Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-03-24
MATCHMAKING.
FACTS ABOUT THE NATIONAL
INDUSTRY OF SWITZERLAND.
How the Trade Is Taught in the mu-
Eiciaal School of Geneva-A
pupil Goes Through
Seven Glasses.


~ and for many years after .' that
" city held the only important po-
sition in this industry. Although watches
are now manufactured in England and
America, still the hereditary skill OF the
Genevese hand causes the art Of watch
manufacture in Geneva to be held in
high esteem all over the world. 1t is
not to be wondered at that the Swiss
have made watch manufacture a Nation
al industry, and, in order to perfect the
art, schools of Matchmaking have been
established. Foremost among these in
stitutions is L'Ecole Municipile d'Horlo.
gerie, situated IN Geneva. Here Swiss
boys pay only one dollar a month for
their instruction, while foreign boys pay
a trife more. The pupils pay for the
material employed in tleir work; so at
the end c FIVE years, when they leave
the institution, the twelve watches man.
ufactured by each boy are ais own prop.
erty.
A boy enters the school at fourteen
years of age, and begins in every class
by making the utensils required in the
manufacture of watch, even the wood
en- handles; then he makes the model Of
watch in wood. They work from
September until July, having only one
month for vacation. From five to six
months are passed in this class. Ten
hours day are passed in school, but not
ell at the work bench, for each pupil
gives seven hours Of every week to the
study Of drawing, the elements Of phys
les, mathematics, mechanical science and
chemistry. There are different classes
for each Of these studies in the school,
which the boys are required to attend.
The second class requires stay of
seven or eight months. This is called
the classe de blanc. Here are made by
hand the inside cases for watches,
chronometers aud repeaters. The cage
or inner case and some of the wheels are
made CT metal which is a mixture of
copper and zinc; other wheels and screws
are made of STEEL The apprentices are
reouired to make twelve lever escape
ment cases, one cylinder escapement case
and one case for a watch that strikes the
hour, half and quarter hour. You can
get an idea or the amount Of patience
and work required in this class when you
learn that their are twenty.one small
pieces to be made by hand for the inside
case of every ordinary watch and thirty
pieces for a repeater.
In the third class, where from six to
seven months are spent, the mechanism
for winding the watch is made. There
are seven small pieces in each mechan-
ism, all made By hand.
A period of six months is required in
the fourth class, where the art OF making
the different parts Of the chrouograph is
learned. Here the pupil makes one hun
dred different small pieces for watches
that strike the hour, and perpetual. cal
endar watches that denote the days,
months, year and change of moon. As
the work proceeds it becomes more COM
plicated. Eight months are given up IN
the fifth class to the making Of eight
pieces OF the watch, the wheels aud
screws which move the works and regu-
late the hands of the timepiece. Here
the pupil Is required also to make mi.
crometer, which is an instrument which
can measure the least possible thickness
of either wheel or screw. The exact
position OF the different movements is de
termined by mathematical problems.
Given the positions on the inner case of
the watch, the pupil can determine the
exact diameter of the wheels and screws.
Machines are used to pierce the metal,
and also to make the teeth in the wheel,
but all is finished by hanu.
In the sixth class of the school the
greatest care is required in the work,
for here the pupils are taught to make
both lever and cylinder escapementS, five
or six of the former aud one Of the latter.
There are ten essential pieces In each
lever escapement, including three
rubies, which are polished and shaped
here from the rough stones. Rabies are
used in watches on account Of their
hardness. Each tooth of the wheel of
the lever passes nine thousand times
over the ruby in an hour. The time
spent in this class Is about thirteen
months.
In the last class the pupil works for
year, verifying all the calculations made
in the other classes, aud putting together
all the different parts (Which are first
gilded) to mako a watch. The dial,
bands aud handspring of a watch are
made by special factories. ohronometers
have cylindrical or spherical hair
springs, while fat onea are employed
for watches; It is this hal; spiral which
regulates the watch. The springs arc
made in a mold, three at a time-the
steel being wound round and then heated
to keep it in shape. The hair springs
for watches are made principally by wo-
men, their hands being better adapted
to the delicate work. Now that the
watch Is finished it must be properly reg
ulated 50 as to keep as nearly exact time
as possible. In order to accomplish this,