‘Do You Have the Time?’
WHEN someone asks you that question, you probably take a quick glance at your wristwatch, casually answer, and think nothing more of it. But it hasn’t always been that easy to know the right time.
True, God created the two great luminaries, the sun and the moon, to “serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years.” (Genesis 1:14) But he left it to man to figure out how to divide days into hours and minutes. Ancient man probably did this at first by observing how the shadows of trees and other objects moved as the sun progressed across the sky. By studying the movement of these shadows, he came upon a simple means of approximating the time: the “shadow clock.” Originally, this was simply a vertical stick or pillar and the length of its shadow told the time.
But as time went on, man’s timekeeping ways became more sophisticated. The sundial was invented, a device popular even before the time of Christ. Previous to this, however, the Egyptians cleverly figured out a way to use a leaky bucket to tell time. It was simple. As water dripped out, they figured the time by observing the water level. Still, it wasn’t exactly the sort of thing you would want to carry around with you. The sandglass, originating in Europe sometime during the 14th century, was quite an improvement. So was the lamp clock, which measured time by the amount of oil consumed.
The real breakthrough in timekeeping, however, came with the development of mechanical clocks, somewhere around the 14th century. Their clever inventor is unknown, though experts guess that the first ones were used in monasteries. As with most great inventions, the basic idea behind the first clocks was the essence of simplicity: A weight suspended on a rope gradually dropped under the pull of gravity. As it did so, the rope drove machinery that was geared to trigger an alarm periodically. The alarm reminded the sacristan to toll the hour, letting the monks know it was time to pray.
Eventually craftsmen figured out how to scale down the size of these clocks. And about the year 1500, a German locksmith named Peter Henlein made a dramatic breakthrough with the invention of the mainspring. Gone were cumbersome ropes and pulleys. The mainspring that “powered” the machinery simply had to be tightened or wound periodically. However, the first portable clock really wasn’t so portable. Says The Encyclopedia Americana: It was “six inches in height and made entirely of iron.” But watches rapidly became smaller and more accurate. Indeed, some of the earlier watches produced are actually works of art!
Nowadays, many people are wearing digital watches. Unlike mechanical watches, they use the frequency of vibration of a quartz crystal to measure time. Because they are inexpensive and quite accurate, they have become the latest fad in timekeeping. For many, though, digital watches somehow lack the charm and beauty of the old-fashioned, well-crafted mechanical watch with its reassuring tick. So, perhaps contrary to popular opinion, the mechanical watch is very much alive and well! But works of art? Well, few, if any, of today’s mass-produced watches deserve that distinction. Nevertheless, there still are a handful of old-time craftsmen left who work hard to maintain the old watchmaking traditions.
Consider, for example, a watchmaker named Van who lives in New York City. He is one of the few men in the world who can build a precision watch entirely from scratch. Van was born in 1902 and harks back to an age when watches were labors of love—not mass-produced electronic gadgets. He can doubtless do much to enhance our appreciation for the dying art of watchmaking. So we’ll visit him for a while:
Learning to Love Watches
“How did you become a watchmaker?” we immediately ask.
“My father was a watchmaker,” says Van, “and I learned a great deal from him. Shortly after I was born, my father became a railroad-watch inspector. Timekeeping was and is very important for railroad safety. Back then, though, engineers, conductors, and brakemen had to come into the office each time before making a run. They were required to check their watches against the official clock in the office and sign a paper showing they had checked them. So you can see why my father’s job was important.”
“Did you plan to follow in his footsteps?”
“No, I had in mind becoming a musician. My father, however, said: ‘We just can’t keep up with all the work in the shop. We need help.’ Soon I found myself helping him. He would take watches apart, make repairs, clean them—he was a fanatic about cleaning watches—and then hand me all the parts. I usually had half a day to put them together again. I learned a lot about watches this way.”
“How did you know the watches were accurate?”
“Well, there were no radios in those days, but my father built a clock to use as a standard in timing the watches we repaired. He said that at the very worst it was within three seconds a month. We could check that out by going down to the telegraph office. At noontime, transmission would stop and a signal would come over the wire announcing the hour according to Naval Observatory Time.”
“When did you make your first watch?”
“In 1919 I was working alongside my father repairing railroad watches down in Memphis, Tennessee. It was there that some years later I set out to make my first watch—a pocket watch that I designed myself. After collecting the necessary tools, I made each part. I cut teeth and gears. I made taps and dies. I ground and polished sapphires and rubies and put them in place. The project was nearly completed when I wrote to a man who had written an article about the famous watchmaker Breguet. When he heard that I was likewise building a watch of my own design, he decided to come from the New York City area to see it for himself. He was simply amazed! He said he knew this was the work of a man who knew what he was doing. His enthusiasm made me feel very good.
“My new friend spread the word about my watch. As a result, some newspaper articles were written about me, and the work started to flow in. Further, my writer friend opened up to me his collection of about 3,000 famous watches, some dating back to the 1600’s! Putting some of them in their original running order, I was amazed at the precision, accuracy, and superb craftsmanship.
“In time, I came to New York City, from where much of my work was coming. Several nautical instrument companies sought my work. And although I’m now in my early 80’s, I continue to work for a fine watch company, as well as care for some private customers.”
What It Takes to Be a Watchmaker
It is easy to see why men like Van are somewhat of a dying breed. Consider the precision and integrity of his work:
“My watchmaking shop,” he continues, “is really like a miniature machine shop. I do lathe work, milling, sawing, drilling, and other operations. I sometimes cut metals in increments of less than a 10th of a 100th of a millimeter! Why such precision? Remember, for a watch to work properly, pivots must be perfectly spherical, pointed, and balanced. The watchmaker therefore has to be precise, patient—even artistic. And it takes integrity. I still remember my father saying to me, ‘You are probably looking at the last honest watchmaker you will see.’ By this exaggeration he meant that so many watchmakers will cut corners and not do the job right!”
Obviously, Van is not one to cut corners either. And while he certainly is not the last of the honest watchmakers, he is a reminder of a past age when beauty and quality counted more than the profits of mass production. For while today’s digitals may represent advanced technology, Van will debate with you as to whether they have the “integrity” of watches made in the past.
Still, whether you wear an inexpensive digital or an expensive handmade chronometer, you are probably glad you don’t have to lug around sandglasses or dripping buckets. Centuries of work and craftsmanship have made it as easy as a glance at the wrist to answer the question, ‘Do you have the time?’
[Picture on page 26]
A watch made by Van Hoesen
[Picture on page 27]
Van Hoesen at work in his shop