Books and Articles in Order of Author Names
Masonic watch, Afs?, Manchester, 1801 (from the case hallmarks). About 50 years earlier than any other Masonic watch that I have seen.
- A book that might have been a part of the Bible.
- A book that might have been a part of the Bible.
- A description of how to harness free energy.
Anon: "The Theoretical Basis For Nikola Tesla's Inventions (second edition)" (2025)
- A study of the theory.
- Biography and discussion of Ingold's machinery.
Berner and Audetat: "Pierre Frederic Ingold 1787-1878" (1962)
- Biography of Ingold.
- A large map of the main watchmaking regions in Switzerland. See also Osterwald.
Berthoud and Auch: "How to Make a Verge Watch" (1763 and 1827)
- Detailed descriptions of 18th century watchmaking methods.
- Detailed explanations of making mainsprings, repeater springs and balance springs.
- "Followed by a Conversation on Watchmaking between Mr Trottevite and Mr Vabien". Two charming stories with opinions about 19th century watchmaking.
- Two charming French stories with opinions about 19th century watchmaking.
- A detailed study of the Roskopf watch.
Buffat: "Historique et Technique de la Montre Roskopf" (1914)
- Detailed French study of the Roskopf watch.
- A study of the correct forms for teeth and methods for the calculation of trains, including an appendix on English practices at the time.
- A description of the watch factory set up by Christin and Viala.
Christin: "Nouvelle Manufacture D'horlogerie, dans la Ville de Pfortzheim" (1771)
- French description of the watch factory set up by Christin and Viala.
- A detailed explanation of how to make and repair quarter repeater mechanisms.
- Detailed French explanation of how to make and repair quarter repeater mechanisms.
- Two Swiss reports giving detailed information about American watch production.
Favre-Perret: "Report on the Philadelphia Exhibition 1876" (1877)
- Description of the exhibits and comments on the relative qualities of Swiss and American watches.
Fitch: "Manufactures of the United States at the Tenth Census (1880), Watches and Clocks" (1883)
- Details of machine manufacturing methods and interchangeability.
- History of the Longines watch company.
- A brief discussion of a few machines used in watchmaking.
- Essay on the repair of watch cases.
- French essay on the repair of watch cases.
Grossmann: "The Construction of a Simple but Mechanically Perfect Watch" (1880)
- An analysis of watch design.
- Description of and repair guide to keyless winding mechanisms.
- Description of the inventions made by Hubert Sarton.
- French description of the inventions made by Hubert Sarton.
Houriet: "The American Watchmaking Factories and Their Tools" (1895)
- Detailed but brief study of tools and machines.
- Diagrams and descriptions of machinery designed by Japy.
Keith: "A Family Tale, or History of American Watch Making" (1883)
- A history, primarily of Waltham, written in response to Aaron Dennison being erroneously described as the "father of American watchmaking".
- Extensively annotated version of the French diary.
Marsh: "Two histories of the Waltham Watch Company" (1890 and 1921)
- Written by one of the main mechanics at Waltham.
Mundschau, Roobaert and Watkins: "Documents Concerning Christin" (2014)
- Facsimiles and translations. Christin was an enigmatic person who designed a self-winding watch circa 1778.
- An article examining the business of Samuel Jones and the English watches sold by him, circa 1817.
Osterwald: "Description of the Mountains and Valleys of Neuchatel and Valangin" (1766)
- Diary of a trip in Switzerland with some references to watchmaking.
- French diary of a trip in Switzerland with some references to watchmaking.
Sarton: "Abridged Description of Several Pieces of Horology" (1789)
- Description of 9 horological and 2 other inventions.
Sarton: "Description Abregee de Plusieurs Pieces d'Horlogerie" (1789)
- French description of 9 horological and 2 other inventions.
Saturday Magazine: "Manufacture of Watches in Switzerland" (1842)
- Interesting because of its description of watch smuggling.
- A detailed description of 18th century watchmaking methods.
Waterbury Watch Company: "Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves" (1889)
- A delightful example of watch advertising!
Watkins: "Animations of self-winding watch stop-work" (2016)
- A number of animations to show how stop-work functions.
Watkins and Suiza: Antigua sonería continental de repetición a cuartos (2015)
- Spanish translation of Part 1 of "The Repeater".
- A study of drunken fusees, fusees that can be wound both clockwise and anti-clockwise.
Watkins: "Berthoud, Harrison and Lalande, a near myth" (2005)
- An article analysing Lalande's "Diary of a trip to England 1763" in its horological context.
Watkins: "The BHI and American watchmaking, 1858-1862" (2011)
- Subtitled "Three Unfortunate Mistakes", this article looks at the reaction of the British Horological Institute to American watchmaking.
Watkins: "Confabulations, a humorous look at complications" (2007)
- A serious article looking at the usefulness or uselessness of watch complications.
- A novel based on British TV murder mysteries.
Watkins: "Domestic Sewing Machine Presser-Feet" (Second Edition, 2020)
- An article explaining how presser-feet work.
Watkins: "Jacques David and American and Swiss watchmaking in 1876" (2004)
- An article discussing the significance of Jacques David's reports (see David "American and Swiss Watchmaking in 1876").
Watkins: "Joseph Flores,Twenty-Five Years 1993 - 2018" (2018)
- A note on the importance of the work of Joseph Flores and its impact on the history of self-winding watches.
Watkins: "Mainspring Gauges and the Dennison Combined Gauge" (2009)
- A study of watch mainspring gauges and their inaccuracies.
- A comprehensive, two-volume bibliography annotated with contents information, reviews and multiple indexes.
- An article prompted by the question "Did Breguet use his mathematical knowledge?".
Watkins: "The Origins of Self-Winding Watches, 1773-1779" (Second Edition, 2016)
- A comprehensive, historical and technical study of the origins of automatic watches.
Watkins: "Philipe DuBois & Fils, Customers, Suppliers and Bankers, 1757 - 1824" (2014)
- A data base of people who dealt with Philipe DuBois. Available as a FileMaker Pro data base and as Excel files.
- An introduction to watch collecting for beginners.
Watkins: "The Production of Japy in 1780, is this Now a Myth?" (2010)
- Short comment on the number of workers employed by Japy.
- A recipe book for cooking human food.
- Detailed technical description of repeater mechanisms.
- Videos of continental quarter, minute and decimal repeater mechanisms striking.
Watkins: "A Review of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Dekalog" (2021)
- An interpretation of the Dekalog, ten films on the Ten Commandments.
Watkins: "Review of Sabrier 'The Self-Winding Watch', 2011" (2013)
- Review of the book that resulted in me writing "The Origins of Self-Winding Watches, 1773-1779". Direct link to the pdf file.
Watkins: "Searching for Tlusios, The earliest, important document on automatic watches?" (2013)
- Short history of the search to find documents.
Watkins: "Watchmaking, the American System of Manufacturing and Mass Production" (2020)
- Detailed study of why successful watchmaking by machinery is based on using unskilled labour.
- Biography of the dog Gryphon.
- Biography of a much-loved dog.
Watkins: "Why did the Lancashire Watch Company Fail?" (2018)
- The history of the Lancashire Watch Company (England) analysing the reasons for its four different failures.
Illustration: Masonic watch, Afs?, Manchester, 1801 (from the case hallmarks). About 50 years earlier than any other Masonic watch that I have seen.