MARC FRANKEL Video Editor Youtube channel https :// www . youtube . com / user / islandwatchdotcom
Assembling a watch . How hard can it be ?
Having embraced the watch modification culture , I have assembled many watches in my time . I consider myself an experienced amateur , at best , but I can accomplish the task . For those who have modded their own watches , how often have you completed the mod , only to find in bright sunlight there is dust on your dial ? Or your hour and minute hand alignment is not perfect . For the inexperienced , it seems simple . You have a bunch of parts . Just slap them together . How hard can it be ? Well , VERY ! In January , I was fortunate enough to visit the Fine Timepiece Solutions USA ( FTS ) headquarters located in Fountain Hills , Arizona . FTS is assembling some up-and-coming Islander models , and I was very excited to visit and see first-hand how watches are built ( in America , no less !)
What immediately struck me is the organization involved . We are not talking prototype production . This is full-fledged production ; hundreds of watches pass through the facility every week . The techniques and procedures you use in the modding community are out the window !
Here , everything is kitted . Think “ assembly line ”, but with watches . A kit arrives at a trained technician ’ s station - for example , mounting a dial . The motion of installing dial spacer , dial and then inspection is performed at a rate of one per minute .
Watching the hands quickly move through the motions makes you realize that practice makes perfect . Setting hands is my nemesis . I despise it . I can spend a few minutes just mounting a seconds hand . At FTS , I watched a technician expertly mount an hour , minute and seconds hand , all with hand tools , in just a minute or so . Amazing !
This ballet continues all the way through the assembly process , and culminates in an assembled watch that is built with the highest quality . All of this is done under the watchful eye of the head watchmaker , in a clean room environment . It is quite the dichotomy when compared to how watch modding works . The production environment requires repeatability coupled with quality . There is no time to take it apart and take out dust !
Thank you for reading , and thank you for watching .
Marc Frankel , Video Editor
6 | AboutTime Magazine