TM December 2015 SETTING SERVICE STANDARDS AND EDUCATING THE HOROLOGICAL COMMUNITY The Rebirth of the American Watchmaking Spirit in Kansas City AMERICAN WATCHMAKERS- CLOCKMAKERS INSTITUTE •Horologlcal T •Member Ra � IN THIS VOLUME 39, NUMBER issue 12, December 2015 Feature Industry News TM December 2015 2015 Convention First-Ever Swiss Mechanical SETTING SERVICE STANDARDS AND EDUCATING THE HOROLOGICAL COMMUNITY Official Publication of the American Scrapbook Watch Testing in Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute page 21 Microgravity EXECUTIVE & EDITORIAL OFFICES By Aaron Recksiek, CW21 American Watchmakers- page 42 The Rebirth of the Clockmakers Institute (AWCI) AWCI News American 701 Enterprise Drive President’s Message Watchmaking Spirit Book Review in Kansas City Harrison, OH 45030 By Fred T. White, CMW21 866-FOR-AWCI (367-2924) page 4 Chelsea Clock Company: AMERICAN WATCHMAKERS- or 513-367-9800 The First Hundred Years CLOCKMAKERS INSTITUTE Fax 513-367-1414 Executive Director’s Message Reviewed By Daniel Benson, CMW [email protected] • www.awci.com By Jordan P. Ficklin, CW21 page 44 www.facebook.com/MyAWCI page 5 Cover Image: Jordan P. Ficklin, CW21 Education & Executive Director Editor's Forum The ELM Trust Dinner at Union Ext. 310 [email protected] By Donna Hardy Certification Station in Kansas City. Donna Hardy page 6 AWCI Educational Calendar Photo by Jordan P. Ficklin Managing Editor page 8 Ext. 305 [email protected] New Members/Memoriam Kathy Ortt page 43 Index Editor Columns [email protected] 2015 Horological Times Index Technical Discussion From the Workshop page 50 Janette Torres-Gomez Replacing Chronograph By Jack Kurdzionak, CW21, FAWCI Graphic Designer & page 11 Assistant Technical Support Push Button Gaskets Classifieds Ext. 302 [email protected] By Dale LaDue, CMW21 page 13 The Time Machine Buy, Sell, Trade, and Tom Schomaker, CMW21 By Jordan P. Ficklin, CW21 Employment Opportunities Watchmaking Instructor page 16 Ext. 309 [email protected] Tubular Bell Tips page 55 By Paul Corn Cindy Whitehead Watchmaking Excellence Education & Certification Coordinator page 15 Advertisers’ Index Ext. 303 [email protected] CW21 Standards page 58 page 46 Maureen Seals Industry Advisory Board Membership Coordinator & Technical Support Clockmaking Excellence Members Ext. 301 [email protected] CC21 Standards page 58 HOROLOGICAL TIMES page 47 ADVISORY COMMITTEE Karel Ebenstreit, Chairman, CMW, CC21 Paul Corn Andrew DeKeyser, CW21 OUR VISION: David Fahrenholz AWCI’s vision is to have an educated and passionate horological Bob Little, CC, CW Robert D. Porter, CMW community practicing the highest standards and with the resources Wesley Simmons Reprinting and reproduction is prohibited without written to provide quality goods and services. permission from the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute. Copyright ©2015 by the American Watchmakers- Clockmakers Institute. OUR MISSION: Horological Times (ISSNO 145-9546) is published Setting service standards and educating the horological community. monthly and copyrighted by the American Watchmakers- Clockmakers Institute, 701 Enterprise Drive, Harrison, OH 45030-1696. Subscription price for the public is $169.00 per year ($15.00 per copy). Members subscription is Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Follow us on Instagram! $99.00 which is included with annual dues of $169.00. www.facebook.com/HorologicalTimes www.twitter.com/AWCInstitute www.instagram.com/americanwatchmakers Periodicals postage paid at Harrison, OH 45030 and additional entries. POSTMASTER: Send address chang- es to Horological Times, 701 Enterprise Drive, Harrison, OH 45030 LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! 3 www.facebook.com/MyAWCI a message from the president FRED T. WHITE, CMW21 ishing everyone Season’s Greetings from the Ä At the midyear meeting we set some goals for Board of Directors and the staff of AWCI. the education committee and other commit- W tees. A new mission statement was adopted, We have had a good year and many things have been accomplished, but there is still much work to which states: “Setting service standards and be finished. Here are some of the highlights from educating the horological community.” the past year. Ä We had monthly Board of Directors’ Ä The spare parts directory has been up meetings to keep everything mov- and running for a while. Everyone can ing along. Our attempt to keep the see who will sell parts to the indepen- meetings to one-and-a-half hours dent watchmaker, who is restrictive, was successful for the most part. and who is very restrictive. This infor- mation is for the consumer as well as Ä Our convention in Kansas City, Mis- the watchmaker. souri, was absolutely the best. Good classes for watchmakers and clock- Ä We had one clockmaking class in makers were taught by a number of Harrison. While we would have liked outstanding instructors. A very pos- to have had better attendance, we itive attitude prevailed throughout have plans for more clockmaking the entire convention. Everybody education in the upcoming year. Fred T. White had a good time and came away [email protected] looking forward to our next conven- Ä Our watchmaking classes have been tion in Chicago. very successful. Instructor Tom Schomaker rejoined our staff earlier this year, and in Ä We have plans to reach out to the retail com- addition to teaching in Harrison, he has munity with battery-changing classes and to taught some classes on the road and three work toward doing more in the way of clock at the annual convention. instruction. There is some interest in a new CMW certification. We’d also like to see more Ä We established a new Affiliate Chapter, the cooperation between watchmaking and LWT Alumni Association. clockmaking governing bodies. Ä We tried the webinar conference call for the first time in April with some success. This al- I am looking forward to another great year lows our members to sit in on a board meet- ing and keeps everything open to those who in AWCI. Wishing each and every one a want to be informed. We did another in No- vember and plan to continue with the pro- very Happy Holiday Season with health, gram in the future. Call the office to see how you can join in. happiness, and prosperity. 4 December 2015 a message from the JORDAN P. FICKLIN, CW21 executive director nother year has passed to understand how timepieces work and have the Aand the busy holiday sea- skills and knowledge to repair and/or manufacture son is upon us. We began this replacement components. The CW21 exam tests the year with our white cover and minimum set of skills required to be a successful a discussion about spare parts. watchmaker in today’s environment. Sometimes the Over the course of the year only practical option is to replace a component, but we taught 14 classes at AWCI watchmakers who strive to become certified need to headquarters, administered five understand the function of components in the watch certifications, and put on educa- and must be able to adjust components, including, Jordan P. Ficklin tional programs in four states, but not limited to, the hairspring, the escapement, [email protected] including the highly successful the chronograph, and the gear train. Watchmakers convention in Kansas City. We need to be able to make routine adjustments and re- have been using social media to market our mes- place fundamental components in watches without sage. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and In- relying upon a drawer of spare parts at their disposal. stagram. Overall, it has been a great year for AWCI. Many in industry would like to see AWCI eliminate In the next year, AWCI will begin producing the balance staff replacement from the exam, short webinars on important horological In the ever- claiming it “is no longer relevant.” This is a topics. Our convention will be in Chicago, changing world trap. Industry is encouraging us to replace and it will be even more exciting than this components instead of repair, while at the year’s. You won’t want to miss out on all of horology, the same time reducing access to the spare parts that AWCI has to offer in the coming year. path to success we need to follow such a business model. I spent this past weekend at a conven- As industry makes it more difficult for inde- tion for medical professionals and patients is paved with pendent watchmakers to obtain spare parts, dealing with chronic disease. A representa- high standards. true repair skills are becoming increasingly tive from the National Institutes of Health necessary. It is with this in mind that AWCI was addressing the issue of Medical Translation. continues to set a standard for certified professionals We aren’t talking about languages. He heads up the that includes skills like adjusting watches and replacing department that is supposed to help doctors and balance staffs. These skills will be necessary if you wish scientists turn the information they learn during di- to continue to work independently. agnostics into medicines and treatments to solve the Two months ago we started a new column en- problems. He made the point that the medical indus- titled “Watchmaking Excellence” in which we use try has become very good at training diagnosticians photographs to illustrate the level of craftsmanship but not so good at training individuals to find the expected from ALL watchmakers, whether they work solutions. That is to say: doctors are very good at independently, in a retail store, or in a service cen- finding the causes for diseases but not very good at ter for a major brand. This month we are expanding using that information to identify ways to change the on this with a column for “Clockmaking Excellence.” body to prevent or cure disease. AWCI is committed to “setting service standards and Are there parallels in the horological world? Watch- educating the horological community.” We hope you makers have been trained by industry to identify will pay close attention to these columns.