"Subject: RE: BS: Technological Dead-ends
From: john f weldon
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 07:47 AM

If by clockwork, you mean a simple wind-up spring, I agree. If you mean an elaborate device that requires dozens of tiny spinning wheels on diamond hubs, thus costing thousands, when more accurate digital time-keeping chips are available for pennies, the clockwork is simply a waste of human time and money.
Like the sedan chair."


My, my! Someone has been to the watchmaker's and didn't like it a'tall! Too bad you didn't ask them to explain the mechanics of the watch so you could at least have that right.

The average mechanical movement has only eight wheels, the hubs of which are steel, NOT diamond. The bearings are jeweled, but even then only five are usually jeweled, and jeweled with synthetic ruby or sapphire. Diamond is only used as end stones (four at the very most, 1mm or less across, )and even then sparingly. As of last fall, the value of an unset watch jewel averaged to $6.50; the rest is the labor to fit it.

As for "costing thousands" I can sell you all of the mechanical gents' watches you want with a jeweled lever movement for nowhere near a thousand. Hell-I can sell you a real nice pocket watch for pretty cheap too.

Finally, I wouldn't have a digital for any price. I can read my plain-Jane old Hamilton pocket watch across the room, and it's easy to work on, doesn't contribute any waste with dead batteries, and I sure as hell don't need anything more accurate than .2 sec/day which is its mean rate.

As for the Bulova Accutron, it was a transitive technology, a bridge between the mechanical timepiece and the modern day quartz-controlled watches.