Urwerk UR-CC1 in white gold

The Retrograde: One of My Favorite Complications – Reprise

The retrograde indication is one of Joshua Munchow’s favorite “Because We Can” (BWC) complications. Gears are an amazing invention and have allowed watchmakers to make incredible creations. Simple gear systems leave a multitude of openings for creativity. Look at some great retrogrades here.

Warning: Strong magnetic field ISO symbol

The Truth about Magnetism and Watches – Reprise

General everyday contact with magnets isn’t going to cause your beloved wristwatch any real harm, but overdoses of magnetism may still present a problem, causing erratic timing and even stoppage altogether as watchmaker Ashton Tracy explains. What to do when this happens?

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller Deepsea with helium escape valve

Deeper, Further, Faster: Why do Some Dive Watches have Helium Escape Valves? – Reprise

Humans have long had a fascination with the depths of the ocean, striving to go ever deeper, ever further, and ever faster by pushing the limits of the human body, technology, and advancing modern science. But like all things, we are often faced with limits. And the helium escape valve was invented to push one of those limits as watchmaker Ashton Tracy explains.

How a Mechanical Watch Works with Simple to Understand Animations

In theory, a mechanical watch is very simple: it’s ‘simply’ a spring (the mainspring) unwinding at a constant rate with hands attached to gears that rotate as the spring unwinds. Easy! Ian Skellern highly recommends anyone at all interested in mechanical watches to watch this video as it clearly highlights how a mechanical watch works.

The Antikythera Mechanism: Predicting Astronomical Positions and Eclipses 2,000 Years Ago (Video)

The Antikythera mechanism is an Ancient Greek orrery over 2,000 years old. It is the oldest known example of an analog computer and was used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. Spencer Connor is an engineer who decided to make a modernized reproduction of the Antikythera mechanism. In this video, he explains just how special the intricate clockwork was for its day, and just how complex it is to track the obits of our moon and the planets around the sun.

Fitting Rolex balance wheel and Parachrom hairspring

Hairsprings: Origins, Progress, And (Dare I Say) Exciting Future – Reprise

The tiny, delicate, nearly impossible-to-create hairspring is the one of the biggest advances for modern scientific technology there is. Here Joshua Munchow takes a dive into the muscle of the beating heart of most mechanical watches: the hairspring.

How Watches are Made – the Engineering of Watchmaking by John McGonigle (Video)

Master Watchmaker John McGonigle of Oileán Watches, in the first of two presentations, gives a brief history of the development of watches and how they were initially made, their progression to precision instruments, the industrialisation of watchmaking, how modern techniques and materials have been adapted and how current hand-crafted watches fit into all of this.

ETA/Valjoux 7750 front and back

Valjoux 7750: The World’s Greatest Chronograph Movement By Far (By Popularity And Numbers) – Reprise

As Martin Green became ever more impressed by the performance of the Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement, he also found himself enamored by its little quirks and the variety of watches it has been tapped to power. Here Martin outlines the history of this classic automatic chronograph movement.

ETA/Valjoux 7750 front and back

Valjoux 7750: The World’s Greatest Chronograph Movement By Far (By Popularity And Numbers) – Reprise

As Martin Green became ever more impressed by the performance of the Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement, he also found himself enamored by its little quirks and the variety of watches it has been tapped to power. Here Martin outlines the history of this classic automatic chronograph movement.

Sauterelle à Lune Perpétuelle by Andreas Strehler

The 10 Most Accurate Moon Phase Wristwatches Today, Plus Honorable Mention – Reprise

Waxing poetically about moon phases got Joshua excited enough to take a trip through certain “phases” of engineering excellence. So here he brings you the ten most accurate moon phase displays fitted into a wristwatch as of 2020. Join us on this odyssey through space and time.