HoROLOGICALT. TIMES January 2006 American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute Watch & Jewelry Repair The Complete Price Guide Record Book To Watches By Cooksey Shugart. Tom Engle & Complete Information: Richard E. Gilbert. • Name & address of owner TheBESTFlT • Tag & record number Watch and The number one source of current • Dates: Received/Repaired/Delivered Jewelry Repair pricing information in the market. • Received by/Delivered to Record Book • More than 10,300 watches listed • Complete description of Case, Case#, • Current values Movement#, and Markings • Repairs made/Charges/Special information • More than 7,800 illustrations • Wide spaces between lines • Pocket, wrist, and comic watches • Wide spaces for each category of • American and European watches information • Offers tips for collectors • Room for 2000 entries • Each line is a complete transaction with all information at your fingertips. The pmfessional • These records should be kept for at least 3 years standard and a must • Hard cover 142 pages 01· eve1-y watch collectors'library! Repair Envelope Organizer PlASTIC These handy job Movement Trays envelope trays keep Box of 6 trays your repairs organiz­ ed. Made of wood Main compartment will hold up and covered with to an 18-size movement plate. Also black textured vinyl. has four other sections for parts. Available in two sizes. A great way to organize your repairs! 50 #75.244 ..... 14"x4"x4" .. ........ $7 5 95 #75.247 ..... 7.5"x4"x4" ......... 5 BLANK Job Envelopes Antimagnetic aluminum Heavy Duty • Helps Protect Jobs! tweezers with strong carbon fiber tips or soft 3~1/8" X 5-1/2" white delrin tips for Very handy to have and can be rubber handling fragile parts stamped with your name and address. to avoid scratches. Identifies your work when you send Better feel and sample orders to your supplier and helps handling than plastic prevent misdirected orders. All have tweezers. Tips are easily replaceable. gummed flaps. Box of 500. PATTERN CARBON TIPS DELRIN TIPS Brown #61.114 • White #61.116 Broad (flat) #57.0231 #57.0221 Medium #57-0232 #57.0222 $}395 per box Fine #57.0233 #57.0223 95 3 boxes @ $}2 per box Carbon Type ........ s19.95 6 boxes @ ::t }}95· per box Delrin Type .......... 8 16.95 HoROLOGICAL~ HoROLOGICALTM TIMES Official Publication of the American Watchmakers-Ciockmakers Institute TIMES EDITORIAL & EXECUTIVE OFFICES American Watchmakers-Ciockmakers Institute (AWCI) VOLUME 30, NUMBER 1I JANUARY 2006 701 Enterprise Drive, Harrison, OH 45030 Phone : Toll Free 1-866-367-2924 or (513) 367-9800 FEATURE ARTICLES Fax: (513) 367-1414 6 E-mail : [email protected] Business Basics, Part 1 Website: www.awci.com By Dr. Paul Stairs Office Hours: Monday-Friday 8:00AM to 5:00PM (Esn 18 Closed National Holidays Seiko Spring Drive: A Revolution in Time Donna K. Baas: Managing Editor, Advertising Manager By Ron DeCorte Katherine J. Ortt: Associate Editor, LayouVOesign Associate James E. Lubic, CMW: Executive Director COLUMNS Education &Technical Director Lucy Fuleki: Assistant Executive Director 36 Adjusting Mass-Produced Pallets (Verges), Part 2, Thomas J. Pack, CPA: Finance Director By Laurie Penman Laurie Penman: Clock Instructor Manuel Yazijian, CMW: Watchmaking Instructor Certification Coordinator Nancy L. Wellmann: Education Coordinator DEPARTMENTS Sharon McManus: Membership Coordinator 2 President's Message, By Jim Door Mary Huff: Shipping Coordinator Heather Weaver: Receptionist/Secretary 2 Executive Director's Message, By James E. Lubic Jim Meyer: IT Director 4 Questions & Answers, By David A. Christianson HOROLOGICAL TIMES ADVISORY COMMimE 14 Ron Iverson, CMC: Chairman From the Workshop, By Jack Kurdzionak Brien Dews, CC 17 Bulletin Board Matt Henning, CW Chip Lim, CMW, CMC, CMEW 32 AWCI New Members Robert D. Porter, CMW E-mail: [email protected] 34 Book Review, By Robert D. Porter AWCI OFFICERS 42 Industry News Jim Door: President Mark Butterworth: 1st Vice President 44 Classified Advertising Dennis Warner, CW: 2nd Vice President Alice B. Carpenter, CMW, CMEW, FA WI : Secretary 48 Advertisers' Index James K. Zimmerman, CMW, CMC, CMEW: Treasurer 48 AWCI Employee Directory AWCI DIRECTORS Mark Baker, CMW Gene Bertram, CC EDUCATION Matt Henning, CW Roland (Ron) Iverson, CMC 24 AWCI Academy Watchmaking Classes Gerald Kincaid: Affiliate Chapter Director Doug Thompson, CW, CEWT: Research & Education 24 AWCI Certification Exam Schedule Council Director Willem Van Kempen: Industry Advisory Board Director 26 Precision Timing Course, By Manuel Yazijian 33 AWCI Evening Classes in Watch and Clock Repair IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Jack Kurdzionak, CW 43 AWCI Home Study Course in Clock Repair FELLOW-American Watchmakers-Ciockmakers lnstiMe Robert F. Bishop ·Harold J. Herman James H. Broughton J.M. Huckabee Fred S. Burckhardt Gerald G. Jaeger SPECIAL INTEREST Alice B. Carpenter Benjamin Matz David A. Christianson Robert A. Nelson 25 2006 AWCI Annual Convention & Educational Symposium George Daniels ·Hamilton E. Pease Wes Door Archie B. Perkins •Henry B. Fried William 0. Smith, Jr. Josephine F. Hagans Mi~on C. Stevens •Orville R. Hagans ·Marvin E. Whitney Ewell D. Hartman 'Deceased Reprinting and reproduction is prohibited without written permission from the Americ.1n Wall:hmak....cloclmaters ilstiMe. ~~ ©2006 by the Ameri:an Wall:hmal:....cloclanakern Institute. HOROLOGICAJ.. TIMES (ISSN0145-9546) is published monthly and copyrighted by the American Wa~h· COVER makeffi·Ciockmakers lnslil.rte, 701 Enterprise Drive, Harriso~ OH 45030-1696. Subscription price for the This month's cover features the pu~K: o $79.00 per ye;r i$6.50 per copy), -subscri ption is $35.00 l'.i1dlo irdoo.d l'ith annual dues of $79.00. l'l!riodicas postage paid at tmison, OH 450ll and ad<ilional entries- POSlMASiffi: Seiko Spring Drive: A Revolution in Time Send add-ess changes to HORO/.OG/CA/. TIMES, 701En terprise Drive, tmison, OH President's Message Jim Door Every year I try to re-evaluate myself, my business, and my goals. I am never truly satisfied. There is always something more to learn, some way of changing my methods. Hopefully, each year brings improvement. What are your goals? What plans do you have to improve? I had a drama teacher who said if he reached the point when he felt that he couldn't improve his acting, that he had nothing new to learn-well then it would be time to quit. Where would be the challenge or the thrill that comes with learning? Many years ago when a customer came in with an item that was damaged by another store, we found ourselves getting defensive. Making comments like, "Well you know they don't have a trained repair person." (Read between the lines-if you take to XYZ store you deserve what you get.) This attitude ill served us, the customer, and our compe­ tition. We finally realized how it sounded to the customer and we didn't like it a bit. We made a conscious effort to change the way we discussed the damage problems with the customer. Instead of, "The other store tore the coil of your watch." We might say, "The watch has a damaged coil." We don't try to hide the fact that it has problems because of someone else's error, but we don't berate the issue or the store. After changing our policy we found that we had a great increase in referrals from other stores. Think about your take-in procedures. Is there room to improve them? How is your store laid out? Does it make the best impression on clients? Look through their eyes, listen with their ears-you may be surprised at what you find. Sometimes the smallest change can bring about a big change in perception. May this new year find you eager for its challenges, the courage to change and the compassion to help others. Executive Director's Message James E. Lubic, CMW I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season. Now it's time to get to work on those New Year's resolutions. If you had trouble coming up with any resolutions for this year, I would like to help you with some ideas. If you don't do so throughout the year you should look at your pricing structure for repairs. Make a resolution to monitor what your turndown rate is on various repairs that you quote to customers. Many of you may know this already, but for those of you who don't. .. a good rule of thumb when monitoring your turndown rate on repairs is 20/80. Service industry consultants recommend that you set your prices so that 20% or 2 in 10 customers walk out your door without leaving the repair because the price you quoted is too high in their opinion. I know watchmakers and clockmakers want to be heroes and repair everything that walks through the door, even though we all know better. Don't be a hero be a smart business person. Don't be afraid to set your own supply and demand line. If your back log is too long using the 20/80 approach, jump it up to 30/70. You might be surprised at the results. Take some time to clean up your shop and get organized. Trade in those shoe boxes for proper cabinets. You will feel much better about yourself and your business. Don't be shy about projecting a professional image through your appearance. Invest in one new piece of equipment for your business. It could be a computer, computer upgrade, software, or test equipment. Stay current with technology. Some day you will want to retire. A clean organized and up-to-date business can easily be sold to supplement your retirement. A dirty, disorganized, outdated business usu­ ally ends up closing and the contents selling for pennies on the dollar, and that just isn't right when you've worked so hard for all those years.