Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Date: January 31, 1997
It was a great shock when my watchmaking fellows and I were confronted with the fact that the previously distributed IWC pocket watch movement was replaced with a simple Unitas movement...
Each watchmaker apprentice received a pocket watch kit allowing him to execute miscellaneous work and to deepen the knowledge. At the end of each apprenticeship it represents an individual masterpiece. Well, the use of a Unitas caliber instead of the IWC pocket watch movement was not a challenging argument and we still regret for not being supplied with a IWC movement! My personal masterpiece was anyway being crafted aside the official Unitas torture!
Anyway, back to watchmaking! In order to work on customizing the Unitas caliber 6497 movement, I prepared couple of balance-cocks for me and my fellow apprentice to work on. The cock could be transformed, differently shaped or finished entirely based upon each’s individual vision and motivation.
During our 4-years of apprenticeship the following different work were demanded by the watchmaking school in Solothurn:
Manufacturing an anchor bridge in steel
Turning a new balance-staff
Shaping a Breguet hairspring
Replacing the standard balance-cock
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