Benches

Sep 05, 2002,11:11 AM
 

Hi all,

This may or may not be of interest, but, for me, it is and I hope you all will find some fun in it as well.

When I visit watchmakers I will, in most cases, take photos of their bench/benches. I find it interesting; what are they working on? what kind of tools are being used? are they tidy? etc. So, here is a collection of some of the watchmakers' benches I have photos of.

I should mention that the given state of each watchmaker's bench is not to be viewed as "The Norm." This is how they appeared on the day of my visit, which may be messier than usual, cleaner than usual or about normal. Also, most of these watchmakers have more than one bench to work on. These photos are of the "main" bench.

Enjoy!



George Daniels' bench with Co-Axial escapement under glass




Derek Pratt's bench with pocket watch he had recently made, which uses Daniels' Double Wheel Escapement and has a one-minute tourbillon with remontoire




Philippe Dufour's bench where he is in the midst of applying the anglage to a Simplicity




Vincent Calabrese's bench where he is working on the jump hour watch he did for Bell & Ross




Svend Andersen's bench where he is working on his Grande Jour et Nuit watch




Roger Smith's bench (in Daniels' workshop)where he has several projects going; working on the Limited Edition series of Daniels watches, working on his own pocket watch and doing some restoration work




Andreas Strehler's bench where he is working on a proto-type for Basel 2003




Vianney Halter's and Stew Lesemann's (Vianney's top watchmaker) benches where they are working on ALL KINDS of stuff!




Audemars Piguet's master watchmaker's bench. He spends his days working on new and old Grande Complication pocket watches, as well as restoring other complicated pocket watches. At the time of this photo he was working on a new AP Grande Complication pocket watch




A friends bench. He is a first class restorer of watches in the Philly area. And, believe it or not, his bench is ALWAYS like this!




Miniature watchmaker and bench from the Horology Museum in Le Sentier



My bench this morning




Cheers,

Curtis


More posts: Andreas StrehlerDufourGeorge DanielsRoger SmithSvend AndersenVianney HalterVincent Calabrese

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Superior intelligence....

 
 By: mendezj : September 5th, 2002-01:13
Your friend from Philly must be extremely smart. Figuring out what goes where on a watch on that bench requires a very gifted mind

:-) -nt

 
 By: Curtis for David Lou : September 6th, 2002-06:06

Those are great, Curtis. Thanks! Just for kicks, I located the Daniels' bench you

 
 By: SteveG : September 5th, 2002-01:13
show in his book. Here are 2 more views -- the monstrous movement in the 2nd picture is a one-minute tourbillon watch with co-axial escapement:...  

I love his workshop. Thanks for the photos. -nt

 
 By: Curtis for David Lou : September 6th, 2002-06:06

fun, thanks Curtis! (nt)

 
 By: ei8htohms1 : September 5th, 2002-07:19

I'm interested!

 
 By: BarryN : September 6th, 2002-07:07