That's a great interview. I saw Anthrax when he was still in the band many years ago, when they toured with Public Enemy. I have the sense that not many top pop/rock/rap musicians are able to recognize the impact of touring on family and leave that career. The late singer of Talk Talk, Mark Hollis, was the same.
And I had always wondered about this:
Watchmaking is an ergonomically horrible job, you are hunched over, your arms are falling asleep, and you are just asking for carpal tunnel syndrome. The first thing new watchmakers should save for is not tools, but a really good bench.
The pictures still show people hunched over tables, though, squinting at tiny parts. How much can a good bench do?
I saw them on the Persistsnce if Time tour, opening for Maiden. Of course they had a giant clock on stage, probably influenced by the watches.
Speaking of ergonomics, why do they hunch over with eye loupes when inspection microscopes with over 12” of working distance are available? I have hand placed 01005 parts, so why don’t they use them for watch making?
If you have a proper hand rest under the inspection scope, you can do very fine movements while sitting upright.
"I have the sense that not many top pop/rock/rap musicians are able to recognize the impact of touring on family and leave that career."
There's a great doc called 'The other F word' where a bunch of famous and semi-famous hard touring musicians talk about the impact of their career choices on having a family. It's quite hard to watch at times. I appreciate this is totally off the watch making topic, but worth viewing if you're interested.
This story reminds me of George Chakiris who won an Academy Award for his role as Bernardo in West Side Story. He became a jewelry designer later in life.
"Time has always been part of my music. Consider the song “Got the Time”… Time has always been part of my life and it will never go away since it is a wonderful remembrance of my Pop-Pop. Sadly, everyone has the time on their phone today and timekeepers have shifted from a need to an extreme luxury."
As others already mentioned, there's hobby and beauty to them.
But for an actual practical point where mechanical watches outshine their electronic counterparts: they can be insanely robust and reliable, as in, working for literal decades, basically non-stop, with generally 21600 mechanical movements per hour. And those are not specifically high-end ones. A decent quality 80$ watch from good stock will last a long time, and with proper maintenance potentially lifetimes.
I recently bought a mid-range automatic and switched from a lower-end quartz watch. While the quartz is absolutely less effort; you don't have to ever worry about winding it, there is something magical about the precision engineering of automatics. The second hand sweeping is really beautiful.
My daily, and only, wristwatch I wear is a stainless steel Seiko "5" self winding mechanical with a steel wristband.
My parents bought me for my 16th birthday in 1983. I think it cost around GBP100.00 back then. These days the thing runs fast and slow sometimes by up to 20 mins over a week but I do have a rough idea what time it is (once a week I reset to actual time). For me that's fine, 99% of things in my life are not that time critical.
With the exception of a replacement face glass (circa 1986, my Dad's fault :) ) and a replacement spring pin for the wristband clasp doodah, it's all original and has never been opened.
If I do need to check the "real time", say for attending a meeting (not often), I just have a quick look at my phone or computer.
The reason I keep wearing this inferior timekeeping piece is because I like it, like the simple design and enjoy it for sentimental reasons. For all my waking hours it's been through motorbike crashes, getting lost on a mountain, it went to one of my parent's funerals, signed my marriage certificate and then signed my divorce papers :) and much much more. It's more than just a less "superior" timepiece.
I doubt a "superior" timekeeping piece by Apple or some such other technology company would last as long, acquire the patina my Seiko has and the patina of my life in terms of memories and experiences (this thing is now older than half my life now).
there is a lot of wisdom in art, and a lot that goes beyond just the aesthetical aspects of it. Mechanical timepieces are appealing to people for different reasons. Some enjoy the luxury aspect as it can be enjoyed as much as jewelery, others enjoys the engineering part of it as it can see as a wonderful machine, very precise and delicate, others like the little rituals involved, winding it up for non-automatics or looking at the inner workings by exposed complications, and others link it to memory as those timepieces pass through generations of their famillies. Time keeping is just part of it, not its whole.
Aesthetics, the graspable ingenuity of the engine formed of mere gears and a spring. The artesanal dimension of the mechanical engine... That is attractive.
Besides, no batteries to change, ever, so a mechanical watch is zombie apocalypse proof too, and more environmentally friendly.
As for accuracy, yes, there are better sources of timing than mechanical or quartz crystal clocks. If one wanted achievable timing accuracy on the go, a GPS timing radio controlled clock would be the one to use. But would it be practical? Would it look nice? How much battery would it consume? And the most important question: would you need that kind of microsecond level accuracy?
Similar to retrocomputing, mechanical watches can be a fun hobby, and there is an active and relatively big community dedicated to modding and finding rare vintage watches. Here are a few videos that may spark your interest:
[+] [-] ilamont|7 years ago|reply
And I had always wondered about this:
Watchmaking is an ergonomically horrible job, you are hunched over, your arms are falling asleep, and you are just asking for carpal tunnel syndrome. The first thing new watchmakers should save for is not tools, but a really good bench.
The pictures still show people hunched over tables, though, squinting at tiny parts. How much can a good bench do?
[+] [-] jgalentine007|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] madengr|7 years ago|reply
Speaking of ergonomics, why do they hunch over with eye loupes when inspection microscopes with over 12” of working distance are available? I have hand placed 01005 parts, so why don’t they use them for watch making?
If you have a proper hand rest under the inspection scope, you can do very fine movements while sitting upright.
[+] [-] iamben|7 years ago|reply
There's a great doc called 'The other F word' where a bunch of famous and semi-famous hard touring musicians talk about the impact of their career choices on having a family. It's quite hard to watch at times. I appreciate this is totally off the watch making topic, but worth viewing if you're interested.
[+] [-] kazinator|7 years ago|reply
Obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGHsxMqpL0c
[+] [-] CalChris|7 years ago|reply
https://georgechakiris.com/
[+] [-] colund|7 years ago|reply
"Time has always been part of my music. Consider the song “Got the Time”… Time has always been part of my life and it will never go away since it is a wonderful remembrance of my Pop-Pop. Sadly, everyone has the time on their phone today and timekeepers have shifted from a need to an extreme luxury."
[+] [-] wolfi1|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TravelAndFood|7 years ago|reply
I enjoyed most of this article, but wow, what an arrogant response.
[+] [-] arkades|7 years ago|reply
Seems like an obvious comment to make about being rare as hen’s teeth.
[+] [-] coherentpony|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pdog|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] amorroxic|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] craigsmansion|7 years ago|reply
But for an actual practical point where mechanical watches outshine their electronic counterparts: they can be insanely robust and reliable, as in, working for literal decades, basically non-stop, with generally 21600 mechanical movements per hour. And those are not specifically high-end ones. A decent quality 80$ watch from good stock will last a long time, and with proper maintenance potentially lifetimes.
[+] [-] nodesocket|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] teh_klev|7 years ago|reply
My parents bought me for my 16th birthday in 1983. I think it cost around GBP100.00 back then. These days the thing runs fast and slow sometimes by up to 20 mins over a week but I do have a rough idea what time it is (once a week I reset to actual time). For me that's fine, 99% of things in my life are not that time critical.
With the exception of a replacement face glass (circa 1986, my Dad's fault :) ) and a replacement spring pin for the wristband clasp doodah, it's all original and has never been opened.
If I do need to check the "real time", say for attending a meeting (not often), I just have a quick look at my phone or computer.
The reason I keep wearing this inferior timekeeping piece is because I like it, like the simple design and enjoy it for sentimental reasons. For all my waking hours it's been through motorbike crashes, getting lost on a mountain, it went to one of my parent's funerals, signed my marriage certificate and then signed my divorce papers :) and much much more. It's more than just a less "superior" timepiece.
I doubt a "superior" timekeeping piece by Apple or some such other technology company would last as long, acquire the patina my Seiko has and the patina of my life in terms of memories and experiences (this thing is now older than half my life now).
[+] [-] debatem1|7 years ago|reply
People like beautiful things, and some machines do have a hypnotic kind of beauty.
[+] [-] soapdog|7 years ago|reply
there is a lot of wisdom in art, and a lot that goes beyond just the aesthetical aspects of it. Mechanical timepieces are appealing to people for different reasons. Some enjoy the luxury aspect as it can be enjoyed as much as jewelery, others enjoys the engineering part of it as it can see as a wonderful machine, very precise and delicate, others like the little rituals involved, winding it up for non-automatics or looking at the inner workings by exposed complications, and others link it to memory as those timepieces pass through generations of their famillies. Time keeping is just part of it, not its whole.
[+] [-] vertline3|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jnurmine|7 years ago|reply
Besides, no batteries to change, ever, so a mechanical watch is zombie apocalypse proof too, and more environmentally friendly.
As for accuracy, yes, there are better sources of timing than mechanical or quartz crystal clocks. If one wanted achievable timing accuracy on the go, a GPS timing radio controlled clock would be the one to use. But would it be practical? Would it look nice? How much battery would it consume? And the most important question: would you need that kind of microsecond level accuracy?
[+] [-] spectramax|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pera|7 years ago|reply
Building A Vostok Wristwatch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-JMoUoMtXo
How does a mechanical movement work?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYM4PpiTcEA
9S Movement Manufacturing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0hR9jagpSM
[+] [-] Mikeb85|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] throwawaymath|7 years ago|reply
You don't buy a mechanical watch for maximal timekeeping utility. You buy it because you appreciate it as a form of art.
[+] [-] tamasnet|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] faissaloo|7 years ago|reply