanent display, but it was truly amazing to see the craftmanship that went into all these contraptions to produce an accurate maritime chronometer, especially considering the "machinery" that was available in those days.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Quite some years ago I visited the Greenwich Observatory and museum. I don't know if the clock display, named " the quest for the longitude" is a permanent display, but it was truly amazing to see the craftmanship that went into all these contraptions to produce an accurate maritime chronometer, especially considering the "machinery" that was available in those days.

Chronometers were precious items and were logged everywhere they went- typically having their own separate log. Anyone who handled it had to log it. You could not navigate without knowing time accurately. The chronometer was arguably more important than the sextant. A sextant is no good without knowing accurate time, but with a chronometer you could at least determine the time of sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset, and determine your longitude with that, and guess your Lattitude with the North Star or the Southern Cross if absent a sextant. The Mariner's Museum in Virginia has a collection of chronometers and their logs tell everywhere they went, who held them, and many details of the journey.

[Ron Bontz]

I am always in awe of the true craftsmanship of people. Some from the most neglectful and poorest of worlds. I can only wonder what they could have done with the technology of today. Then again, they WERE the technology of today. And this is where I become envious and crawl back into my cave and hide under a rock. Thanks for posting.

[Van Huskey]

It may be interesting to some open worked time pieces are not a dead art but actually alive and well with not only the art but the time keeping has actually gotten much better over time. Vacheron Constantin probably does the best open work currently and does some amazing pieces, especially the custom one off pieces BUT prices for the truly sublime start at around $75K and go up well over $500K. Particularly over the last 20 years mechanical watches have made a huge comeback despite being or maybe simply because they are an anachronism.

[John C Cox]

The reality is that kids can be great workers - and really do enjoy working and helping out. There are many jobs today that would benefit from some help from kids - even in our own woodwork projects.... Stuff like sanding up in tight corners. Working with itty bitty screws in tight places. Complicated assemblies... Stuff like this.

I did a lot of hobby work when I was a kid.... And I always loved being able to make stuff. It wasn't at all uncommon to be asked to help out with dad or mom's projects because I could reach in and get stuff or hold screws easily...

The other reality is that the horrible evil talked about treatment of kids is false. Nobody would apprentice their kids out to a trade to be killed or maimed. That would be a sure way of getting yours at the hands of the kids family.

As a result - they knew that they had to treat kids more gently than adults. If you want good work out of kids - you have to set them up with tasks they can do well.

[David Ryle]

That "filigree" work is called skeletonization in the trade,all of it would have been hand cut by a watchmaker using a lozenge burin in all likelihood hardened and sharpened by the watchmaker himself. I believe one of the first to utilize skeletonization was Swiss watchmaker Audemar Piguet. The name engraved on the plate I cannot read,could you perhaps let me know who it is?

[george wilson]

ell,John,I guess my 40 years of attending training classes were all EL FAKEO !! And,who took legal care of that class of kids called orphans?

[John C Cox]

I am not impugning you... It's critical to remember that our political and labor leadership have a dog in the fight when it comes to keeping kids out of the workplace. There are some pretty good studies out there showing what was really going on and the sensationalization of child labor...

The huge demonization of child labor push in the USA happened right after WWI (recession when the GI's came home) and really went steamrolling during the Great Depression... If you have had 40 years of training - that means none of it happened when child labor was a commonplace thing. All the literature on the subject was written by those who have a dog in the fight to keep kids out.

My grandfather was born in 1905. Dropped out in the 3rd grade and went to work. I asked him about working as a kid - he said it was a job like any other... There were no horrors. The people understood that they could only get so much out of a kid, and that they had to manage them differently than adults. These craftsmen and workers knew they would have to answer to angry parents they abused kids.

Here are the main reasons the powers that be don't want kids working. And these are valid reasons.... But they aren't sensational...
1. Wages - child labor drives down wages for jobs - and that means adults wages are lower.
2. Available labor pool/jobs for adults - child labor sucks up available jobs that could be worked by adults.
3. Taxes - the low wages paid to kids don't earn the government any substantial tax revenue.
4. Unionization - kids are legally represented by their parents, not the labor unions... That adds complexity to unionization... Who then have to include parents of working kids in their efforts.
5. Public Education... Public schools receiv their funding allocations based on the number of kids sitting in the classroom... Not for the kids who aren't.

Thanks

[Mel Fulks]

John, you make some good points. I've noticed that kids always have a strong interest in what adults are doing. Guess that's why they sell so many toy lawn mowers!

[Mike Henderson]

For those interested in the development of an accurate clock that could be carried on a sailing ship, there are two books that I've read that I'll recommend.

The first is "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time" by Dava Sobel

The second is "The Quest for Longitude..." edited by William J. H. Andrewes.

The first is just about Harrison, while the second gives background on others who contributed.

And just a note: Those clocks were "accurate" in a way that you might not think of at first. They all were a bit fast or a bit slow, but they were consistent. So a clock that gained 5 seconds per day was just fine as long as it always gained 5 seconds per day. The clock came with that data so the person using it would have to make an adjustment for the "error" when using the time. The clock was synchronized with a accurate clock, set by astronomical observation, prior to a voyage and then the reading was adjusted when it was used to determine the longitude.

Mike