9 ms·

Masahiro Kikuno, Japanese Independent Watchmaker (2017)

178 points by recurser 8y ago

momentmaker 8y ago
Wow... some bad ass watches he had made.
slyall 8y ago
Previously ( June 2017, 106 comments ) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14610110 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14610110
swimfar 8y ago
The "old school milling machine" they mention is actually a pantograph milling machine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph#Milling_machines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph#Milling_machines
- dugditches 8y ago
  Which is an 'old school milling machine'. Just as a Turret Mill with Rotary Table to cut curves is an 'Old School' milling machine.
beezischillin 8y ago
I can’t help but admire people who create incredible intricate pieces of mechanical art hy hand. Not ever in my life could I hope to replicate even a crude, barely functional version of such a device. While I’m not a watch geek, the process and methodology behind creating these time-pieces is endlessly fascinating to me. I’d totally love to watch a documentary of someone doing similar work!
- paulgb 8y ago
  I don't know where you're located, but you may enjoy the Horological Society of New York's traveling education program[1] if they are going to be near you. (I'm not affiliated with them, but I've enjoyed a few of their classes) [1] http://hs-ny.org/traveling-education/ http://hs-ny.org/traveling-education/
  - SamReidHughes 8y ago
    San Diego next month! Thanks for posting this, I might check it out.
  - beezischillin 8y ago
    Unfortunately I live in Transylvania, but thank you for you recommendation!
- jdietrich 8y ago
  There is a documentary about George Daniels and his apprentice Roger Smith, available on DVD or Amazon Prime Video. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2958390/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2958390/ Smith has uploaded a number of fascinating videos to YouTube, including two old documentaries about Daniels. https://www.youtube.com/user/rwsmithwatches/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/rwsmithwatches/videos There is also a wonderful series of videos featuring Daniels talking about his life. His voice was quite weak in later life due to throat cancer, but it's well worth persevering - he was a fascinating and inspirational man. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzkr4WCsqrhvkOpA-pLIGmS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzkr4WCsqrh... If you have a serious interest in learning watchmaking, the British Horological Institute offer a distance learning course on servicing, repairing and restoring clocks and watches. The course is available worldwide, although you would need to travel to Upton Hall in England to complete some of the practical examinations. https://bhi.co.uk/training-education/examinations/ https://bhi.co.uk/training-education/examinations/
astdb 8y ago
I found a documentary[1] on Masahiro a while back and it was mesmerizing to watch him work. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTiPNqeMS8E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTiPNqeMS8E
AtomicOrbital 8y ago
In traditional Japan the custom was each day had 12 hours of daylight and 12 of night time so to accommodate this the length of hours shifted day by day ... Masahiro was inspired by an ancient clock which implemented this idea such that he decided to craft by hand a watch to perform this as well ... incredible master and some impressive video documentary taboot
- KyleBrandt 8y ago
  The time system was one of the real interesting things from the documentary to me. This Seiko page explains the time system well: https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/knowledge/wadokei/huteijihou/ https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/knowledge/wadokei/huteijihou/ 12 hour day (what is 24 hours in modern time). Daytime is always 6 hours and night time is always 6 hours. The absolute length of the hours changes with the seasons.
  - mikekchar 8y ago
    There's an android app for it even: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aragaer.jtt/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aragaer.jtt/ I just started using it recently and I really like it. My mood is very much affected by exposure to daylight and it really helps to plan my day around the sun, rather than arbitrary numbers on a clock.
- stevekemp 8y ago
  That sounds similar to the Ethiopean time-system: * https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-30/if-you-have-meeting-ethiopia-you-better-double-check-time https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-30/if-you-have-meeting-e... "Because Ethiopia is close to the Equator, daylight is pretty consistent throughout the year. So many Ethiopians use a 12-hour clock, with one cycle of 1 to 12 — from dawn to dusk — and the other cycle from dusk to dawn. "
shawnps 8y ago
For anyone interested in purchasing a mechanical watch, there are plenty of brands making affordable mechanical timepieces today. Hamilton, Seiko, Tissot, Swatch, Orient, and Timex are a few that come to mind for the sub-$1000 category. It's a fun hobby with a nice community of enthusiasts. Some advice: * If possible, wear the watch before buying it. Seeing a watch on your wrist is different from seeing photos of it. * Avoid the "grey market" and buy from an Authorized Dealer. Grey market watches won't have the manufacturer warranty. * Avoid replicas and fakes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHgKMA6Bh6U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHgKMA6Bh6U) Some links: * The Urban Gentry (https://www.youtube.com/user/theurbangentry https://www.youtube.com/user/theurbangentry) is a YouTube channel run by a horology enthusiast with a positive attitude who does lots of watch reviews. * The r/Watches subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/watches/ https://www.reddit.com/r/watches/) has lots of photos of watches contributed by the community. * A video on how mechanical watches work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1XBb7kJJWg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1XBb7kJJWg * S-Town podcast (https://stownpodcast.org/ https://stownpodcast.org/) is an intriguing story about a man who repaired antique clocks. * Affordable Wrist Time (https://www.instagram.com/affordablewristtime/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/affordablewristtime/?hl=en) the tagline is "Promoting watches under $1000." Some terminology: * A quartz watch is usually powered by a battery. They tend to be cheaper and more accurate than mechanical watches. * A mechanical watch is powered by a mainspring. * An automatic watch has a semicircular rotor inside which automatically spins when the watch moves, winding the mainspring. * Hacking is a feature that stops the second hand from moving when the crown is pulled out.
- KyleBrandt 8y ago
  One other common terminology, any additional features are often called "complications". In particular others like me might enjoy the UTC/GMT complication, which often has a hand that goes around the watch once every 24 hours and can be set to another timezone like UTC. On another pro-watch note, I've discovered that a non-smartwatch has an pretty amazing feature: the ability to check the time without seeing any sort of notification.
  - Abishek_Muthian 8y ago
paradoxparalax 8y ago
I love this art of Patience of the Japanese. They love to spend a life time i to making a tiny wood doll or some little flower arrange... I wonder its because is an Island and one gets inside himself or one just gets bored... I am a fan of making bamboo and paper little planes , just to thorw them and destroy on the beach... I found that using Smoking Paper is a good material haha What I like is the making the fine bamboos longarinas and skeleton of the models. I like boats of bamboo too.
halbritt 8y ago
This guy is obviously an adherent of George Daniels. His story is fascinating. He produced likely one of the only significant inventions in mechanical watches in the last century, the coaxial escapement. The book shown in the OP is wonderful and here's a documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nsh8llV5dE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nsh8llV5dE Daniels' apprentice and now watchmaker Roger W. Smith has carried on making watches with his escapement and like Kikuno-San makes all of the components by hand and in-house.
- halbritt 8y ago
  It's probably worth clarifying why it's obvious that he was an adherent of George Daniels. In his book, and in every interview I've seen of him, he speaks at length about the value of a watch maker being able to make every component in a watch. Listening to him talk about how he learned every aspect of the trade in his is fascinating.
charliebrownau 8y ago
45k FUCK THAT Good luck getting the average person to consider $450 let alone 4500 or 45k
Antonio123123 8y ago
Let me voice my negative opinion: To me it looks worthy of a hobby, but to praise this as something exceptional it's kind of overstretch. The time required is very long to make the pieces by hand, but I feel any sharp person could do it. Nothing groundbreaking. So I don't understand people that find this fascinating, inspirational. Just buy a usual watch, and it will have the same pieces. It's cool that he makes new designs, however make a good market out of that and the chinese will do it too, at better prices.
- dklsafhjskljfl 8y ago
  "i could have done that" "but you didnt"
  - Antonio123123 8y ago
    Why would I manually do the pieces of a clockwork? It's been done manually countless times. Maybe If I would be in metallurgic industry it would make sense to do it as an exercise.
    - dklsafhjskljfl 8y ago
      "i could have done that" "but you didnt"
- CodeArtisan 8y ago
  That guy is a machinist but also a smith, an engineer, an artist,... he is a true artisan that live from his craft.
- orbifold 8y ago
  If you buy such a watch, you also buy a story. A single person producing a decently complicated watch from scratch is a pretty good story to tell. I image there are enough people in the world with the kind of disposable income required to buy such a watch, so he will have a pretty good business regardless of Chinese copycats.

178 points by recurser 8y ago

Wow... some bad ass watches he had made.

Previously ( June 2017, 106 comments ) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14610110 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14610110

swimfar 8y ago

The "old school milling machine" they mention is actually a pantograph milling machine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph#Milling_machines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph#Milling_machines

dugditches 8y ago
Which is an 'old school milling machine'. Just as a Turret Mill with Rotary Table to cut curves is an 'Old School' milling machine.

beezischillin 8y ago

I can’t help but admire people who create incredible intricate pieces of mechanical art hy hand. Not ever in my life could I hope to replicate even a crude, barely functional version of such a device. While I’m not a watch geek, the process and methodology behind creating these time-pieces is endlessly fascinating to me. I’d totally love to watch a documentary of someone doing similar work!

paulgb 8y ago
I don't know where you're located, but you may enjoy the Horological Society of New York's traveling education program[1] if they are going to be near you. (I'm not affiliated with them, but I've enjoyed a few of their classes) [1] http://hs-ny.org/traveling-education/ http://hs-ny.org/traveling-education/
- SamReidHughes 8y ago
  San Diego next month! Thanks for posting this, I might check it out.
- beezischillin 8y ago
  Unfortunately I live in Transylvania, but thank you for you recommendation!
jdietrich 8y ago
There is a documentary about George Daniels and his apprentice Roger Smith, available on DVD or Amazon Prime Video. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2958390/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2958390/ Smith has uploaded a number of fascinating videos to YouTube, including two old documentaries about Daniels. https://www.youtube.com/user/rwsmithwatches/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/rwsmithwatches/videos There is also a wonderful series of videos featuring Daniels talking about his life. His voice was quite weak in later life due to throat cancer, but it's well worth persevering - he was a fascinating and inspirational man. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzkr4WCsqrhvkOpA-pLIGmS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzkr4WCsqrh... If you have a serious interest in learning watchmaking, the British Horological Institute offer a distance learning course on servicing, repairing and restoring clocks and watches. The course is available worldwide, although you would need to travel to Upton Hall in England to complete some of the practical examinations. https://bhi.co.uk/training-education/examinations/ https://bhi.co.uk/training-education/examinations/

astdb 8y ago

I found a documentary[1] on Masahiro a while back and it was mesmerizing to watch him work. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTiPNqeMS8E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTiPNqeMS8E

AtomicOrbital 8y ago

In traditional Japan the custom was each day had 12 hours of daylight and 12 of night time so to accommodate this the length of hours shifted day by day ... Masahiro was inspired by an ancient clock which implemented this idea such that he decided to craft by hand a watch to perform this as well ... incredible master and some impressive video documentary taboot

KyleBrandt 8y ago
The time system was one of the real interesting things from the documentary to me. This Seiko page explains the time system well: https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/knowledge/wadokei/huteijihou/ https://museum.seiko.co.jp/en/knowledge/wadokei/huteijihou/ 12 hour day (what is 24 hours in modern time). Daytime is always 6 hours and night time is always 6 hours. The absolute length of the hours changes with the seasons.
- mikekchar 8y ago
  There's an android app for it even: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aragaer.jtt/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aragaer.jtt/ I just started using it recently and I really like it. My mood is very much affected by exposure to daylight and it really helps to plan my day around the sun, rather than arbitrary numbers on a clock.
stevekemp 8y ago
That sounds similar to the Ethiopean time-system: * https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-30/if-you-have-meeting-ethiopia-you-better-double-check-time https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-30/if-you-have-meeting-e... "Because Ethiopia is close to the Equator, daylight is pretty consistent throughout the year. So many Ethiopians use a 12-hour clock, with one cycle of 1 to 12 — from dawn to dusk — and the other cycle from dusk to dawn. "

shawnps 8y ago

For anyone interested in purchasing a mechanical watch, there are plenty of brands making affordable mechanical timepieces today. Hamilton, Seiko, Tissot, Swatch, Orient, and Timex are a few that come to mind for the sub-$1000 category. It's a fun hobby with a nice community of enthusiasts. Some advice: * If possible, wear the watch before buying it. Seeing a watch on your wrist is different from seeing photos of it. * Avoid the "grey market" and buy from an Authorized Dealer. Grey market watches won't have the manufacturer warranty. * Avoid replicas and fakes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHgKMA6Bh6U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHgKMA6Bh6U) Some links: * The Urban Gentry (https://www.youtube.com/user/theurbangentry https://www.youtube.com/user/theurbangentry) is a YouTube channel run by a horology enthusiast with a positive attitude who does lots of watch reviews. * The r/Watches subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/watches/ https://www.reddit.com/r/watches/) has lots of photos of watches contributed by the community. * A video on how mechanical watches work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1XBb7kJJWg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1XBb7kJJWg * S-Town podcast (https://stownpodcast.org/ https://stownpodcast.org/) is an intriguing story about a man who repaired antique clocks. * Affordable Wrist Time (https://www.instagram.com/affordablewristtime/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/affordablewristtime/?hl=en) the tagline is "Promoting watches under $1000." Some terminology: * A quartz watch is usually powered by a battery. They tend to be cheaper and more accurate than mechanical watches. * A mechanical watch is powered by a mainspring. * An automatic watch has a semicircular rotor inside which automatically spins when the watch moves, winding the mainspring. * Hacking is a feature that stops the second hand from moving when the crown is pulled out.

KyleBrandt 8y ago
One other common terminology, any additional features are often called "complications". In particular others like me might enjoy the UTC/GMT complication, which often has a hand that goes around the watch once every 24 hours and can be set to another timezone like UTC. On another pro-watch note, I've discovered that a non-smartwatch has an pretty amazing feature: the ability to check the time without seeing any sort of notification.
- Abishek_Muthian 8y ago

paradoxparalax 8y ago

I love this art of Patience of the Japanese. They love to spend a life time i to making a tiny wood doll or some little flower arrange... I wonder its because is an Island and one gets inside himself or one just gets bored... I am a fan of making bamboo and paper little planes , just to thorw them and destroy on the beach... I found that using Smoking Paper is a good material haha What I like is the making the fine bamboos longarinas and skeleton of the models. I like boats of bamboo too.

halbritt 8y ago

This guy is obviously an adherent of George Daniels. His story is fascinating. He produced likely one of the only significant inventions in mechanical watches in the last century, the coaxial escapement. The book shown in the OP is wonderful and here's a documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nsh8llV5dE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nsh8llV5dE Daniels' apprentice and now watchmaker Roger W. Smith has carried on making watches with his escapement and like Kikuno-San makes all of the components by hand and in-house.

halbritt 8y ago
It's probably worth clarifying why it's obvious that he was an adherent of George Daniels. In his book, and in every interview I've seen of him, he speaks at length about the value of a watch maker being able to make every component in a watch. Listening to him talk about how he learned every aspect of the trade in his is fascinating.

charliebrownau 8y ago

45k FUCK THAT Good luck getting the average person to consider $450 let alone 4500 or 45k

Antonio123123 8y ago

Let me voice my negative opinion: To me it looks worthy of a hobby, but to praise this as something exceptional it's kind of overstretch. The time required is very long to make the pieces by hand, but I feel any sharp person could do it. Nothing groundbreaking. So I don't understand people that find this fascinating, inspirational. Just buy a usual watch, and it will have the same pieces. It's cool that he makes new designs, however make a good market out of that and the chinese will do it too, at better prices.

dklsafhjskljfl 8y ago
"i could have done that" "but you didnt"
- Antonio123123 8y ago
  Why would I manually do the pieces of a clockwork? It's been done manually countless times. Maybe If I would be in metallurgic industry it would make sense to do it as an exercise.
  - dklsafhjskljfl 8y ago
    "i could have done that" "but you didnt"
CodeArtisan 8y ago
That guy is a machinist but also a smith, an engineer, an artist,... he is a true artisan that live from his craft.
orbifold 8y ago
If you buy such a watch, you also buy a story. A single person producing a decently complicated watch from scratch is a pretty good story to tell. I image there are enough people in the world with the kind of disposable income required to buy such a watch, so he will have a pretty good business regardless of Chinese copycats.