Rules and Practice for Adjusting Watches

by Walter J. Kleinlein

[24.]Some Necessary Requirements for Learning Adjusting.

The adjustments to isochronism and positions are not permanent to the same extent that the temperature adjustment is, and they can be damaged or destroyed entirely by the average workman in making ordinary repairs unless he is familiar with the common principles governing their production and maintenance.

Experienced workmen who are familiar with these principles avoid unconsciously doing any damage and make practical repairs in a manner that will maintain or improve the original adjustment and time-keeping qualities of the watch.

To know and to make use of these principles does not make a "putterer" of the workman, in fact the consequence is just the reverse, because the training acquired tends to eliminate guess work and enables him to determine more readily as to just what the trouble may be, how to correct it, and as to just what degree of perfection is required in a particular instance.

Certain practical requirements are necessary in reaching this standard of workmanship and it would not be profitable to attempt to do adjusting unless one has first had a reasonable degree of training as a watchmaker or repairer, especially in such branches of the work as truing and poising balances; truing, leveling and centering hairsprings; matching the escapement; finishing pivots, and properly cleaning and assembling watches.

These mechanical requirements and experiences alone are not sufficient, however, and a certain amount of study must be consolidated with them in order to become proficient. This study should not deal so much with the problems of manufacture of the watch, or its various parts, as it does with the problems pertaining to the finished results that are to be obtained through refinement and intelligent assembly of these parts. The workman's willingness to indulge in such study is a very large asset among the requirements, and it only remains for him to obtain the proper class of instruction and then to conscientiously follow correct methods in his practice and to make personal experiments, conforming to the instruction, so that his confidence will become more enduring.

It is further required that he be capable of realizing the difference between genuine and imitation materials, especially such essentials as balance staffs, hole jewels, mainsprings and roller jewels, which are the most frequently changed and most frequently substituted parts of watches. Imitation materials may be less expensive as a matter of first cost but staffs may have pivots and shoulders out of line, or out of true; hole jewels may be rough, out of round or extremely thick; mainsprings soft, or of improper proportion, and roller jewels may have sharp edges which cause rubbing in the fork and "hanging up" when the second hand is reversed. It is most satisfactory to depend upon the materials supplied by the manufacturer of the watch, as imitation goods are seldom any better.

[25.]Train and Escapement Freedom.

Beyond a general insight of high class watch-work this book is not intended to meet the requirements of beginners. It is designed principally for watchmakers of some experience, and cannot presume to cover details that would be essential for those in early apprenticeship. It is thought essential, however, to consider some matters in a general way and among these are the subjects of side shakes and end shakes, and the escapement, as far as they pertain to general inspection of the watch without consideration of details that refer to correction of irregularities which are presumed to have been acquired in earlier training.

Thoroughness of mechanical ability always demands a system of inspection and of making corrections and it is quite necessary to follow some method that will reveal any point or points that may not be up to standard.