Independents

AndrewD
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Comments from Paul Gerber:

Hi All,

I asked Paul and Ruth Gerber about some of the points you have been bringing up since the P10 watches were delivered. Firstly Paul is “very pleased that the watch has been well received by the PuristS and that the watch has raised so many questions.”

Regarding the thickness of the dial as shown by Mike (Cazalea):

“The dial actually is not thin. Normally a dial measures 0.40mm thick. I made this dial a little thicker at 0.50mm because of the large diameter. The material is brass which is very nice to work with.  The engraving was done with my Witech 604 CNC milling machine.”

(Image credit: Mike - Cazalea -)

What was the process of getting the "PuristS" design from paper onto the engraved dial?

“The ideas are always the same. I really try to make something which has not been done before.  With this dial I tried to continue with a look that is similar to, for example, the Retro Twin watches along with my Tourbillon Model 25. I got the idea of Guilloching the particular word “PuristS”. If I only simply wrote the word PuristS, one after the other, there would have been large spaces between the letters. So I looked for another option. Thus I came up with the idea to write the word normally (straight) then turn the dial 180 degrees and then back straight and so on. I found the end result harmonious and as far as I know, this has not been done before.”

The original PuristS P10 dial design (Image credit: Paul Gerber)

Witech 604 CNC Milling Machine (Image credit: Paul Gerber)

How are the movement screws blued?

“I blue the screws as follows: I screw the screws to a plate for grinding. I then polish the screws to a very high finish. After cleaning, I heat the screws while still on the plate and dip everything into a blue salt process, increase the heat gently to acheive the desired blue color. Then I immediately remove everything from the solution and allow to cool. I then clean the screws and they are ready for assembly.”

And the seconds hand is not superluminova, but the black paint colour matches?

“Only the hour and minute hands, along with the numbers, are luminous.  There are only 4 choices of black superluminova, for the PuristS watch I used “black B1,N1”. Please note, however, that even this superluminova lights very weak and will not last the whole night. On the rejected dial the wrong superluminova was used and does not really luminate at all. You can really notice the difference between the dials.”

What does the Reference number engraved on the case back refer to? Is it is a unique serial number for that individual piece?

“Regarding the numbering, the reference number is 420 (Cal. 42 titanium) and following this number is a sequential number used for my records. For example, “Ref. 420-30” means it is the 30^th watch using the titanium case.”

And the rotors are in rose gold?

“The rotors are made of 18ct rose gold N4. 18ct works very well for milling and the end result is a very nice quality finish.”

____________________________

Mr. Gerber would like everyone to know that if they ever find themselves in Zurich, they are always welcome to have a firsthand look at his workshop and see how everything is made. Mr. Gerber only asks that if someone would like to visit that he or she either contact Michel Schmutz at Intro-Swiss in the United States or the Gerber’s in Zurich to make an appointment for a visit.

Andrew

Ps. Paul Gerber has been a long time ‘friend’ of PuristS and I would like to direct you to an interview that he did with Thomas in 2002: Click Here ...

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