turzmo
The author seems too humble to put a giant Patreon link in
a popup (it's at the very bottom), but in case anyone
wants to know how to support:
https://www.patreon.com/ciechanowski/membership?vanity=cie
ch...
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awongh
As a teacher I understand how difficult it is to explain
complex topics in a simple step by step way.The site has
some really impressive technical aspects, but the
educational angle is the most rare and special! The
simplicity of the language and explanations disguise how
difficult this is to do.This is the original use of the
internet- giving away free knowledge to people, perfectly
suited for the medium of a website.
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> aquova
While I do agree, if the author is reading the
comments one piece of feedback I have is the overuse
of the phrase "In this article I will...". It's a bit
of a pet peeve of mine, and they use a version of the
phrase three times in the first four paragraphs.
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technothrasher
I find there is something indescribably fascinating with
mechanical timepieces. I'm more of a clock guy than a
watch guy, though I've had plenty of watches apart, and
the two disciplines merge in many places. I've learned so
many new mechanical skills in my now six year journey to
be able to repair these things, and to learn to repair
them is to learn to make them, as you need to know how to
fabricate every single piece in order to be able to repair
any movement, thus why clock and watch repairers are
called clockmakers and watchmakers.
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> serious_angel
Related: https://jacobandco.com/timepieces
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> > technothrasher
Related I guess, but these celebrity "bling"
watches are entirely the least interesting part of
horology.
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> > > MSFT_Edging
I'm in a similar boat and I find it really
hard to talk watches with folks who are
experienced in the way of the Rolex AD.I
really enjoy cheaper vintage watches that call
back to when everyone had one of them on their
wrist.Something about a semi-autonomous
machine ticking away on your wrist, whether
you're looking at it or not, using no
electricity, is just intrinsically satisfying
to me.I got into watch servicing pre-covid,
but never got into actual fabrication of
parts. I mention pre-covid because it really
got popular when everyone was stuck inside and
there was a sudden loss of cheap ebay parts
watches to pick from.
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> > > WillAdams
Yeah, it's always interesting when I run into
watch guys --- my father's 27-jewel Seiko is
too large for my wrist, and the date wheel is
broken (and I can't find anyone willing to fix
it w/o a donor watch), so I wear quite modest
watches such as a Timex Indiglo, or a Seiko
Solar --- folks are understanding and
sympathetic and almost always have stories
about repairs, or watches which they are
hoping to have the chance to buy.
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> > > > mtlmtlmtlmtl
I've never owned a mechanical watch(did
just recently buy an Orient solar watch
after I lost my fitbit while traveling and
after a couple weeks, realised the only
feature I actually missed was having the
time on my wrist), but I like watching the
channel Wristwatch Revival on youtube.
That guy will often repair old watches
that most watchmakers won't touch, sent in
by viewers, and make content out of it.
And he especially loves taking taking on
watches that have sentimental value for
the owner.He also recently started a watch
repair shop specifically catering to cases
most watchmakers won't accept, might be
worth checking
out.https://www.youtube.com/c/WristwatchRe
vival/https://restoration.sutcliffehansen.
com/
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> > > > technothrasher
Wear whatever makes you happy without
apology. Rolex, Timex, Apple Watch.
Whatever. I find a large inverse relation
between people who care about the cost of
the watch you wear and people who are
actually interested in the mechanical
function of a watch.
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ahknight
I love that there's not only the internals of a standard
three-hand, but the automatic mechanism as well. If you're
going pure mechanical, an automatic is the best way. As
long as you actually move during the day the watch
generally stays wound up (though a twist when you put it
on is a good measure). There's a ton of great watches out
there powered only by walking around, and it's fascinating
to look at what they can do with that.The mechanics of a
six-hand are similar, using the mechanism that is
described here for the date indicator.Another fun device,
though more from an EE POV, are the solar+radio/GPS
versions of the same. Automatics can hold power for a few
days and need walking around to wind. Solar needs light
(any light, though sunlight is always best) and hold power
for over a month. Many higher-end models can self-set over
radio time or GPS signals as well.When the world goes
tits-up someday, both classes of watches will suddenly
become essential, and are already essential for people who
spend a good amount of time "unreachable" for work or
pleasure.
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kordlessagain
https://www.youtube.com/wristwatchrevival if anyone loves
stuff like this. He's great!
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alxgsv
2022 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533
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> wateralien
Are we allowed to see it again?
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> > alxgsv
Yes, why not. When I posted my comment, year
wasn't in the title. I was very excited to see
this, sent to my friend and he said to me that
it's an old one. So I posted my comment to make
people aware of that.
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> > geerlingguy
Yes, I remember the GPS post, but somehow missed
this one the first go-round. I love how HN can
resurface an old post deserving of a few re-posts.
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> StrLght
I got really excited thinking it was a new post for a
second :(
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gilleain
I recently bought the book 'Watch Repair for Beginners'
for reference (a project I slightly unwisely agreed to
do).It has some great diagrams, but obviously nothing on
these interactive animations (er, naturally, since it is a
book).However the author (Harold C. Kelley) has
descriptions for the diagrams similar to a maths proof -
like "Warning lever W is raised in position to engage the
pin P ... The unlocking lever U lifts the drop lever D
..." - not easy to follow, but maybe if you have the
mechanism in front of you!
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selfawareMammal
Why is this getting to the top page every year?
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throw0101c
As observed from a comment [1] in a previous discussion:
in the first animation the time and date shown are
actually correct (per your web browser) when it initially
renders, though it does not increment as the seconds hand
reaches 12.[1]
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533#unv_31268444
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sammyo
My wife finds yard sale watches and has me change the
battery, but then I open one, a tiny thing and it's not
battery powered but there are layers of tiny tiny gears.
Mind boggling. (pro tip, a "bench knife" has a tiny blade
that's optimized for plying open watch cases)
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scosman
My 8yo son plays with this any chance he gets. We've
started building watches together as a result (simple
"drop in movement mods", but aspirations of building our
own movement). The author really made something special.
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timdiggerm
It's been more than a year since his last post. Anyone
know what's up?
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> assimpleaspossi
Maybe the article is done. He did make a few blog
posts since then including seven months ago.
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kqr
I also recommend this demonstration from 1949, in that
excellent style they used back then with large scale
physical models and stop-motion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMW-QWPZEm0
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grvdrm
What an outrageously cool and informative website. Love
it.I'm back to mostly wearing analog watches. Had an Apple
Watch on my wrist for quite a long time, but something
about analog appeals once more. No smartwatch beats an
analog in the style department, and I see analog
everywhere around me ('burbs of NYC)
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NiloCK
On-demand ciechanow.ski caliber articles are a pretty good
AGI indicator. All the work on that site is wonderful.
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josh-sematic
This piece made me kind of fall in love with mechanical
watches. The Orient Bambino I'm currently rocking on my
wrist probably wouldn't be there without it!
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WillAdams
Relevant YouTube channel for a deep
dive:https://www.youtube.com/@chronovaengineering
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serious_angel
Ineffably magnificent... no words may express how simply
ingenious and incredible both the website work and such
the marvel the work is attributed to...What if schools
would provide children such marvel? Yes, that requires a
sufficient time to achieve, but dear... it's just... a
miracle...Related: https://ciechanow.ski/archives (Bartosz
Ciechanowski...)
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