No, precious metals have specific properties (malleability, chemical stability, electrical/thermal conductivity, etc) which give them their utility and make them ideal for their applications.
It's crazy to think how much labor (how many steps) it takes just to get the three pieces of the case to this point. I understand how the entire allure and appeal of your brand (amongst other things of course) is precisely because you do everything manually, but being failure familiar with casting, forgings and traditional metal removal processes, it is nuts to think how many steps it takes to do this by hand. Then, add to that, if you screw something up at this point, you could throw all that labor away. Very interesting stuff, thank you so much for sharing. It is cool to watch your videos juxtaposed with some of the Swiss boutique brands, not to mention the high-volume ones.
Yes, I couldn't understand why these pieces weren't just machined. He machines gears and other parts, but he spends so much time on these simple parts.
Watched the watchmakers appreciate. Blew my mind. On Netflix. Bought loads of tools. And ordered George Daniels WATCHMAKING. lots of learning ahead. Years of work too.
Thanks so much for your videos, Roger! I've read George Daniel's book, which is of course very good, but watching you do it in real time adds so much; this is great.
Roger, I'm thoroughly enjoying this series, the only suggestion I have is that you bolt/anchor down your Arbor press if that happened to go, you'd struggle to hold it!
Roger, Do you not saw the gold using an extractor unit? My dental technician friend get quite a windfall on the filters he sends off for reclaiming... Thanks for the series of videos - very interesting.
That is a man killer rolling mill. At least our main mill was geared down 6 to 1. We had one mill like this and we'd make the new guy turn the handle until he got wise. He should keep those rollers oiled to prevent rust. The ripple he is getting is caused by letting the end go as he rolls and sometimes uneven hardness of the metal. We always quenched our gold in a pickle bath to aid in removing the cupric and cuprous oxide layers.
Hi roger, thx to upload your making film. Could i ask a question? @11:07 where did you get the rolling jig? I live in Korea, I can't find a store selling the jig. Thank you :)
Bet it's got the Daniels co-axial escapement movement in it. (George did it as a demonstrator for Rolex in the 80's. but Rolex said no thanks. More fool them.)
+Sean Harris I wondered the same thing. From my back of the envelope calculations, each bar (enough for one of the 3 case rings) would be around $2000-$2500 USD (The volume of gold would be 42*3.3*6*6=4990mm^3, which would be around 2.44 troy oz, with a current price of ~$880/troy oz for 18k gold = $2150 )
I wish I could cut with a saw as fast as you. Takes lots of practice I suppose. Excellent video series. I'm about halfway through George's Watchmaking book. I'm no watchmaker, so some is a bit tedious and technical, but it truly gives a no-nothing like me the difficult job of making a watch.
Ive lost count of how many times I’ve come back to these wonderful films.
Watching this it reminds me that precious metals are just metals, it’s what they are turned into that makes them precious!
No, precious metals have specific properties (malleability, chemical stability, electrical/thermal conductivity, etc) which give them their utility and make them ideal for their applications.
It's crazy to think how much labor (how many steps) it takes just to get the three pieces of the case to this point. I understand how the entire allure and appeal of your brand (amongst other things of course) is precisely because you do everything manually, but being failure familiar with casting, forgings and traditional metal removal processes, it is nuts to think how many steps it takes to do this by hand. Then, add to that, if you screw something up at this point, you could throw all that labor away. Very interesting stuff, thank you so much for sharing. It is cool to watch your videos juxtaposed with some of the Swiss boutique brands, not to mention the high-volume ones.
Yes, I couldn't understand why these pieces weren't just machined. He machines gears and other parts, but he spends so much time on these simple parts.
I started at the watchmaking school in Schoonhoven, Holland. This is so nice to see, Thank you for this lesson.
Watched the watchmakers appreciate. Blew my mind. On Netflix. Bought loads of tools. And ordered George Daniels WATCHMAKING. lots of learning ahead. Years of work too.
Thanks so much for your videos, Roger! I've read George Daniel's book, which is of course very good, but watching you do it in real time adds so much; this is great.
Enjoying the videos 🙏
Roger, I'm thoroughly enjoying this series, the only suggestion I have is that you bolt/anchor down your Arbor press if that happened to go, you'd struggle to hold it!
Smart to make a screew shape and then cut, love it!
Roger, Do you not saw the gold using an extractor unit? My dental technician friend get quite a windfall on the filters he sends off for reclaiming...
Thanks for the series of videos - very interesting.
Very impresssive indeed. I never ever thought that watches and cases can be created by hand. :)
Outstanding!
That is a man killer rolling mill. At least our main mill was geared down 6 to 1. We had one mill like this and we'd make the new guy turn the handle until he got wise. He should keep those rollers oiled to prevent rust. The ripple he is getting is caused by letting the end go as he rolls and sometimes uneven hardness of the metal. We always quenched our gold in a pickle bath to aid in removing the cupric and cuprous oxide layers.
Hi Roger
Great video series.
Could you let us know why it is important to wait until the gold has air cooled to black before quenching?
Cheers
Richard
Hi roger, thx to upload your making film. Could i ask a question? @11:07 where did you get the rolling jig? I live in Korea, I can't find a store selling the jig. Thank you :)
Thank you
Is it not necessary to bend them apart to clean off the oxidation layer between the joins?
As someone who is wanting to learn how to make pocket watches where can I get patterns or drawing to study and learn from? Neal Meyers Savannah Ga USA
Awesome vid! Is that a 214270 Explorer you're wearing?
Bet it's got the Daniels co-axial escapement movement in it. (George did it as a demonstrator for Rolex in the 80's. but Rolex said no thanks. More fool them.)
If you don't mind me asking, how much does a bar of that gold stock cost?
+Sean Harris I wondered the same thing. From my back of the envelope calculations, each bar (enough for one of the 3 case rings) would be around $2000-$2500 USD (The volume of gold would be 42*3.3*6*6=4990mm^3, which would be around 2.44 troy oz, with a current price of ~$880/troy oz for 18k gold = $2150 )
I only thing that I can do out of all this is fill the sink with water... and I might even screw that up
I wish I could cut with a saw as fast as you. Takes lots of practice I suppose. Excellent video series. I'm about halfway through George's Watchmaking book. I'm no watchmaker, so some is a bit tedious and technical, but it truly gives a no-nothing like me the difficult job of making a watch.
Ryvr - that sawing part is speeded up.
Crap, you cracked your fireblock.
Rolex 41 date just II you are wearing or 36mm date just?
pennfootball
Tought he wear a reolex explorer, havent seen it tough.
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Every time you run that gold through the machine at fast speed I feel like you’re going to lose a finger.
If Carlsberg made watchmaking videos..............