4 ms·

Only tangentially related, but if you ever get the chance to check out the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva you should do so. I'm not really a watch geek so befo

Only tangentially related, but if you ever get the chance to check out the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva you should do so. I'm not really a watch geek so before going there I was kind of "meh", but that place is incredible. They have thousands of timepieces, some dating back to 1530. To see what people have been able to accomplish with nothing but springs and tiny gears is nothing short of mind-blowing. As a technologist it's pretty humbling, considering all the advantages we have today and yet ancient watchmakers could do this work literally with nothing but hand tools.

ansgri 9y ago
There's also Uhrenmuseum Glashütte in Germany near Dresden, where A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original factories are based. They have various vintage watchmaking tools on display, along with various assignments made by watchmaking students. Well worth stopping there if you're nearby.
huhtenberg 9y ago
+1 It's a fantastic museum. Several floors jam-packed with incredible watches. Really helps you understand where modern Patek's price tags come from :)
mathattack 9y ago
This is also what makes Steampunk so fascinating.
- ChuckMcM 9y ago
  I always imagine that in the steampunk universe is 'the number of gears in a mechanism doubles every 2 years' and then extrapolate where we would be today :-)
  - mml 9y ago
    there's a book along those themes. a corporation's power was measured in "cam feet", and the main plot revolved around the theft of a stack of punchcards with some important algorithm or other on them.
    - syncsynchalt 9y ago
      Sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine
splonk 9y ago
In a similar vein, there used to be a Clockmaker's Museum in Guildhall in London. I believe it's been moved to the Science Museum now. I had a similar experience as parent - didn't think I cared about clocks that much, but ended up spending hours in a one room museum.

ansgri 9y ago

There's also Uhrenmuseum Glashütte in Germany near Dresden, where A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original factories are based. They have various vintage watchmaking tools on display, along with various assignments made by watchmaking students. Well worth stopping there if you're nearby.

huhtenberg 9y ago

+1 It's a fantastic museum. Several floors jam-packed with incredible watches. Really helps you understand where modern Patek's price tags come from :)

mathattack 9y ago

This is also what makes Steampunk so fascinating.

ChuckMcM 9y ago
I always imagine that in the steampunk universe is 'the number of gears in a mechanism doubles every 2 years' and then extrapolate where we would be today :-)
- mml 9y ago
  there's a book along those themes. a corporation's power was measured in "cam feet", and the main plot revolved around the theft of a stack of punchcards with some important algorithm or other on them.
  - syncsynchalt 9y ago
    Sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine

splonk 9y ago

In a similar vein, there used to be a Clockmaker's Museum in Guildhall in London. I believe it's been moved to the Science Museum now. I had a similar experience as parent - didn't think I cared about clocks that much, but ended up spending hours in a one room museum.