The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-02-12
MAKING OF WATCHES
BY FREDERIC j. HAsKIN.

Although probably the last country
] 20 take up the manufacture of
watches. the United States to-day is
making them more eheaply than any
other nation. There are about forty
two establishments in this country
that make either watch cases or the
movements The capital involved In
this Industry is over thirty-two mil
3. Hon dollars, while the number OF peo-
Z pie employed is nearly fifteen thou
sand. These employees. about SO per
cent OF whom are women. get an
nuaily about eight million dollars In
wages. 1t Is estimated that the value
Of the yearly output of these factories,
including custom work and repairing.
Is nearly twenty-one million dollars.
while nearly nine Million dollars is
spent annually for materials and In
cidentai expenses
The watchwerd of watch factory
is cleanliness. In the production of
the numberless tiny parts which go
TO make up the whole, dust would
mean ruth The majority nf watch
factories are surrounded by lawns
& In some instances parks. The build
ing itself IL composed in SO far as
possible, of glass, the brick work be-
Ing only enough IN support the panes.
This liz to afford all the light possible,
and in addition 10 this innumerahte
lights burn all day inside the build
ing.
Making a watch movement Is not
r,,s4rie~ process. Ttaasa-sEe- an-aGe-
rage of from $50 175 distinct parts
to every movement, while to make
complete movement necessitates
nearly 1900 distinct operations. In
this process many parts are needed
which are in themselves wonders. The
.t1 ffsk
movement weighs one thirty-thou-
sandth Of a popnd. and has thread
OF $50 to the inches The vine of the
hair spring. which Is foot long,
weighs but one fifteen thousandth OF Q
pound and lis reputed to he, weight
for weight. the most expensive pro-
duct in the world
Jewels. first used as pivot bearings
in the seventeenth century. are an
s other portion OF the work which Is
very delicate. A pallet jewel weighs
but one one -hundaed and fifty GU
sandth OF a pound, while roller jew
els weigh even less There are three
kinds of Jewels used in making a
watch, according to its class, The
best are sapphires and rubies, the sec
end crystal and the third garnets.
A large portion of the work lies
not In making the watch movement
but in making the various parts which
are afterward to be put together. In
the matter of screws alone there Is
much Ia be done. Time was when
these we're made by hand, days
work being from 500 to 1900. With
a daily output of $500 movements
each one of which required from thir-
s ~ to fifty screws. would mean that
about eighty men would have to be
employed for the making of screws
: aloHe. To-day machine is used
which turns out daily from 1900 TO
] 10000 of these. and requires the at
tendance of but one person.
1t was an American who first pro-
posed the use OF machinery in the
making OF watches. This WAC Aaron
, L. pennison, of Boston. who, in 1850
opened watch factory. in partner
ship with Howard and Curtis. at Rox-
bury. Mass. Up to that time watches
were all made by hand. Switzerland,
which gained the reputation of being
the matchmaking country of the
world. made all her timepieces not
only by hand, but certain communi-
ties made one part, while others con-
ssraetea different pieces. Generation
after generation grew up as expert
watch makers, being taught the art
when children, All these commune
&ASS NtehlAH AiiA'iNhA PhA Is @StS VIE
tied ever so often and their wares coll
lected Then still another community.
skilled In the art of putting the parts
together, was needed to complete the
work. To-day this custom no longer
prevails. as machinery has been In
stalled in all large watch making cen
tera In addition TO this schools have
been opened to teach the making of
watches by machinery.
No matter how reliable n watch or
clock may be there is sure to be the
smallest fraction of a seconds differ
ence between IL and the real time
the true timepiece liz the earth. Ac-
cording TO Professor Newcomb. the
earth has not altered its course one
hundredth and probably not one-thou-
xandth part Of "A second since the be-
ginning of the Christian era. The di-
reer effect Of THIS rotation IL the APP
parent revolution of the stars across
the sky. Every conspicuous star, and
there are about SEQ. has It's position
carefully determined by right ascen-
sion and declination, and from a pre-
pared catalogue the astronomers can
ascertain just what time II Is by the
passage of a star at certain me-
rldian.
From the various observatories all
over the world. the principal one in
na;rtv Cloxya nv Tax.