The Journey Begins

2018.04.21

In my new abundance of time (created by deleting FaceBook from my phone, and no longer spending my evenings reflexively scrolling through click bait), I have rediscovered a deep interest in horology.  I was obsessed with clocks and watches as a teenager- spending all my time thinking about mechanisms and watches I might build.  I delighted in tourbillons, carousels, chronographs, perpetual calendars, repeaters, clockwatches, and every type of exotic escapement.  My enthusiasm for clockwork diminished in my late teenage years however as I realized that these treasures are inevitably trinkets for the ultra wealthy, and that material items in general are destined for decay.  What is really everlasting is the domain of thought!  The construction of an idea can be just as demanding as the construction of a fine pocket watch, and ideas can move people.  The world of ideas seemed deeper and more profound than making trinkets, and I reveled in it, spending years doing graduate work in mathematics and mechanical engineering.  My convictions changed once again when I left academia- my attachment to theory melted into a realization that the world is ultimately physical, and that physical things are meaningful in spite of decay.

My resolution now is to build a perpetual calendar wrist watch.  It’ll be a progression, from sketches and CAD to rapid prototype parts printed at 5x scale (to iterate and work out the geometry), down to the final parts, fabricated in brass and steel, and with attention paid to the polish of every facet.  The point of this is to create something beautiful, and to document techniques learned and discovered along the way.  What is the best way to make a 0.5mm diameter screw?  How can one achieve a mirror polish finish on a small spring?  Exactly how should one heat treat steel before finishing?  My goal is to document everything so that this blog becomes a resource for future endeavors.  If this works out, then the sky is the limit- I may attempt a limited production run of 20 perpetual calendar wrist watches, or I may try to build myself a tourbillon!