Once we have acquired a choice watch or clock the process begins in earnest. The piece is inspected by our head watch maker and he decides what will be needed to fully restore the particular timepiece. Then it is completely disassembled and visually inspected under a ten power loupe with great attention to wear, finish, proper function, alignment, originality of parts, and strength. He produces a timing tape, as a diagnostic, if the watch is functional, so that it can be compared with the final timing tape once the restoration has been completed. The piece is then estimated for cost and time to complete. Then the parts are sourced and ordered. We only use original parts for those timepieces for which parts are available, and for those watches or clocks that do not have available parts we can fabricate parts. Parts sourcing is a full time job that our Store Manager, Chuck, has on his plate everyday. We sometimes have to scour the globe to find an elusive part to restore a precious watch or clock. I can remember parts coming from every corner of the globe this year. This extensive search can take several weeks (in most cases), to several months in the extreme.
No comments:
Post a Comment