Timing machines show us three things that we really need to know to make a watch run accurately: Books from the 1940s and 1950s describe them as a genuine marvel, and they were-they allowed watchmakers to diagnose faults and to shave days off the time needed for positional timing. The invention of timing machines was a huge leap for adjusting. (I doubt I could be trusted around so many 16-size Bunn Specials…) In his great book on Illinois wrist watches, Fredric Friedberg mentions the factory’s “timing room,” where workers kept “hundreds of watches wound while they were being tested for accuracy” (p. Adjusting a watch to 6 positions was a drawn-out affair.Ī big factory would have a lot of watches sitting around, ticking merrily until the next visit to the adjuster. If necessary, the watch was adjusted again, wound, and left to sit for another day. The next day, the rate was noted, allowing a calculation of how slow or fast the watch ran in that position. After an adjustment, the watch was set to a standard time (or its deviation was noted) and then left in a position for a day. In the old days, watch adjusting could take weeks. If you don’t have a timing machine, you really need one. Collectors of vintage watches tend to be fans of the old days and the old ways, but we’ll always take time-saving inventions when we can find them.
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