A Note from the Editors…. Mick Has Squeezed Us Off the Page
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Presidents Report Well another term has come to an end and I am pleased to advise the entire current committee has been reinstated for another 2 years As I complete my second full year as President I can now reflect and assess the past 2 years in entirety. Overall I am still very pleased as to how the society is tracking, but there is still much to do, not only to grow our membership base with new members, but importantly to stop the erosion of current / past members that are not renewing and more importantly to find out why! I, along with many others, was shocked to realise that our current financial membership numbers are now less than 90, yet we post out over 140 newsletters every quarter! The newsletter production & postage costs are one of the society’s biggest expenses and the committee will be looking closely at ways to reduce this cost over the coming months. There appears to be quite a few members who are not currently financial!. So, if you haven’t paid your membership dues recently and wish to remain a financial member of the AAHS please do so soon, as the society needs your support. Copies of the membership renewal forms were posted out recently. The AAHS needs to increase its public profile and also raise awareness of the society in general, this will generate more interest in our society and importantly attract new members. During the past 12 months the society has been well represented at various major attractions like the “lost trades fair” in Country Victoria and the Canberra regional meeting “time in the bush” and most recently at the “Model engineers expo” on the 6th & 7th Oct 2018 in South Oakleigh Opening our Mart to the public on Sat the 8th of December 2018 is primarily aimed at increasing interest and awareness of our society to the general public. We will also have a staffed information & membership booth and are looking for volunteers to help out on the day. Whilst these public appearances and technical demonstrations are great promotions for the club, we also need to equally focus on our “Antiquarian Horology” interests and keep true to our core values of preserving Antiquarian Horological related items & knowledge. On that note, a reminder that we are always seeking guest speakers and presenters for our monthly meetings Note 1: If you haven’t received any email notifications or updates from myself in recent months, please see the separate article on “creating an email contact list” later in the newsletter. Note 2: For those that wish to have a table at the December mart, please find enclosed a Mart table booking form, tables are selling fast and are on a first paid first served basis. Some members may wish to share a table, this needs to be organised between members. Please also find enclosed some promotional flyers, please pass these on to family or friends or drop of at a local antique shop or second hand dealer or Auction house to help raise awareness of the Mart. Regards Mick Connolly President AAHS A note from the editors…. Mick has squeezed us off the page. There have been a few articles that members have sent in, not all were used please don’t be discouraged. We did receive a couple that had already been used. Keep up the good work. Images and word documents are best, PDFs are a little harder to put in. Page 1 of 36 The AAHS Restoration and Conservation Classes Tutors Mr. Vivian C. Kenney (currently on sick leave) and Fergus Forsyth Restoration Workshops held on the 4th Saturday of each month • Saturday November 24th • Saturday December 22nd (Fergus unavailable) • Saturday January 26th 25 Central Road, Blackburn. (10-am to 4-30pm) Every 2nd Saturday of each month General AAHS Workshop (Clocks, Watches, Hobby Items, Fun Projects) Drop in – have a coffee and a chat with other members Graeme Germaine – Ph: 03 53678513 25 Central Road, Blackburn 10.am to 4.30pm • Saturday November 10th • Saturday December 8th • Saturday January 12th Members can utilize this hall for many Saturday activities. E.g. hobby sports/fun- Birthday parties meetings with friends- teaching new interests etc. It is your space to use and if you book ahead we will happy to make it available provided care is taken to stick to the usual times and clean-up of the hall after use. Page 2 of 36 WHERE: Eley Park Community Centre located at 87 Eley Road, Blackburn South (Melways Red: 61 H5) WHEN: Saturday 8th December 2018. OPEN: ENTRY: Adults $5. Free Admission for Children under 12 and to AAHS Members. Early Admission for AAHS Members. Catering truck available to help sate appetites and thirsts. Page 3 of 36 A reminder For the end of year mart. there are still a few tables left for hire forms included with this issue of the newsletter. If anyone is interested then please let mick know as soon as possible. ONLY CURRENT FINANCIAL MEMBERS CAN ENTER FROM 9 AM. GENERAL ADMISSION IS FROM 10 AM VENDOR Table set up from 7.30 am We often get asked when we attend some of the expo’s and fairs where people can get watches fixed. If there are any financial members who are in Victoria and are happy to do repairs on watches, we are trying to set up a database of repairers who are willing to take on work around the state. If you are interested please let Mick know your details and we will try to pass on your details to any interested people who may ask for repairers in their area. Page 4 of 36 Volunteers - thank you I would like to personally thank all the volunteers who recently attended the model engineers expo over the October 6th & 7th weekend to represent the AAHS. I was very humbled to have so many talented members represent our society. We have received fantastic feedback thus far and the AAHS has already been invited back next year with a promise to double our display site size plus add an additional outside area for live demonstrations of gear cutting, turning, etc. This is a great result for the society and provides much needed public exposure! We were also approached by the editor of “Australian Model Engineer” magazine to run a few articles on our clubs “clock making” activities, another great promotional result for our society! Graeme Carr won the trophy for the best display at the Expo (well done Graeme!!) no surprises to anyone who has seen Graeme’s work first hand! Trevor Herbstreit & Will Matthysen both displayed amazing examples of their craft and certainly hit the criteria of “let’s make it” Thank you both very much for representing the society! I would like to express a huge thank you to all the volunteers who devoted their weekend to represent the society at this event: Fergus Forsyth, Bill DeKaste, Trevor Herbstreit, David Rivers, Graeme Carr, Greg Aldridge, Will Matthysen, Mick Connolly, and all the other Club Members who turned up to show your support! Regards Mick Connolly AAHS E-mail contact list As mentioned briefly in the Presidents report, the AAHS committee would like to establish an email address book, or contact list to facilitate a faster and more direct communication channel with our Members if or when a special need arises. If you have no objections, please send me an email titled “AAHS contact details” containing your name and phone number and send it to [email protected] your email address will then be automatically generated in the “from” section of the email This email list, once composed will be used solely for the societies internal communications and to facilitate timely notifications of Meeting changes, upcoming sales, obituary’s, auction notices, lost & found, etc. NOTE: Only senior committee members would be allowed access and only for internal club communications. So far I have approx. one quarter of members email addresses. So there’s still a way to go! Regards Mick Connolly Page 5 of 36 BONHAMS – WATCHES AND WRISTWATCHES 11TH SEPTEMBER 2018 STARTED 13:00 BST LONDON KNIGHTSBRIDGE https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24629/?category=results#/aa0=7&MR0_length=36& w0=grid&aj0=lot_number_asc&MR0_currency_screen=AUD&m0=0 LOT 10 Septimus Miles, Ludgate Street, London. An 18K gold key wind open face pocket watch with Masonic dial- Circa 1810 Movement: Patent gilt full plate fusee verge, florally engraved balance bridge, diamond end stone, blued steel regulation, No.4203 Dial: White, stylised Masonic hour markers, black outer minute track, gilt spade hands Case: Polished consular, No.3341 The Case is stamped HL and the movement signed. Size: 51mm Sold for £ 937 (AU$ 1,718) inc. premium LOT 2 Thomas Fitter, London. A gold key wind repeating pair case pocket watch with repousse decoration Circa 1720 Movement: Gilt full plate fusee verge, pierced and engraved balance cock, diamond end stone, silver regulation, polished hammers, No.2001 Dial: Later white, black Roman numerals, black outer minute track with Arabic numeral 5 minute markers, gilt spade hands Case: Pierced and engraved inner, inner bell (AF), associated repousse outer depicting a classical scene with Apollo playing a lyre surrounded by animals The Movement & capare both signed. Size: 47mm Sold for £ 3,125 (AU$ 5,727) inc. premium DID YOU KNOW? This watch is from the collection of Claude Basil Fry (1868-1942). Claude was the great-grandson of Joseph Fry (1728-1787), founder of Fry's Chocolate and Fry's Typefounding, both in Bristol. Claude's grandfather Joseph Storrs Fry and father Richard were also both partners in the chocolate-making company J S Fry & Sons Ltd before Claude went on to become a Director of the company himself.