Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1890-08-12
THE WATCH CRYSTAL.
CHANGES SINCE THE DAYS OF
GRANDFATHER'S BULLS EYE.

AN~Ni NNNil II
they are more expensive"
This conversation was overheard the
other day between two gentlemen who
were playing billiards in fremont street
hotel
Here, thought the writer, is a subject of
interest to readers, and straightforward be
visited the rooms of one of the oldest n
not the oldest, dealers in watch CRYSTALS in
the city. He was found on Court street
up one flight, in room which was n yer-
table curiosity shop.
On one side of the room was a line OF
grandfather clocks whose voices had NOT
been heard for half a century. The dust
lay on them in ridges and their old yellow
faces looked solemn and sad Some were
without hands, while others were in cases
warped and scanned by age.
Can see the proprietor of this estab-
lishmentf" inquired the newspaper man.
One OF the bent figures arose from his
bench in response. A snow white beard
flowed down his chin, and pair of steel
bowed spectacles rested on the tin of his
nose
81 conduct this shop" said he "what ia
wanteds"
II came to ask you few questions -
lating TO watch crystals" responded the
scribe.
"oh, yes. Well, you will find me pretty
well acquainted with the business"
What style of crystal was sold in 1884.
or about the days when you first went into
businessy"
The principal one was the Lunette for
both open faced and hunting cases. The
watches were known as bulls eyes. The
Lunette was invented by Frenchman of
that name, and he must have done an enor-
nous business, as the whole watch wear
ing world was customer OF his These
old fashioned timepieces had detachable
cases, and when your grandfather perform.
ed the important duty of winding up lis
old ticker, just as the sun was sinking in
the west, he would remove the outer cover
ing, hang it ON his thumb, adjust the KEY.
and then solemnly and slowly tighten the
spring for another twenty-four hours SER
vice. The crystals Of the bulls eye had to
be very high in the center because the post
to which the hands were adjusted stood up
nearly quarter Of an inch"
win you give me the process Of manu-
factureYa
with pleasure It should be under
stood, in the first place, that the finest
quality of glass is necessary, and, in order
TO make the business profitable, the factory
must be located contiguous to a rich bed
Of silica. or pulverized flint. | am now
speaking more particularly of the present
time. The glass is taken from the ovens
on the blow pipe and a large globe, the
size of a half barrcl, formed.
when cool this is taken by the operator
and with heated piece of thin iron, he
traces line around the globe and then
quickly lifts it above his head The sudden
change of temperature causes the glass TO
separate where the heated metal has been
in contact. This is continued until the
entire sphere has been made into hoops or
bands. These are then cut into squares
the size of the crystal it is designed TO pro-
duce
The process is to place these squares on
a wheel covered with buckskin, which is
made TO revolve under stationary rod, in
the end of which is diamond This oper-
alton produces the disk. These are then
placed on blocks Of soapstone, with round
ed tops, and put into little oven at
white heat where they remain about
minute. This softens the glass, and it set
ties down upon the soapstone, conforming
itself exactly to the mold The CRYSTALS
are now ready for the grinders, who bring
them down to a sharp edge so that they
shall fit snugly into the bezel"
How are the various styles of crystals
of the present time designatedy"
First we have the Geneva, which is
slightly crowned and quite thin. Then the
patent Geneva, made in the same form but
with small polished space in the center
The bulls eye is high crowned also with
polished center. Then there is the thick
parallel. This is fat on top and very
thick They have been in vogue for about
twelve years, and were brought out, be-
lieve in answer to demands made necessary
by the great popularity Of the open face
watch. The edges are ground down 50 as
to fit the charometer bezel They are very
strong, and will stand great deal Of hard
usage before breaking. The miconcave has
a very slight SWELL and is used mostly in
ladies' watches. The thick miconcave is
for gentlemen's open faced timers. The
thick concave is made heavy and ground
out on the under side and has fat top.
Then there is also the thin concave, which
is almost fat The Lunette is oval or
crowned, running in height from l to S.
The Verge glass was used largely in the
old bulls eye"
what are the diameters Of the various
crystalsY'
"They run from to "a, o being about
the size of ten cent piece and 81 measur-
ing Sic inches"
The speaker here went TO a drawer in
cabinet and fished out a dusty package,
and upon opening it showed the writer
crystal almost large enough for town
clock.
81 manufactured these myself" said he
as he held one of them up to the light.
They are made of the finest glass possible
TO obtain"
you were then in the manufacturing
businessg"
YES. In 1874 opened small factory
in Williamsburg, y. Y, and these glasses
am now show ag you were part Of my
product In those days crystal was worth
about dollar, and | concluded they could
he produced in this country at a much
lower figure. I preached the matter Of
starting factory here, but all my friends
spoke very disparagingly Of the project,
saying IL was impossible TO make a salable
crystal on this side of the Atlantic. i was
rot discouraged, however, by these pessi-
nlistic views and went right along and
carried out my proposition to successful
conclusion, but kept what was doing TO