BOOKS ABOUT
WATCH AND CLOCK REPAIRING
AND BOOKS ABOUT
JEWELLERY MAKING AND REPAIRING

These following books are those listed in our Summer - Autumn 2008 mail order catalogue (page 8):

Thousands of marks illustrated including date letters 1544 to 2004, the standard pocket reference for dealers

TARDY book of Inernational Silver Marks £23.50

Several thousand marks from around the world, look up the country or if you don't know which country, look up the mark in the index which is in 'picture' order

The Gold & Silver Buyer's Handbook £6.00

CHAPTER ONE
Purity; hallmarks; history of hallmarking; future of hallmarking; types of gold; non gold; testing gold and silver; the gold and silver price; formulae to calculate prices; weights, gold and money; conversions; law concerning weighing; weighing. machines; valuations; cleaning and polishing.

CHAPTER TWO
Pre-decimal system of coinage; rare coin dates; bullion coins; weights and purities charts; counting coins by weight; gold coins; silver coins; commemorative medallions.

CHAPTER THREE
Selling; buying; some tips when buying; buying and selling secondhand or antique gold and silver for profit; buying and selling bullion; futures trading; gold leasing; tax.

CHAPTER FOUR
Gemstones; gem testing; gem books; magnifiers; microscopes and gem testers; testing diamonds; birthstones; useful addresses.

PRACTICAL GEMMOLOGY
Robert Webster, 1987, hardback
£12.50

Chapters: The Chemistry of gemstones; Crystallography; Physical Properties (including specific gravity); Light (refractive index, colour, luminescence); The Microscope; Gem Species; Synthetic Gems; Imitation GemsArtificially Induced Colour; Styles of Cutting; Pearls, coral, amber, jet, unusual gemstonesReview:

This is the basic text book for the First Year Gemmology course, it explains the basics of gem types: crystal structure, optical and chemical properties, how to use the gemmological microscope and other gem testing equipment. It is not a picture book of gemstones but a serious textbook, the best place to start if you want to know about gemstones.

JEWELLERY MAKING FOR PROFIT

James E Hickling, 1995, hardback, 175 pages

£7.50

Chapters: Workshop and equipment: polishing machine, rolling mill, grinder, drill press, guillotine, pinfold sizer, bench vice, fly press, lathe. Materials: steel (hardening and tempering), copper (planishing, punching, engraving). Speeding up production: (..including many machines you can buy, adapt or make yourself).Useful Information: traditional birthstones; useful addresses; signs of the zodiac; decimal and metric equivalents; Whitworth standards threads; letter drills; BAS standard threadsReview:

This is not a 'learn to hand-make jewellery' book (which takes years to learn), neither does it expect you to spend several thousand pounds setting up a workshop. Instead, this book treads a fascinating middle ground: tools you can make or adapt to produce badges, brooches, bangles, rings etc by the hundred or small components by the thousand.

PRACTICAL JEWELLERY REPAIR

James Hickling, 1987, hardback, 192 pages

£7.50

Chapters:Workshop layout and equipment; processes and materials; basic techniques; general repairs (rings); making a ring; wrist ware; repairs to brooches; some unusual jobs and how to tackle them; workshop security; jewellers' guide to gemstone handling.Review:

I am really quite impressed with the scope and clarity of this book, though you will still have to learn to solder, to cut cleanly with a piercing saw, to file and twist neatly…etc. But if you DO have talent in these areas, this is the book you need to channel your skills into jewellery repair.

JEWELRY, DESIGNS & CONCEPTS
by Oppi Untracht
Hardback
Ref.jlrybk
£45.00

Several hundred pages, THE text book about all aspects of jewellery making, retail price is £60.00

CHRONOMETER MAKERS OF THE WORLD
With Extensive List of Makers and Craftsmen
by Tony Mercer, Revised Edition, 2004 , Hardback 144 pages
ref. bk-chron-1
£27.50

THE BOOK:

Most of the book is a list of Chronometer makers, each with a detailed history of the company. The first 65 pages are as follows (contents):

- History of the word Chronometer
- Identification Marks and Dating
- Origins of the Detent or Detached Escapement
- The Purpose of a Chronometer
- John Harrison - Maker Extraordinary
- The British Admiralty Plan of 1805
- Two Great Names of Nautical Science
- Mercer Chronometers - Serial Numbers and Personalities
- A Pictorial Guide to the International Chronometers

THE LEVEL:

Would suit any enthusiast, either to study or to 'dip into' at leisure, not too technical.

The following books date from the early 1900s and contain essential information not available in modern books. I have described them as 'Reprints' but they have not been 'reprinted' at the original publishers (who no longer exist), they have been digitally enhanced to make the old-fashioned typeface easier to read and the fine line-drawings easier to see, and the layout has been improved.

WATCH ESCAPEMENTS
Spiral-bound
ref. bk-wesc
by Dr James C Pellaton, formerly Director of the school of Horology
Third Edition, with 268 illustrations
£9.50

Main sections:

- The Lever Escapement
- The Pin Pallet Escapement
- The Cylinder Escapement
- The Detent Escapement

THE BOOK:

Look into a clock or watch and you will see that the pendulum / spring connects to a 'lever' that rocks backwards and forwards against a wheel (escape wheel) and this wheel turns (and connects to other wheels which eventually turn the hands) - but it's that first transfer of power (impulse) that is the cleverest and most critical part of a watch or clock, and it is this part of the mechanism that is called the escapement. Here, in the most intimate detail, we are shown the various types of escapement, how they work and how to adjust and repair them.

THE LEVEL:

This IS a very technical manual, the 268 illustrations are technical drawings, the mechanics are explained in terms of maths and physics (lots of angles). If your background is in mechanical engineering or you have a natural aptitude for dismantling and re-assembling elaborate mechanisms, then you will LOVE this book...if not, you will go completely dizzy after the first two pages.

HOW TO REPAIR A LONGINES WATCH
Practical Advice for Watch Repairers with Fifty Illustrated Drawings made at the Factory
Softback
ref. bk-longi
£9.50

INDEX:

- Cleaning and Oiling
- to replace barrel, mainspring wheels and winding stem
- to replace jewels
- to replace the balance staff and hairspring
- to replace the hands
- fitting a watch glass

THE BOOK:

Question: what is so special about a Longines watch? Answer: nothing. That's why I have chosen this book as a guide to repairing the most typical wrist watch. The writing style is reasonably clear (unlike many books of this era), the black-and-white line drawings are well drawn, it covers all the basic repairs.

THE LEVEL:

If you have had a go at dismantling a watch and managed to put it back together and it still worked - then I recommend this book to take your skills forward. However, please do be aware that this is a little like showing how to carry out the most common repairs in a car engine - you would need to START with the ability to strip and rebuild an engine, and you would not become a car mechanic merely by reading one short book.

THE MAIN TYPES OF CHRONOGRAPH EXPLAINED BY THEIR DIALS
Softback
ref. bk-chron-2
£9,50

THE BOOK:

Chronographs have many hands and often many dials too. What are they all for? This beautifully-illustrated book shows 16 different dials and explains, in great detail, all the functions.

THE LEVEL:

This makes for fascinating reading, a real watch enthusiasts book, and it is not technical.

UNDERSTANDING THE VERGE FUSEE WATCH
Softback
ref.bk-verge
£12.50

THE BOOK:

From the 1500s clocks were driven with a chain mechanism, and eventually the same design was used for watches (with each link of the chain being a fraction of a millimeter across!); John Harrison's 'Number Four' Chronometer was of this design, it helped establish longitude; Leonardo da Vinci made sketches of these mechanisms; the design reigned supreme for 400 years. With the aid of several exploded diagrams this book shows how they work and how to dismantle and repair them.

THE LEVEL:

Advanced.

HAIRSPRINGING
Softback
ref.bk-hspr
£9.50

THE BOOK:

The full title is: The manipulation of Old and New Springs by the Watch Repairer. The Treatment of Tangled Springs, Making Isochronal Curves in Flat and Breguet springs, Pinning etc. No author is named but it is dated 1908. Contains a huge amount of useful information.

THE LEVEL:

Advanced

STAKING TOOLS AND HOW TO USE THEM
Spiral-bound
ref.bk-stake
£12.50

THE BOOK:

If a cannon pinion is too long you could 'squeeze' it with jewellers cutters and hope for the best; if you need to insert a rivet you could hit it with a hammer and hope for the best. Similarly, closing a hole, stretching the notch of a fork...for all these operations you SHOULD use a stake (a fine steel stake) - you hold the watch part in the staking machine, insert a stake (there are dozens of different types) and then you can safely and accurately carry out the operation.

THE LEVEL:

Advanced.

STAFF MAKING AND PIVOTING

by Eugene E Hall
Softback
ref.bk-smp
£9.50

THE BOOK:

The full title is: A Treatise on Staff Making and Pivoting, containing complete directions for making and fitting new staffs from the raw material with numerous illustrations.

Contents:

- The raw material. The gravers. The roughing out. Hardening and tempering
- Kinds of pivots. Their shape. Capillarity. The requirements of a good pivot
- The proper measurements and how to obtain them
- The gauging of holes. The side shake. The position of the graver
- The grinding and polishing. The reversal of the work. The wax chuck
- Another wax chuck. the centering of the work
- The finishing of the staff. Pivoting. Making pivot drills. Hardening drills. the drilling and fitting of new pivots.

THE LEVEL:

Advanced.