HSNY Announces The Andre Bibeau Scholarship for Veteran Watchmaking Students

Honoring & Empowering Those Who Have Served

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) announces today the establishment of the Andre Bibeau Scholarship for Veteran Watchmaking Students. The newly formed financial aid opportunity, whose creation supports HSNY’s mission of advancing the art and science of horology, aims to assist veterans pursuing a career in watchmaking, honoring and empowering those who have served.

About the Andre Bibeau Scholarship for Veteran Watchmaking Students

The history of veterans-turned-watchmakers is interwoven with both war and innovation. Returning soldiers often face challenges reintegrating into civilian life. Recognizing their technical skills and need for purpose, visionary programs like the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking emerged. These initiatives provided veterans, particularly those with disabilities, with the meticulous training and tools needed to master the art of watchmaking. Organizations like the Veterans Watchmaker Initiative carry on this legacy. Today, HSNY joins in the commitment to ensuring the success of veteran watchmaking students.

Andre Bibeau (Photo: Anne-Marie Sholtes)

Pvt. Andre L. Bibeau (1925 - 2016) was a World War II veteran who served in the Army Infantry and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. In 1943 he was assigned to the 141st Infantry Regiment out of Fort Meade, MD and was deployed to the Italian front as a private. He was wounded twice in Italy and subsequently awarded the Purple Heart.

Upon leaving the Army, Andre Bibeau attended the Bulova School of Watchmaking in New York. After graduating from the Bulova School, Bibeau opened his own successful watch repair business until he retired at age 75. The Andre Bibeau Scholarship is made possible by a generous donation from Maj. Michelle A. Cunningham and Aaron M. Cunningham.

“As a military family we have seen firsthand the fundamental importance of veterans having meaningful careers,” said Aaron M. Cunningham. “We are thankful that the Horological Society of New York shares our goal of helping veterans pursue their passion after their service has finished.”

Any student who has been accepted or is currently studying at a full-time watchmaking school in the United States and is a veteran is eligible for the Andre Bibeau Scholarship. Prospective students may also apply, with the understanding that the scholarship is contingent on their enrollment at a full-time watchmaking school. The scholarship will be awarded every April with awards up to $5,000 available. Veterans interested in applying can find detailed information on HSNY’s website.

2024 Financial Aid Opportunities

In addition to the new Andre Bibeau Scholarship for Veteran Watchmaking Students, HSNY is offering eight scholarships and awards to ensure the success of watchmaking students and institutions across the United States. All application periods are January 1 to March 1 and financial aid is awarded in April.

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ABOUT THE HOROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

Founded in 1866, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) is one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world. Today, HSNY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of horology through education. Members are a diverse mix of watchmakers, clockmakers, executives, journalists, auctioneers, historians, salespeople and collectors, reflecting the rich nature of horology in New York City and around the world. http://hs-ny.org

Upcoming Lecture: Mastering the Art of Precision: A Journey Into Hand Engraving Techniques

Artur Akmaev, Founder of Artur Akmaev Watches (Santa Monica, CA)
January 8, 2024

Embarking on the journey of mastering the art of hand engraving is a rewarding and intricate process that requires dedication, patience, and a keen eye for detail. But how can one start practicing hand engraving and what is the process?

At the January lecture of the Horological Society of New York (HSNY), Artur Akmaev, founder of his eponymous watch brand, will share his experience working with different hand-engraving styles and techniques that he has learned and applied to his watches, culminating in his recent collection complete with fully engraved dials showcasing craftsmanship at its finest.

*Doors open at 6PM ET, lecture to begin at 7PM ET. RSVP is required.

** The lecture video will be available to members immediately, and to the general public following a two-month delay.

Reading Time at HSNY: Women in Horology

This post is part of a series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by our librarian, Miranda Marraccini. 

If you’ve been paying attention to my articles, you’ll know they often note the ways that women show up peripherally in our library collection at HSNY: as loving inscribers and anonymous students; underage or endangered workers in watch factories; and horological tourists marveling at public clocks.

The women I’m writing about today, however, are not on the margins. They’re main characters of horology, people with enduring influence as authors, collectors, and makers. Many had an impact beyond their lifetimes, and all overcame gendered barriers to their participation in horology.

The early writers: Mary Booth, Mary Howitt

From the 19th century comes the tale of two Marys, both female pioneers in horological writing. Mary Booth, a polymathic American author, was the first editor-in-chief of “Harper’s Bazaar,”one of the first fashion magazines in the country. She wrote or translated at least 47 books in seven languages, including several that were influential in gathering support for anti-slavery causes during the Civil War.

She published “The Clock and Watchmakers’ Manual” in 1860, a selection of technical and historical writings by different authors originally written in French. We have a copy in our library at HSNY. She’s listed as the author, but the use of the initials “M. L. Booth” on the title page suggests the publisher was aware that a woman’s name on a horological textbook might not be a selling point. (The publisher, John Wiley, still exists, and focuses on technical and scientific publications.)

Though she calls herself a “compiler” in the preface, Booth has done much more. Her preface relates a succinct history of timekeeping from the first water clocks to the most precise marine chronometers, demonstrating her own knowledge of the topic. 

Six detailed fold-out plates show how to assemble watches. Multiple plates picture the inside of an 18th-century watch from different viewpoints (see image 1). The work is deeply historical, and highlights technical features of different watches from well-known watchmakers of previous centuries.

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On the other side of the Atlantic, prolific Victorian author Mary Howitt published “My Uncle the Clockmaker” in 1845. Our copy is signed in pencil, in a delicate hand, “Miss Elizabeth Nichols from her sister Eunice,” showing that women actually read this book, and found it interesting enough to give as a gift. It’s part of a series called “Tales for the People and their Children.”

Howitt’s “tales” are a loosely connected set of stories about British country life. In the story, Nicholas, the young son of a gentleman, apprentices himself to a clockmaker, much to the chagrin of his father who sees it as a “degradation.” His mother, however, recognizes the worth of his new profession: “The first gold watch which he could put together to his own satisfaction, was presented by him to her on her birth-day [sic], and was worn by her with delight.” A shrewd customer, she appreciates the value of independent watchmaking. Nicholas soon sets up a successful trade, amazing “the country people, who were willing to carry watches as large as turnips” with his “lovely little gold and silver watches.”

Nicholas singlehandedly starts a rage for watches in his small community: “...what wonders had Nicholas to exhibit and explain to the customers. The consequence was, that scarcely a person within twenty miles round was now satisfied with his watch. He or she must have one of the new construction…There was no talk but about levers, escape movements, chronometers and engine-turning, and ornamental engraving of cases.” Most of the rest of the book takes place without Nicholas: at the height of his trade, he mysteriously disappears, only to reappear in disguise decades later to rescue his family estate with his entrepreneurial fortune. It’s a Victorian tale of triumph for anyone who has felt undervalued as a watchmaker, or indeed anyone whose parents disapprove of their chosen career!

The Correspondent: Emily Faithfull 

Unlike the authors above, the 19th-century writer and activist Emily Faithfull addresses the topic of female watchmakers–in her case, women and girls working at the Elgin factory in Illinois. Faithfull, who was British, visited America for the first time in 1872 and included an account of the Elgin factory in her book, “Three Visits to America” (1884). 

Faithfull was a women’s rights pioneer who advocated for the employment of women in many different trades including printing and watchmaking. On her first visit to America, she recounts receiving an engraved watch with a letter that reads: “The hands of the many working-women who have been busy in its fashioning are thus extended to you in sincerest appreciation of the work you are doing ‘in helping others to help themselves.’”

Intrigued, she visits the factory years later, where she sees women working with lathes, making hairsprings, and cutting jewels. She writes approvingly: “In London it takes an apprentice seven years to learn what a girl machinist becomes a proficient in after the first twelve months' work.” Women are “earning good wages” at Elgin, but they still are paid less than men. The combination of the factory system and female workers means that “while it takes about seventy hours of skilled hand labor to manufacture a watch [in England], it can be produced [in America] in thirty hours by girl operatives.”

An unsigned 1869 article from “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine” contains a similar account of women and young girls working in the Elgin factory (then known as the National Watch Company), work which could sometimes be dangerous (I covered this in my article about children’s books at HSNY).* According to the article, employees “are equally divided between the sexes” and women are earning six to twelve dollars a week, while men are earning three dollars a day. The Harper’s article, unlike Faithfull’s book, is illustrated. Image 2 shows rows of women at work in the “train room,” some operating lathes in front of tall windows at the right.

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As I have discussed in some of my other articles, women were a ubiquitous presence in watch manufacturing from the 18th century onward. In 20th-century America, women suffered ghastly illnesses as a result of radium exposure while painting luminescent dials. Female students studied alongside men at watchmaking schools, as evidenced by the signed notebooks we have at our library.

Although women signed their names on dials as early as the 18th century, few women have achieved recognition as individual watchmakers; Rebecca Struthers, discussed below, is one modern example, as is Danièla Dufour, though they are by no means the only ones.

The Collector: Laura Hearn

Among the many catalogs of watch collections we hold in our library, one stood out to me because of the name on the spine: “Mrs. George A. Hearn’s Collection of Watches.” Although today there is a thriving community of female watch collectors, this is the only catalog I’ve found in our collection with a woman’s name on it (well, nearly, because it’s still under her husband’s name).

Like many female collectors, Laura Frances Hoppock Hearn collected alongside her husband, George A. Hearn. An article about her probate in the New York Times in May 1917 mentioned her bequest of a collection of laces to the Metropolitan Museum, as well as the collection of “many ancient and quaintly-wrought timepieces.”

According to an obituary from the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle,” Hearn, who was “characteristically a New Yorker,” was “deeply interested in the city and its progressive life and development.”

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Hearn loaned her watches to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1907, and had a catalog of the watches privately printed in the same year. A look at the frontispiece of the book (image 3) shows that Hearn collected big names in horology like Berthoud, but also stunningly decorative enameled watches in different shapes, like the butterfly in the center of the image. Our copy of the catalog contains the Hearns’ joint calling card (image 5), including their address on East 69th Street, then, as now, an expensive old-money address in New York City (something you’ll recognize if you watch “The Gilded Age”!). 

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Another female collector of the same era, Jeannette Atwater Dwight Bliss, lived a block away from Hearn on East 68th Street. Alongside her banker husband, George T. Bliss, she bought thousands of fine art objects, including clocks, and examples of European architecture, which were later donated to the Newark Museum. Other famous female collectors include royals like Queen Elizabeth I and Marie Antoinette, Austrian writer Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Fabergé collector Marjorie Merriweather Post, and French decorative arts collector Jayne Wrightsman.**

Modern Authors

In the 21st century, more women have entered into the world of published horological scholarship. One book that I often recommend to researchers in our library is Genevieve Cummins’ “How the Watch was Worn: A Fashion for 500 Years.” According to a review by our library’s patron, Fortunat Mueller-Maerki: “It has been about 500 years since people started carrying timekeeping devices around with them on their bodies, so it is a bit surprising that until now there has never been a publication dedicated to the question of ‘How to wear a watch?’” 

Cummins’ real achievement in this book is sourcing more than a thousand historical images of people of all genders wearing watches in all manner of surprising styles: on the wrist or on a chain, yes, but also on a chatelaine, as a ring, embedded in a handbag or lighter or snuffbox, as a pin, or as a hair accessory. 

Image 6 shows a spread from the book focused on nurses, all wearing watches that helped them care for their patients. Image 7 features ring watches, buttonhole and cufflink watches from the late 19th century to the late 20th century, as well as advertising materials.

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A recent internet analogue to this book would be Malaika Crawford’s “How To Wear It” articles for Hodinkee, in which she pairs a particular watch (say, the Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight) with couture, vintage, and sometimes avant-garde clothes and accessories.

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For other horological books by women with a broad historical sweep, I recommend Francesca Cartier Brickell’s “The Cartiers”(image 8) or the 1990s bestseller “Longitude”, by Dava Sobel. Both, of course, are available for perusal at the HSNY library.

Rebecca Struthers is the rare female author in our collection who is also a recognized watchmaker, having founded a workshop near Birmingham in 2012. According to her official biography, Struthers is the first watchmaker in Britain to earn a Ph.D. in horology. She lectured at HSNY in 2017.

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Struthers’ “Hands of Time: a Watchmaker’s History of Time” goes big: it attempts to tell the complete story of horology from antiquity onwards. According to a review, Struthers’ academic background makes it possible for her to contextualize recent developments and make us see that they’re nothing new, really–watchmakers have been inventing, scheming, and sometimes cheating, all along. Image 9 shows the British and American editions of the book from our library, which are gorgeously illustrated by the author’s husband Craig, who is also a watchmaker.

Struthers also addresses how the gender gap between so-called “men’s” and “women’s” watches originated in the 19th century and widened from there. Currently, the whole idea of gendered watches is the subject of thriving discussion, with different brands taking distinct approaches to the question of whether and how to market watches based on gender. Although it has not historically been a common topic of scholarship, several recent books focus on women’s watches, including “Jewels of Time: the World of Women’s Watches,” by Roberta Naas.

Struthers says in this New York Times interview: “The industry is still incredibly male, white and middle to upper class, and with that we’re losing so much potential talent.” HSNY addresses this imbalance today by offering scholarships to underrepresented groups including female, Jewish and Black watchmaking students. Although women have always been a presence in horology, I hope this article helps shine a light on women’s continued persistence, and how they have their hands in every part of the industry, from the metal to the marketing.

*The Harper’s article has been credited to Faithfull in other sources, but this seems impossible since it was published in 1869 and Faithfull writes that she first visited America in 1872.

**Thanks to Bob Frishman for compiling some of this information in “Horology’s Great Collectors,” a publication associated with the 2022 NAWCC Annual Time Symposium.

HSNY Featured in Season 2 of HBO's "The Gilded Age"

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) announces its inclusion in the second season of HBO's acclaimed period drama "The Gilded Age". The show, set in late 19th-century New York City, depicts the rise of the American aristocracy during the Gilded Age, a period of immense economic growth and social upheaval. At the time, New York became a horological hotspot when German emigres specializing in watchmaking flocked to the city. A group of men found comradeship around their mutual interest and formed HSNY in 1866.

In the second season, HSNY is featured as the Uhrmacher Verein der Stadt New York (Watchmakers Association of the City of New York), the German name for the Society used during that time. The show also introduces a new fictional character, Mr. Schubert, Secretary of the Uhrmacher Verein der Stadt New York.

To prepare for his character Jack Trotter’s horological storyline, actor Ben Ahlers took a watchmaking class at HSNY along with series Co-Producer Luke Harlan.

"Historical accuracy is of paramount importance to us at 'The Gilded Age' and so we were thrilled to be able to highlight the Horological Society's role as an essential fixture of the city of New York since its inception in 1866,” said The Gilded Age Co-Producer Luke Harlan. “We were so fortunate to have the expertise and assistance of HSNY and particularly Executive Director Nicholas Manousos as we developed the storyline of Jack and his clock invention for our second season."

“HSNY's inclusion in 'The Gilded Age' serves as a testament to its enduring legacy as a center for horological education and preservation,” said HSNY Deputy Director Carolina Navarro. “The Society's extensive collection, spanning centuries of craftsmanship and innovation, provides a glimpse into the rich history of watchmaking and its profound impact on society, particularly in late 19th-century New York City.”

Tune in to HBO’s “The Gilded Age” here.
Read more about HSNY’s 157-year history here.

Pictured: Jack Trotter (Ben Ahlers) working on his clock invention in season two of The Gilded Age. Credit: HBO/Barbara Nitke.

Introducing 1866: A Fine Fragrance by the Horological Society of New York

 

Ut tensio sic vis

A composition inspired by the rich history of horology, 1866 is crafted to be experienced slowly and opens with the invigorating sensation of crisp alpine air. As the fragrance develops, one finds themselves transported to the eclectic bustle of Midtown Manhattan’s Club Row. The scent of the roasted nut cart on the corner evokes a symphony with cedarwood and tobacco, bringing forth a welcoming warmth reminiscent of days spent in the Society’s library. Distinctly temporal in nature, 1866 finally transforms into an invisible timepiece, enveloping the wrist in supple leather and amber that wears evenly well past a New York minute.

 
 
 

Top Notes

Bergamot / Bitter Orange / Alpine Air

MIDDLE NOTES

Cedarwood / Orange Blossom / Praline

Base Notes

Tobacco / Supple Leather / Amber

— Available in 50ML ($200) & 2ML ($15) —

DEVELOPED & BOTTLED IN NYC, vegan and cruelty-free

All proceeds go towards meeting the Horological Society of New York’s mission of advancing the art and science of horology.

Fragrance FAQ

What does 1866 smell like?

1866 is a unisex fine fragrance inspired by horology. It’s meant to be worn year-round and features notes of Bergamot, Bitter Orange, Alpine Air, Cedarwood, Orange Blossom, Praline, Tobacco, Supple Leather, and Amber to name a few. 1866 will be interpreted by and smell different on everyone and overall will be very personal, much like a timepiece.

Why did HSNY create a fine fragrance?

We’re always looking to innovate at HSNY, all while paying homage to our industry. Both fragrances and timepieces are worn as an accessory on the wrist. Smell (fragrance) is a powerful sense that can transport you to a specific point in time, much like timepieces can mark special occasions in life.

We wanted to explore the intersection of timekeeping and scent. Watches and clocks are often seen as objects of beauty and precision, and fragrance can also be seen as a form of art that evokes memories and emotions. 1866 allowed us a unique way to experience time.

Where did the design inspiration come from?

HSNY buffs may recognize the logo on the presentation box. It’s a reprint of HSNY’s logo from the 1800s! With such a rich 150+ year history, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to honor the Society’s heritage. The emblem with the gears and shield comes from our archives, which you can see in person when you visit the HSNY library. The cap of 1866 also resembles a watch crown. When it’s uncapped and the fragrance is sprayed, you are“set” for the day.

Do you sell the fragrance overseas?

At the moment,1866 can only be shipped within the United States. If you live abroad and want to purchase 1866, please email us at info@hs-ny.org. Due to the nature of the product, refunds will not be available. (That’s why we created a sample size too!)

Reading Time at HSNY: Put It on My Calendar!

This post is part of a series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by our librarian, Miranda Marraccini. 

Maybe you’ll be watching the time ball drop in Times Square on December 31, waiting for the opening notes of “Auld Lang Syne” to start playing over the kissing, crowds, and confetti. Or maybe you’ll be asleep on the sofa, blissfully unaware of the minutes passing as the year turns passively over into 2024.

Whether or not you’re personally focused on the promise that a new year brings, there’s no denying that it’s a moment when people all over the world are uniquely fixated on the time–when, exactly, does something end and something new begin? How do we define what a year is? In this post I’ll focus on calendars: why they are the way they are, how they’ve captivated and frustrated people for centuries, and how they’ve been represented visually on watches. If you’d like a more in-depth education on the topic, I recommend watching the recording of “The History of the Calendar,” a panel that F.P. Journe led at the Horological Society of New York in 2016.

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As long as there have been calendars (at least since ancient Egypt) it seems there have been disagreements over how they should work, and suggestions for their reform. A number of books in our library at HSNY cover the history of calendars, including Michael Judge’s “The Dance of Time: the Origins of the Calendar,” David Ewing Duncan’s “The Calendar: The 5000-Year Struggle to Align the Clock and the Heavens – and What Happened to the Missing Ten Days,” “Mapping Time: The Calendar and its History” by E. G. Richards, and “Marking Time: the Epic Quest to Invent the Perfect Calendar,” by Duncan Steel. Incidentally, it seems to me that authors published a rash of these volumes around the turn of the millennium–I wonder why?

One spectacularly illustrated volume in our library is “The Phenomenon Book of Calendars,” originally published in the 1970s. On the back cover, the book boasts: “here, for the first time, all calendar systems past and present have been integrated in one graphically unique publication.” It even comes with a poster (image 1) that features many of these calendars for the years 1978-1979 including, but not limited to: Gregorian, Chinese, Hindu, Hebrew, Islamic, Aztec, Mayan, Roman, Bali, New Guinea, I Ching, and Zodiacal. In our calendar section, we also have books that cover some of these calendars in detail, including “Understanding the Jewish Calendar” and “Une Autre Temps,” which is a French language book about Balinese tika calendars. (A museum note explains how these carved wooden calendars help keep track of festivals and traditions in Bali.)

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In James Atkinson’s “Epitome of the Whole Art of Navigation” (1782), a book in our library that I mentioned in my article about longitude, Atkinson covers the workings of the “Gregorian, or New Calendar” (see image 2, which shows the title page). The Gregorian calendar first replaced the earlier Julian calendar in 1582, so it was hardly “new” when this book came out, but Britain didn’t widely adopt the Gregorian system until the mid-18th century. Atkinson’s book went through many editions where information was added as it became useful.

As Atkinson explains, the chief difference between the two calendars was in the calculation of leap years. The Julian calendar includes a leap year every four years–but that was making the year a little too long on average, throwing off the dates of fixed events like the equinoxes. In the Gregorian reform, some of these leap years have been eliminated. Atkinson methodically instructs his readers on how to use the new calendar to calculate religious holidays, the moon age, and the exact time of high tides, which would have been particularly useful to sailors.

In 1793, French revolutionaries created a brand new calendar with decimal dates, as well as a decimal time system. Heavily symbolic, the calendar started a new era with year One in the year of the revolution (1789), though year One was later changed to the year of the founding of the French Republic (1792); the new system was called the French Republican calendar. French reformers devised the timekeeping system in an attempt to eliminate royal and religious influences and set the country on a more “rational” course. Each week had ten days, although there were still twelve months. Each day was also divided into ten hours with each hour lasting 100 minutes. 

Ferdinand Berthoud, one of the most prominent and innovative European watchmakers of the 18th century, was a member of the committee that chose the winning proposal for decimal time. Below, a photo of a watch by Ferdinand’s nephew Pierre-Louis (Louis) shows how watchmakers in France adapted to the new scheme (image 3). There are ten hours in the center of the dial and a 100-minute track around the outer edge. 

A number of watchmakers even tried to incorporate the new decimal system right alongside the 12-hour system in their designs, resulting in some ingenious, chaotic dial layouts. Image 4 shows an enameled watch dial from 1793-1795, which has both a 10-hour subdial and a 12-hour subdial, as well as a Republican calendar (left) and a Gregorian calendar (right). Both images are from the book “La Révolution Dans la Mesure du Temps,” edited by Catherine Cardinal. The French experiment lasted until around 1806–a turbulent period commemorated in our library by additional titles including “Time and the French Revolution” and “Cadrans de la Révolution.” 

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A well-known American calendar reform effort in the 20th century was the World Calendar, whose chief champion was Elisabeth Achelis. Achelis, a New Yorker who was heir to a rubber company fortune, became utterly (and somewhat inexplicably) obsessed with the idea of calendar reform after hearing a lecture on the subject in 1929. She adopted the cause as her passion and her life’s work.

You can read more about the World Calendar here, but the general idea is that there are four equal quarters of three months each. So far, so familiar. But this calendar regularizes the length of months (so each quarter has 91 days) and adds two additional off-calendar or intercalary days, Worldsday and Leapyear Day. By these alterations, the New Year begins every year on Sunday, the first of January, and each exact date occurs on the same day of the week, every year. You can see a schematic of the calendar in image 5, with the two intercalary holidays sticking out like page flags at the end of the months of June and December.

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In “Of Time and the Calendar,” a 1955 volume in our library (image 6), Achelis claims the World Calendar she proposes would “lower taxes, reduce government costs, help home-budgeting, equalize salary payments” and other benefits. Among other things, paper calendars could be reused indefinitely because the year is the only number on the calendar that would need to be changed. Unfortunately the proposal caused problems for Jews and Christians alike because the intercalary days created two eight-day weeks, which would disturb the observance of the Sabbath.

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In addition to writing several books on the subject of the World Calendar, Achelis started the Journal of Calendar Reform to promote the system, and we have a volume of the journal in our library (image 7). The journal’s cover shows another rendering of the world calendar flanked by the words “order,” “balance,” “stability,” and “harmony.” Although the proposal gained some traction with the League of Nations and later the United Nations, it was never widely adopted. 

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One of the great challenges of watchmaking has been to develop devices to track and display calendar dates that do not need to be frequently reset. Inventors of ingenious modern-day perpetual calendar watches have devised solutions for previously incalculable calendar quandaries. For instance, we have a book about the Vacheron Constantin 57260, which was one of the first watches to feature a Jewish calendar among its 57 (!!!) complications when it debuted in 2015. The Hebrew calendar uses a lunisolar model, meaning both the moon and the sun are taken into account when determining the length of months and years. Other recent complicated models have represented the lunisolar Chinese Traditional Complete calendar, including a 2023 Parmigiani Fleurier watch, and the lunar Hijri calendar that governs Islamic holidays.

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Even among simpler timepieces, many watches and clocks feature moon phases, including the longcase clock at our library at HSNY. Image 8 shows the dial of our clock, with the moon waxing and waning contentedly across the top arc, in this photo nearly at full. If you want to build or repair a calendar watch or a clock with a moon phase mechanism, we have books for that, too! One is pictured in image 9.

Whether you’re excited about January 1, or whether it’s just another day to you, I hope you take a moment to think of the calendar as it flips forward, pulling us all along through our worst years and our best, our funerals, festivals, and our very human attempts to make sense of how time touches us.

Reading Time at HSNY: Veteran Watchmakers at the Bulova School

An assortment of Bulova materials at HSNY’s Jost Bürgi Research Library.

I promised in my previous article about watchmaking schools to highlight the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking, an institution that plays an outsize role in the history of American watchmaking, and also in our archive at the Horological Society of New York. In honor of Veterans Day, I’ve decided to explore the school’s mission, impact on disability rights, and contribution to watchmaking.

Bulova, the company, wasn’t the first to consider watchmaking as a potential career opportunity for veterans. Some veterans thought that watchmaking or watch repair could be a good fit for a variety of reasons: because it made use of their existing skills, because initial training could be completed relatively quickly, because it was an in-demand job, and because it required limited mobility for those who had been injured during their service. 

In 1921 the “Horological Journal,” a British watchmaking magazine published by the British Horological Institute (BHI), which we have in our collection, printed an article called “Training our Disabled in Watch and Clock Repairing.” The article reports on the efforts of the BHI to recruit and train veterans who had been injured in the First World War. The Institute “was quick to realise the advantages offered by the watch and clock repairing industry to disabled men who were left with the free use of their arms and hands.” 

Like other professional organizations, the BHI saw that training could benefit both veterans (who largely preferred to support themselves through paid work rather than relying on pensions) and employers (who were short of trained watchmakers after the war killed many young men). The article counts over 1,000 men in training in the United Kingdom by 1921. 

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In 1945, in the immediate aftermath of another devastating war, the Bulova Watch Company Foundation increased accessibility for watchmaking students in the United States through the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking, which trained disabled veterans for a new career. Arde Bulova, son of company founder Joseph, established the school in 1945 with seven students enrolled. His mission was “to serve those who served us” with a tuition-free education. (Image 1 shows a drawing of the school above this motto.) At the time, business was booming for Bulova. An American company founded in 1875, Bulova made use of celebrities and the new technologies of television and radio to advertise its watches, especially the Accutron tuning fork watch.

Education and recruitment for veterans began even before they entered the Bulova School’s doors. According to a pamphlet from the 1950s, the Veterans Administration (VA) invited Bulova to establish training programs inside hospitals like Walter Reed, so veterans could start learning even before they were released. 

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With company money, Bulova built a specially designed school in Woodside, Queens. In a 1950s promotional pamphlet in our collection (image 2), pictures of the school show how the building was designed to prioritize wheelchair accessibility: “There is an elevator with doors at opposite sides, so that a man need not turn his wheel chair around to get out. Entrance doors open by an electric eye. Ramps instead of thresholds at all rooms…Floors of cork to prevent skidding.” There was also a fully outfitted rehabilitation facility on campus with an on-staff physical therapist, and after 1965, a fully accessible heated swimming pool.

Interestingly, this pamphlet, which was produced in collaboration with the VA, calls the training program implemented at the school the “Bulova Plan,” a “pattern for American Industry.” It recommends the Bulova Plan to “any producer of light and durable goods,” not just to other watch companies. Its final page even includes contact information for a specific VA employee who can offer advice on how to train disabled veterans for different industrial jobs. 

Not only does this brochure promote Bulova, it forcefully advocates for the employment of rehabilitated veterans in general, who “have the stuff to stick to difficult jobs.” Bulova deliberately worked to make hiring disabled veterans easy for employers, so that they would recognize it as a business opportunity, rather than a charitable obligation. Veterans are not to be pitied or sentimentalized, the pamphlet insists–they should be rightly appreciated for their skills and value in the workplace.

Bulova’s school had always been open to those who were not disabled veterans, but disabled veterans were given priority, and for the first few years they filled all the spots. In 1950 the school began to accept disabled civilians and eventually, non-disabled students.

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A 1951 press release in our collection describes a visit by U.S. Vice President Alben W. Barkley (who served under President Truman) on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the graduation of Bulova’s first class of 20 veterans (image 3). In an accompanying image, students work at rows of tables in a huge room that could accommodate 125 learners (image 4). Some students can be seen using wheelchairs to navigate the space; each bench could be adapted to the student's specific physical needs. An undated video of the school also shows other accommodations, for instance, a student holding a movement with a prosthesis while working on it with his left hand.

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Another photo from the interior of the school (image 5) shows an inspirational mural depicting famous watchmaking moments throughout history, like the invention of the marine chronometer. The mural connects students with the longer, illustrious history of horology, helping them see themselves as part of a broader story.

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Students studied using the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking Training Manual, a text that became a standard and was reprinted in 13 editions through 2003. We have the manual in our library at HSNY, and it illustrates and explains the entire course, from Unit One, “staking balance staff,” to Unit 11, “finishing.” Of course, the training includes both schematics and photographs to help with common tasks like stem making, mainspring barrel assembly, friction jeweling, and escapement repair. Our copy even includes handwritten notes by an anonymous student (image 6).

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Many American retail jewelers publicly pledged to hire graduates of the Bulova School. In fact, more jobs were promised (1,400, according to one publication) than graduates were available. This meant graduates could be reliably guaranteed a position. In addition, they had the use of a “model store” inside the school to learn sales techniques and other commercial skills before embarking on their careers.

In addition to its primary focus, the Bulova School was also a sports powerhouse. By 1950 the school had already assembled a wheelchair basketball team called the “Bulova Watchmakers” who competed around the country (image 7). Students at the school had access to other sports including archery, table tennis, pool, and volleyball. 

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In our library, we have photographs of Bulova alumni reunions and basketball games into the 1960s. Bulova co-sponsored the National Wheelchair Games along with the Paralyzed Veterans of America starting in 1957. Images 8 and 9 show the annual awards dinner of the Wheelchair Games in 1959 and 1961. Signs at the tables show some of the creative names for the teams: the Brooklyn Whirlaways, Pan-Am Jets, and Cleveland Comets.

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Facing declining enrollment at the end of the century, like other watchmaking schools, the Bulova School closed in the 1990s. However, the mission didn’t end there: Bulova’s initiative continues today as the Veterans Watchmaker Initiative (VWI), which offers free horological education to disabled veterans at its center in Delaware. (A video produced by Bulova, a founding sponsor of the VWI, shows some of the work that VWI is doing.) HSNY has awarded over $30,000 to the VWI over the last four years through our Howard Robbins Award, and has also awarded several individual scholarships to VWI students. All of HSNY’s classes are offered at no cost to veterans.

As for the Bulova School building, it still stands in Queens. Disability rights activists used the building for meetings when they were working to remove physical barriers to public access in New York City–because it was one of the city’s most accessible existing locations prior to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. It is currently owned by the Church of Latter Day Saints.

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While I’ve concentrated on the Bulova School in this article, HSNY’s library holds a rich history of the company as a whole, including books (especially about the Accutron), service manuals, parts catalogs, and even issues of the “Watch Repair Digest,” a quarterly periodical published by the Bulova material sales division that offered advice and entertainment for the watchmaker. Digitized issues of HSNY’s newsletter, “The Horologist’s Loupe,” chronicle HSNY visits to Bulova’s factory in Queens and to the Bulova School in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1969, members enjoyed a tour of the campus as well as “a movie…featuring the Wheelchair basket ball team [sic].” A large portrait of Joseph Bulova even presides over our classroom space, offering kind encouragement to our students (image 10). 

It would be fair to say that Bulova, and the Bulova School, contributed to a New York watchmaking community that is more accessible, more inclusive, and stronger than it would have otherwise been.

Upcoming Lecture: Inside the James Arthur Collection: A Patek Philippe Grand Complication

Roland Murphy, American Watchmaker, Founder of RGM Watch Company (Mount Joy, PA)
November 6, 2023

In the mid-1990s the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) Museum asked American watchmaker Roland Murphy to repair a Patek Philippe Grand Complication — an important timepiece in the James Arthur collection. They were making a video and needed the repeater mechanism to function. Additionally, photographs were taken during the repair and restoration process to give a glimpse inside the extremely rare and complicated watch.

The 35mm negatives were recently scanned and were shared for the first time in the spring of 2023. At the November lecture of the Horological Society of New York (HSNY), Murphy will share the scans and his experience of repairing one of the most important watches in horological history.

*Doors open at 6PM ET, lecture to begin at 7PM ET. RSVP is required.

** The lecture video will be available to members immediately, and to the general public following a two-month delay.

Introducing the HSNY Watch Pouch!

Just in Time for the Holidays!

Introducing the HSNY Watch Pouch — a collaborative endeavor between the Horological Society of New York (HSNY), The Armoury, and Jean Rousseau!

This triple-branded watch pouch provides a luxurious fusion of heritage, style and craftsmanship, ensuring your treasured timepieces are protected whether on the go or stored away.

Key Features:

1. Exceptional Craftsmanship: Each HSNY Watch Pouch is meticulously crafted by Jean Rousseau’s skilled artisans who take extreme care in selecting, tanning and finishing leather goods at their in-house tannery and workshop. Our HSNY Watch Pouch’s superior construction ensures that your watches remain safe and secure in style.

2. Premium Materials: We spared no expense in selecting the finest materials. The exterior boasts luxurious goatskin known for its soft and lightweight qualities. The naturally tight grain is durable and will soften and develop a unique patina as it ages alongside your favorite timepiece.

3. Elegant Design: The watch pouch's sleek design is perfect for small and large watches, and its flap closure keeps your watches snugly secured while maintaining easy access. Bonus: HSNY’s modern logo is embossed on the pouch’s flap and adds a touch of sophistication. Each watch pouch is packed in a Jean Rousseau branded box, ensuring safe delivery that is ready to gift!

4. Travel-Ready: Perfect for jet-setters and globetrotters, this pouch is designed with travel in mind. The compact size and lightweight construction make it easy to slip into your luggage or carry-on, safeguarding your collection against dust, moisture, and minor impacts.

Available in four colors: Black, Purple, Burgundy and Blue

Dimensions: 6" tall, 2.5" wide, 1" thick

Price: $85

All proceeds go towards meeting the Horological Society of New York’s mission of advancing the art and science of horology.

Welcoming New HSNY Members, September 2023

HSNY would like to welcome the following new members. It is only with our members' support that we are able to continue flourishing as America's oldest watchmaking guild and advancing the art and science of horology every day. 

GOLD

  • James Mercer, CA

  • Shelby McPherson, FL

SILVER

  • Brian Clark, CA

  • James Duffett-Smith, NY

  • Justin Piccione, NY

  • Nickey Oates, TX

BRONZE

  • Adrian Cheung, Hong Kong

  • Anthony Hendon, VA

  • Dan Keen, CA

  • Erick Espinoza, NY

  • Georgios Deftereos, CA

  • Gilbert Nieves, MA

  • Konstantin Bukov, CA

  • Martin Edelman, NY

  • Michael Borawski, MA

  • Nicholas R. Fermor, United Kingdom

  • Raymond Borawski, MA

  • Ronald Walker, FL

  • Ryan Hutchinson, NC

  • Sam Wigotsky, NY

  • Wenyu Zhu, China

* Upgraded Membership Level

Welcoming New HSNY Members, July & August 2023

HSNY would like to welcome the following new members. It is only with our members' support that we are able to continue flourishing as America's oldest watchmaking guild and advancing the art and science of horology every day. 

GOLD

  • Cameron Ali Nowrouzi, CO

  • Lannon Martin, VA

  • Michael Chiaramonte, NY

SILVER

  • Bryant L. Valentine, FL

  • Scott Ferron, IL

BRONZE

  • Adam Sgro, NY

  • Alexander Thomas Metrocavich, NY

  • Anthony Addair III, FL

  • Brennan Wallace, SC

  • Brent Parker, FL

  • Brian Preusser, CO

  • Brian Spaid, WI

  • Chase S, NC

  • Derek R. Schiavone, VA

  • Derrick Washington, CA

  • Dineth Wijayarathna, England

  • Ed Tsue, NY

  • Emilio Gimenez, CA

  • Gelu George Man, TX

  • George Tolosa, CA

  • John Napoli, NY

  • Jordan Minges, FL

  • Kovy Katzovitz, FL

  • Lutz Kockel, CA

  • Mark Connell, Australia

  • Richard Harris, Hong Kong

  • Richard Newman, IL

  • Scott Kohlert, TX

  • Scott Piekarsky, NJ

  • Stephani Downey, CA

  • T. Brandon Clark, CA

  • Todd Edmonds, NJ

  • Valencia Sipes, VA

  • Vasil Nestorovski, NY

  • Ven Raphael de Aponte, NC

* Upgraded Membership Level

HSNY Establishes a Partnership With The Watch Library Foundation

Horological History Goes Digital

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) announces today that it has established a partnership with The Watch Library Foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland.

An initiative that began in 2021, HSNY’s partnership program aims to champion like-minded nonprofit organizations around the world. The partnership aims to further the mutual interests of both organizations and continue to promote horology.

The Watch Library Foundation, whose mission is to preserve and enhance watchmaking heritage towards a wide audience, includes the digitizing and mobilizing of resources and archives from a myriad of watchmaking museums, brands, institutions, media, retailers, suppliers and libraries. 

A digitized version of The Horologist’s Loupe, 1945

The platform, for example, has over 900 digitized and searchable pages of HSNY’s The Horologist’s Loupe, one of the oldest continuously running horological publications in the world. Additional sources with digitized material include Europa Star, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, Swisstime, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Radio Télévision Suisse, with more to come.

By utilizing the capabilities of today’s technologies, The Watch Library Foundation aims to demonstrate how shared data and knowledge can foster innovation and creativity and thus feed the imagination of experts, current and future professionals and watch enthusiasts alike.

Learn more about the Horological Society of New York here.
Learn more about The Watch Library Foundation here.

Upcoming Lecture: A. Lange & Söhne and Its Very Own Way of Watchmaking

Wilhelm Schmid, Chief Executive Officer, A. Lange & Söhne (Glashütte, Germany)
October 2, 2023

At the October lecture of the Horological Society of New York, Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of A. Lange & Söhne, will explain how the vision of Dresden watchmaker Ferdinand Adolph Lange, who laid the cornerstone of Saxony's precision watchmaking industry when he established his manufacture in 1845, still defines the philosophy of A. Lange & Söhne today. After his great-grandson Walter Lange had the courage to relaunch the brand together with the industry expert Günter Blümlein in 1990, A. Lange & Söhne quickly worked its way up to the top of the watchmaking world again.

Since its new foundation, developing and producing movements has been the Saxon manufacture’s special expertise. Every timepiece that bears the brand’s logo is equipped with a manufacture movement crafted in-house. Over the years, this has resulted in 71 distinctive masterpieces in a relatively short time. Each one combines traditional elements with groundbreaking innovations and is distinguished by an extremely high level of craftsmanship. Discover what factors have contributed to this extraordinary achievement and what future strategies A. Lange & Söhne is pursuing.

*Doors open at 6PM ET, lecture to begin at 7PM ET. RSVP is required.

** The lecture video will be available to members immediately, and to the general public following a two-month delay.

Reading Time at HSNY: The Witching Hour

This post is part of a series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by our librarian, Miranda Marraccini. 

Image 1: “Le repas des singes” (“The Monkeys’ Meal”) pictured in Les Automates by Jean Prasteau (1968.)

“Death is the ultimate complication,” declares Watanabe, the provocateur artist and inventor of the Cassius Seven, the titular “Death Watch” of Stona Fitch’s new novel. At its launch, the wristwatch’s features sound like any other that would be covered in dutiful detail by a journalist: “full-jeweled movement, titanium case, sapphire bezel.” There’s just one tiny addition: seven spinning knives that might emerge from the case to kill the wearer in an instant by severing his wrist. Oh yeah, and once you put it on, you can’t take it off.

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Is it an ironic publicity stunt, a fake-out meant to embarrass the billionaire watch collectors of the world with a send-up of their irresponsible, nihilistic wealth? A postmodern joke built to raise questions about our “precarious existence” as mortal humans, which could indeed end at any moment? Or, as its inventor claims, does this watch really know the answer to the question “When will you die?” The characters in this book aren’t too sure, but they’re about to find out. 

If you’re a regular consumer of watch content, you’ll enjoy the industry parody in “Death Watch,” available to peruse in our library at the Horological Society of New York (image 2 shows the book alongside some of the non-deadly watches in our current exhibit.) This deadly watch, while fictional, raises the specter of the real-life watches that have killed or maimed.

One of the most obvious classes of deadly watches is the radium dial watch. Of course, you aren’t going to die from wearing a lumed watch today, even if it’s radioactive – but people did die, or were horribly sickened, in the process of creating them.

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The Radium Girls were workers at American watch factories who ingested poisonous radium paint. At work, they used their saliva to “point” the brushes, creating a fine tip to paint glowing details on dials and hands. Eventually, the radium paint caused their jaws to disintegrate, as well as other health effects, and was ultimately fatal for many. 

The Radium Girls later inspired a slew of books, plays, songs, and movies, as well as a labor rights movement that helped protect future generations of workers. Here at the library, we have a few versions of their story in print, including Kate Moore’s “The Radium Girls.” 

In a new graphic novel also called “Radium Girls,” which HSNY owns in French and English, artist Cy illustrates these “ghost girls” whose clothes and bodies would glow after their shifts, covered in fine radium dust. He focuses on real workers at the U.S. Radium Corporation in New Jersey in the 1920s, including Grace Fryer, whose bravery is recognized by a scholarship at HSNY (image 3). If you turn out the lights, surprise! The ghoulish glow of the book’s front cover makes the radium effect threateningly tangible (images 4 & 5).

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While the effects of radium are horrifying and sad, further down on the “just creepy” portion of the scary spectrum are humanoid automata. Books in our library cover automata in detail, since, like watches, they run on mechanical clockwork. Many people find them unsettling, with their too-wide smiles and their whirring indifference to the frailty of human flesh. 

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Some automata are merely visually upsetting–a particular “monkey harpist” in the museum catalog “Musical Machines and Living Dolls” will haunt my dreams until I expire. Images 6 and 7 show partially disassembled human and dog figures from the book “Les Automates” by Jean Prasteau, which will probably not emerge from the computer to murder you. Other automata are unsettling for more complicated, cerebral reasons: the workshop of Pierre Jacquet-Droz, an 18th-century watchmaker known for his singing songbirds, produced automata that were capable of drawing, playing music, and writing reprogrammable sentences, and could be called early computers. (You can still see them in action today at the Neuchâtel Museum of Art and History in Switzerland.) These automata, sometimes referred to as robots or androids, blur the line between human and machine, falling into the “uncanny valley” where they inspire fear and revulsion–in scientific terms, they give us the ick.

Of course human fears about almost-humans have accelerated in light of the current artificial intelligence arms race, but these worries have been around for centuries. In the 1899 story “Moxon’s Master,” for instance, a fictional chess-playing automaton, inspired by real-life examples, kills its creator after losing to him. Recently, a real chess-playing robot made headlines when it broke a little boy’s finger during a match in Moscow. The president of the Moscow Chess Federation was quoted as saying: “The robot broke the child’s finger — this, of course, is bad.” The robots are coming for us. Bad indeed.

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Ending my article on the least scary end of the horror-logical spectrum, I wanted to include a few images from a new acquisition at HSNY’s ever-growing library. “Five O’Clock Tea” is a French-language Omega advertising pamphlet from 1912 whose narrative can only be described as “trippy” (see image 8). The story, by Jean Richepin, calls itself a “modern fairy tale,” and is chock-full of goblins, fairies, and gnomes. A young girl, Didi, is suffering from a mysterious fever, which can only be cured by a visit to fairyland where she will meet magic creatures.

The doctor instructs Didi to breathe in a “magic smoke” composed mainly of opium poppies and hashish (really). Didi begins to see the creatures of fairyland dancing in front of her. The doctor explains: “Because we enjoy all our progress here [in the real world]… Steam, electricity, mechanics, have their elves, their fairies, their gnomes…there has recently been a brand new gnome among the fairies…who tells them the exact time.”

Image 9

In image 9, by artist Maurice Lalavi, a gnome with the body of an Omega watch appears in the sky over the ecstatic Didi, who exclaims “The new gnome of exact time, I see it!” This “gnome” has a heart that beats 18,000 times per hour, or 300 times a minute, a “metal heart, his escapement heart, his magical heart, made of wheels and springs which split time and create it by splitting it.” This advertising copy is carefully written for accuracy; an Omega watch-heart of 1912 could beat at 18,0000 vibrations per hour or 2.5 hertz, on the low end of the modern watch frequency spectrum.

The pamphlet closes with an image of the enormous Omega factory, subtitled by a production claim of 900 to 1000 watches per day (image 11). To tie in with the story, the publication also features full-color illustrations of the latest models (you can see an early wristwatch with a bracelet in image 10). Omega customers could have picked up this pamphlet at French department store Kirby, Beard & Co., a major Omega retailer at the time.

Image 10

Although this is not a work intended for children, it may be designed to appeal to adults craving a little connection to the fairyland of fantasy. The subject couldn’t be more practical–watches designed for precision–but the treatment couldn’t be more whimsical. Watches are part of the world of magic, the story suggests, amalgams of artistry and engineering that seem almost supernatural. But watches are just things, really–things that can inspire your daydreams or stalk your nightmares, make you smile or sweat, leave you feeling treated or tricked.

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Reading Time at HSNY: Watch Me Learn!

This post is part of a series, Reading Time at HSNY, written by our librarian, Miranda Marraccini. 

Image 1: Illustration from an advertising pamphlet from the National School of Watchmaking, Chicago IL, 1927.

It’s back to school this month for lots of kids and adults. While you might be busy stocking your kid’s backpack with trapper keepers and erasable pens (my references may be dated), watchmaking students are picking up their loupes and staking tools to get to work. But how do people learn to become watchmakers, clockmakers and watch repairers? What was horological education like in the recent past?

Here at the Horological Society of New York (HSNY), our library has advertising pamphlets, syllabi, and textbooks from watchmaking schools in Europe and America throughout the 20th century. Within the U.S., we have materials from no-longer-extant schools in New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Missouri, California, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, demonstrating how widespread watchmaking education was at the time.

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One of the more charming educational pamphlets I’ve located is Some of the Hundreds of Items which Cause a Watch to Stop, published by the Western Pennsylvania Horological Institute in Pittsburgh in the 1940s (image 2). The authors of the pamphlet, designed for watchmakers and conveniently hole-punched to fit in a three-ring binder, seem to know that its title may be daunting. “Don’t become alarmed,” they reassure their readers. “The list is much simpler than it seems at first reading.” 

Indeed many of the directions are straightforward, such as “10. Does the guard pin appear in a straight line with safety roller?” and “77. Did you oil escape wheel teeth?” Some of the items on the list blame customers, as in “86. Failure to wind fully (ladies are especially prone to this).” Aside from its obviously practical use, the pamphlet also serves as an advertisement for the Western Pennsylvania Horological Institute and its “complete, modern, up-to-date experimental laboratory and research department,” where students can learn from a “pioneering” curriculum. 

Whether Western Pennsylvania was indeed the “finest in the country,” as it calls itself, is up for debate. Another WPHI pamphlet from the 1940s includes the altered tagline “World’s Largest Watchmaking School” and targets women for recruitment, declaring “A new field for women!...It enables women to be financially independent whether married or single” (image 3).

Image 3

In the horological hub of Lancaster, in the eastern part of the same state, the Bowman Technical School trained men and women into the 1970s in watchmaking, engraving, and jewelry work. Its historic building, which also contained a shop and an observatory, was recently purchased by the family of a jeweler who attended the school and has already been returned to a horological purpose as a Hamilton retail store. Image 4 shows the building in about 1910; image 5 shows the building in 2019.

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In image 7, Bradley Polytechnic Institute in Peoria, Illinois shows off its Horological Department in front of “Horology Hall” in 1923. The class is stunningly large by today’s standards.

Pictures in the Bradley brochure show students engaged in different stages of the watchmaking process at long tables. “Elementary Watchwork” was one of six divisions, and students could specialize in just one, such as engraving or even optics, if they wanted to make eyeglasses instead of watches (image 8). The brochure specifies that women are admitted to all departments of study, and the list of students and graduates at the end demonstrates this, with entries like Mrs. Estella Hinkley of Illinois and Mrs. A. Lindsey of Nebraska. Indeed, the founder of Bradley Polytechnic was a woman, noted philanthropist Lydia Moss Bradley. There were also students from as far away as Korea, Syria, and New Zealand. 

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Just like many opportunities for technical education today, watchmaking schools of the 20th century advertised the speed and ease with which you could graduate and get a stable job, even during periods of economic distress. They touted watchmaking as a career with exceptional financial independence and security. To make their promises, school advertisements used testimonials from graduates as well as reprinted help wanted ads. In the early 1940s, a letter from the American School of Watchmaking president, Herbert W. Hartley, assures: “Yes, after the war is over, and fine watches and clocks are again available to the civilian market, there is expected to be a TREMENDOUS DEMAND for them…Just when the war will end is, of course, anyone’s guess. But when peace DOES COME, will YOU be prepared!” Indeed, the post-war period brought fresh opportunities, including the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking, which trained disabled veterans for a new career. I’ll be featuring Bulova and its influence on disability rights in a future article.

Image 9

Hartley, at the American School of Watchmaking, uses abundant all-caps threats to scare prospective students into applying: “DON’T PUT IT OFF! Every day new opportunities are being offered to men qualified in this field…JOBS AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES that might have been YOURS had you started YOUR training sooner!” Other schools had different, gentler approaches to recruiting: in 1956, the Chicago School of Watchmaking offered a free watch to anyone who enrolled, and they could choose from different men’s and women’s models (image 9).

Schools in desirable cities also used their location as a selling point, as is visible in the not-entirely-relevant images of men and women in bathing suits from the 1940s and 1950s (images 10 & 11) printed in California watchmaking school recruitment materials. Perhaps not surprisingly, the American School of Watchmaking in Los Angeles particularly exploited this angle in their advertising.

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Students who couldn’t make it to Los Angeles or any of the American watchmaking schools could enroll in the 20th-century equivalent of online classes: correspondence courses. In a correspondence course, the student would receive syllabi and lessons by mail, which meant there was a lot of paper involved. As a result, much more of the coursework survives in our library. (For in-person courses, handwritten notebooks are often the only surviving materials. You can see some beautiful examples of student work in one of my earlier posts.)

The DeSelms Watch School (images 12 & 13) was a “Home Course” established in 1903. An advertisement in 1913 in Popular Mechanics promises: “after you complete the course you will know a watch from A to Z.” The course took about 30 weeks to complete, although students could set their own pace. Tuition included the loan of a lathe, and students were responsible for acquiring their own beginner set of tools.

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Just like Bradley, in its pamphlet, DeSelms advertises its appeal to international learners, even including a photograph of one Gonzalo Quinones, a student from Costa Rica (image 14). And like modern distance learning programs, DeSelms touts its flexibility and accessibility, so that students who are currently employed or have other responsibilities can learn on their own schedule.

The De Selms brochure urges readers to make a change in their lives, dismissing all obstacles: “You may think you live too far away…You may think you haven’t enough spare time…Stop doubting. If you are going to succeed you are going to act…The DeSelms school makes everything easy for you, no matter who you are, or where you live.” There is an inclusive impulse to distance courses, then as now, which attempt to remove barriers to hardworking people who want to start a new career. These days you can still learn watchmaking and watch repair through distance learning, including in a British Horological Institute program. 

Today, HSNY continues the tradition of helping students overcome barriers to succeed as watchmakers. We assist watchmaking students by offering eight different scholarships, some of which are designed for students from underrepresented backgrounds in the field. If you’re thinking about a career in watchmaking, we encourage you to dip your toe in with one of our classes, which are built for absolute beginners. We too believe that “no matter who you are, or where you live,” you can become a watchmaker. So stop doubting, and get to work!

Upcoming Lecture: Robert Leslie: A Forgotten Early American Maker and the Rediscovery of George Washington’s Deathbed Clock

Richard Newman, Antiquarian Horologist (DeKalb, Illinois)
September 6, 2023

Robert Leslie was at the forefront of invention and innovation in 18th-century Philadelphia and was awarded America’s first clock and watch patents. However, his contributions were discounted until one of his patented watches was found in 2012 which prompted renewed research. The trail amazingly led to George Washington and the time of his death on December 14, 1799, when his last breath was preserved for eternity on the dial of a colonial-made chamber clock.

At the September lecture of the Horological Society of New York, antiquarian horologist Richard Newman will discuss Leslie’s legacy as the greatest American clock and watchmaker of the 18th century.

*Doors open at 6PM ET, lecture to begin at 7PM ET. RSVP is required.

** The lecture video will be available to members immediately, and to the general public following a two-month delay.

HSNY’s Horology Courses Return to London

The Horological Society of New York’s (HSNY) award-winning classes are returning to London, England on September 30 and October 1, 2023. The courses, which cover HSNY’s Horology 101-103 curriculum, will be hosted by Phillips in Association with Bacs and Russo in partnership with the British Horological Institute and the Museum of Timekeeping.

The Royal Automobile Club, London

The powerhouses will meet across the pond following a successful Traveling Education tour in 2019, which saw sold-out watchmaker benches within days of tickets going live. This year, students will have the opportunity to learn in a unique setting — The Royal Automobile Club. Participants will be offered a tour of the historical venue which was founded in 1897 and functions as a British private social and athletic club. Attendees who wish to tour the premises are required to adhere to the club’s dress code.

Throughout the course, students can discover what makes a mechanical movement tick. Each four-hour course will include the disassembly and reassembly of an ETA 6497 movement, along with explanations of proper usage of watchmaking tools and of modern horological terminology and theories. No prior experience is required for horology enthusiasts to enroll and all proceeds from ticket sales will go toward’s HSNY’s mission of advancing the art and science of horology.

Visit HSNY’s Eventbrite page for a schedule and to reserve your seat at the bench!

HSNY Raises Over $50,000 at Annual Charity Auction

Presented Online By Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo 

The Horological Society of New York (HSNY) announces today that it has raised $50,165 at its “Timepieces for HSNY: 2023 Charity Auction,” presented online by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo. All proceeds from the sale, which took place online from July 6-11, will benefit HSNY in its ongoing mission to advance the art and science of horology.

Six lots made up this year's auction, which included timepieces by Laurent Ferrier, H. Moser & Cie., Jaeger-LeCoultre, NOMOS Glashütte and Oris, along with a set of six brand new books on independent watchmaking, all signed personally by François-Paul Journe of F.P.Journe.

In addition to HSNY’s online auction, the Society raised $20,000 through the sale of its 2023 Lifetime Membership Card at its 157th anniversary Gala & Awards Ceremony in April. The card, which was engine-turned by Joshua Shapiro and hand-engraved by Artur Akmaev, comes with lifetime membership privileges at HSNY, including all aspects of current and future membership tiers.

“We were able to raise over $70,000 during our 2023 charity auction season thanks to the support of our generous sponsors, donors, bidders and Phillips,” said HSNY Deputy Director Carolina Navarro. “Through our combined efforts, we’ll be able to continue offering scholarship opportunities to full-time watchmaking students across the country and we look forward to building on this achievement.”

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ABOUT THE HOROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK

Founded in 1866, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) is one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world. Today, HSNY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of horology through education. Members are a diverse mix of watchmakers, clockmakers, executives, journalists, auctioneers, historians, salespeople and collectors, reflecting the rich nature of horology in New York City and around the world.

Official website: https://hs-ny.org

Welcoming New HSNY Members, May & June 2023

HSNY would like to welcome the following new members. It is only with our members' support that we are able to continue flourishing as America's oldest watchmaking guild and advancing the art and science of horology every day. 

GOLD

  • Andrew Munchbach, MA

  • John A. Davis, NY *

SILVER

  • Caleb Bradham, NY

  • Kristina Whyte, NY

BRONZE

  • Andrew Davidson, CA

  • Anthony Lam, NY

  • Art Gertel, NJ

  • Dominique Schuwey, Switzerland

  • James Stewart, CA

  • Patrick Weber, GA

  • Peter Weiden, MA

  • Ryan Kaitz, NC

* Upgraded Membership Level