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I have an old, 1970's era mechanical watch that I've been trying to repair recently. I called around a couple of stores in the area (Boston) and many of the cl

I have an old, 1970's era mechanical watch that I've been trying to repair recently. I called around a couple of stores in the area (Boston) and many of the clock/watch shops have backlogs anywhere from 8 weeks to 8 months. They were all basically family-run (old husband/wife couples) and most said they were struggling to keep up with demand and that there were simply no young men entering the business. The one guy who had an apprentice later clarified that his apprentice had been working for him for 20 years! I wonder how/if tech might be applied to these craft-heavy markets to make things more efficient.

progmanal 11y ago
Or they could raise prices.
logfromblammo 11y ago
Open case. Dump out the cams, cogs, and gears. Insert custom PCB, e-ink display, battery, and user input devices. The 555 was first sold in 1971. Why the hell would you still rely on complex mechanical linkages to track the time when you could just start believing that digital watches really are a pretty neat idea instead?
- kevin_thibedeau 11y ago
  They work without electricity.
  - logfromblammo 11y ago
    There is a very high correlation between needing to know the exact time of day and having easy, commoditized access to electricity. If you don't have electricity, and you are not navigating an antique wind-powered ship, you probably don't need a mechanical timepiece. Also, I recall, from way back in the 1980s, a digital clock that was "powered by a potato", using zinc and copper probes. Even if we lost all grid power, and solar cells, and low-head hydro, we could still manage a zinc-copper cell battery. Didn't you see that episode of Breaking Bad?
- qq66 11y ago
  The same reason that people still paint, sail, ride horses, read books...
  - logfromblammo 11y ago
    And do people still paint by spitting ochre against the edge of their hand onto rocks, or has painting evolved with technology? Does perspective count as painting tech? If a new cyan pigment is discovered for printer ink, could painters use it too? Is a coracle made from animal skins stretched over wooden frames equivalent to Cousteau Society's turbosail ship Alcyone? Could anyone sail at 65 knots without advancements in tech (sailrocket.com)? Could I fit an entire library of books in one pocket without the technology in my Kobo? I'm not familiar enough with horse riding to provide a better example, but the high-backed cavalry saddle and stirrup were, at the time, considered advancements in military technology. Even the fact that you can ride horses for pleasure rather than by necessity is thanks to technologies such as the automobile. People continue to do these things, but they have not always done them in the same way. And when the newer way is better, the old way rarely survives, except as a historical curiosity. Mechanical timepieces are objectively inferior to both electromechanical timepieces and purely electronic timekeeping. There's a reason why no one has to go up twice a year to wind the mainspring on the GPS satellites.
- anyfoo 11y ago
  Because they're jewelry.
ltnately 11y ago
There are a few (albeit limited) places to get into watchmaking as a career. One of the more interesting is The Lititz Watch Technicum (http://lititzwatchtechnicum.org/ http://lititzwatchtechnicum.org/) which is a 2 year certification program funded by Rolex.
- notahacker 11y ago
  It's surprising just how specialist conventional FE college courses can get for those inspired to get into a particular field. A flatmates' sister moved to England to take a course in piano tuning and repairing at a specialised musical instrument craft school within an institution that apparently also offers regular A-levels...
notahacker 11y ago
To be honest, tech has been applied to those markets largely in making patronising the craftsperson largely unnecessary for those that don't want to go and visit a kindly old man to have their old-fashioned and sometimes entirely unique mechanical device attended to to preserve its sentimental or status-boosting value. One source of inefficiency is a target market that often doesn't want inauthentic parts, never mind the perfectly adequate mass-produced disposable replacement. I suspect hundreds of years of innovation when clockmaking was important has done a good job of ensuring the devices and processes they use are ideally suited for purpose and they've got access to ongoing innovation in precision engineering techniques from other fields if and when they need them. I'm not surprised young people aren't entering the business if their status hasn't progressed beyond "apprentice" in 20 years!

progmanal 11y ago

Or they could raise prices.

logfromblammo 11y ago

Open case. Dump out the cams, cogs, and gears. Insert custom PCB, e-ink display, battery, and user input devices. The 555 was first sold in 1971. Why the hell would you still rely on complex mechanical linkages to track the time when you could just start believing that digital watches really are a pretty neat idea instead?

kevin_thibedeau 11y ago
They work without electricity.
- logfromblammo 11y ago
  There is a very high correlation between needing to know the exact time of day and having easy, commoditized access to electricity. If you don't have electricity, and you are not navigating an antique wind-powered ship, you probably don't need a mechanical timepiece. Also, I recall, from way back in the 1980s, a digital clock that was "powered by a potato", using zinc and copper probes. Even if we lost all grid power, and solar cells, and low-head hydro, we could still manage a zinc-copper cell battery. Didn't you see that episode of Breaking Bad?
qq66 11y ago
The same reason that people still paint, sail, ride horses, read books...
- logfromblammo 11y ago
  And do people still paint by spitting ochre against the edge of their hand onto rocks, or has painting evolved with technology? Does perspective count as painting tech? If a new cyan pigment is discovered for printer ink, could painters use it too? Is a coracle made from animal skins stretched over wooden frames equivalent to Cousteau Society's turbosail ship Alcyone? Could anyone sail at 65 knots without advancements in tech (sailrocket.com)? Could I fit an entire library of books in one pocket without the technology in my Kobo? I'm not familiar enough with horse riding to provide a better example, but the high-backed cavalry saddle and stirrup were, at the time, considered advancements in military technology. Even the fact that you can ride horses for pleasure rather than by necessity is thanks to technologies such as the automobile. People continue to do these things, but they have not always done them in the same way. And when the newer way is better, the old way rarely survives, except as a historical curiosity. Mechanical timepieces are objectively inferior to both electromechanical timepieces and purely electronic timekeeping. There's a reason why no one has to go up twice a year to wind the mainspring on the GPS satellites.
anyfoo 11y ago
Because they're jewelry.

ltnately 11y ago

There are a few (albeit limited) places to get into watchmaking as a career. One of the more interesting is The Lititz Watch Technicum (http://lititzwatchtechnicum.org/ http://lititzwatchtechnicum.org/) which is a 2 year certification program funded by Rolex.

notahacker 11y ago
It's surprising just how specialist conventional FE college courses can get for those inspired to get into a particular field. A flatmates' sister moved to England to take a course in piano tuning and repairing at a specialised musical instrument craft school within an institution that apparently also offers regular A-levels...

notahacker 11y ago

To be honest, tech has been applied to those markets largely in making patronising the craftsperson largely unnecessary for those that don't want to go and visit a kindly old man to have their old-fashioned and sometimes entirely unique mechanical device attended to to preserve its sentimental or status-boosting value. One source of inefficiency is a target market that often doesn't want inauthentic parts, never mind the perfectly adequate mass-produced disposable replacement. I suspect hundreds of years of innovation when clockmaking was important has done a good job of ensuring the devices and processes they use are ideally suited for purpose and they've got access to ongoing innovation in precision engineering techniques from other fields if and when they need them. I'm not surprised young people aren't entering the business if their status hasn't progressed beyond "apprentice" in 20 years!