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Canada's only watchmaking school still ticking after 80 years

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Re: Canada's only watchmaking school still ticking after 80 years

#61

Post by AdamN »

culopatin wrote: post #40
crdrost wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean people do make a living doing it, but my understanding is that it requires a lot of hustle—as a hobbyist you can just take your time and meditate and take a million pictures, but if you're trying to make a living you have to focus on volume, volume, volume... So you have to have a system, this one goes in the cleaner and you are immediately disassembling the next, another is in a tray next to the machine that…

Can one end up working for TAG out of this for example? What does it take for that career ladder to happen?

Probably going to the school above is a good start.

Re: Canada's only watchmaking school still ticking after 80 years

#63

Post by netsharc »

rvba wrote: post #46
soperj wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you need AI to tell the time?

Suprising amount of people do not know how to read time from the "classical" watches and clocks (those with hands). Reason is very simple - they dont own clocks with hands when theh are kids.

But... this is a condition that can be changed within 1 minute? (From "do not know" to "know").

Sure it takes longer to get proficient, but learning it is quicker than learning e.g. Roman numerals or how to tie a necktie.

Re: Canada's only watchmaking school still ticking after 80 years

#64

Post by Cthulhu_ »

rvba wrote: post #46
soperj wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you need AI to tell the time?

Suprising amount of people do not know how to read time from the "classical" watches and clocks (those with hands). Reason is very simple - they dont own clocks with hands when theh are kids.

Not knowing is fine, but a refusal to learn is not. I think that's the major issue with first social media / short attention span content, modern media over-explaining stuff, and nowadays with AI. Even if they get an answer from AI they won't take it in, just pass it on / read it out / apply it to whatever they're doing now and promptly forget it.

(I'm generalizing / being a cranky old man and I'm not even that old)

Re: Canada's only watchmaking school still ticking after 80 years

#65

Post by Cthulhu_ »

ricardobayes wrote: post #51
LzeYing wrote: post #5

I believe this is exactly the kind of high-paying job that is difficult for AI to replace.

I don't know how high paying it is, although I can see how it can be , especially given there is a shortage of watchmakers in the developed world, even in Switzerland.

Is that because of a lack of interest or because the requirements and education required are just very high level and specialised?

Re: Canada's only watchmaking school still ticking after 80 years

#67

Post by epihelix »

Cider9986 wrote: post #43

The 8th highest voted HN submission is on mechanical watches. I imagine that's the type the watchmaking school involves themself with because afaik all high end watches are mechanical. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533 4 years ago 413 comments They have a certain beauty in their intricate details working together for function. I do really like looking at the glass back which shows some details and you can…

> Although it seems youd have to pay a lot to get an accurate one because I have a $250 mechanical Seiko and its time keeping is junk. It was mediocre when I got it and has gotten worse. It was $150 when I bought it so I suppose it would have been a good investment if it hadn't got beat up.

You know you need to service mechanical watches regularly, right?

A 7S26 movement (Seiko's mass-produced budget workhorse) isn't that accurate (I think -35 to +45s per day IIRC?). But if you paid $250 secondhand you most likely have a 6R15 or similar inside, which should keep between -15s to +25s per day at worst if regularly serviced. Often you can get much better performance from these movements than the specs imply.

But ... you need to service that poor thing. For a 6R15, every 5 years at minimum, but as an old watchmaker I knew used to say -- a watch will tell you if it needs servicing earlier. Sounds like yours has been trying to get your attention for some time :)

(Otherwise, it's like complaining that the Porsche you haven't taken to a mechanic in the last decade doesn't drive so well any more ...)

You will never get quartz accuracy from any mechanical watch, but that's hardly the point.

(The ETA 2824-2 movement in the page you linked to -- the movement that powers most mid-range mechanical watches -- is substantially more accurate than these lower-range Seiko movements, although it's more costly as well.)

Re: Canada's only watchmaking school still ticking after 80 years

#68

Post by titanomachy »

AdamN wrote: post #60
Cider9986 wrote: post #43

The 8th highest voted HN submission is on mechanical watches. I imagine that's the type the watchmaking school involves themself with because afaik all high end watches are mechanical. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533 4 years ago 413 comments They have a certain beauty in their intricate details working together for function. I do really like looking at the glass back which shows some details and you can…

> all high end watches are mechanical. No, most high end male jewelry are mechanical watches (and much of women-oriented jewelry as well). High end watches are such a solved problem we don't even talk about them anymore. Either the G-shock, the Garmin watches, or the Apple Watch run circles around mechanical watches in terms of functionality with each satisfying a different niche (100% self-contained, long lived smar…

I think most people when they hear "high-end watch" picture some sort of mechanical jewelry watch. When G-shocks, Garmins, and Apple Watches are a few hundred dollars and well-known luxury watch brands start at a few thousand, it's reasonable to consider the latter more "high end".

Personally I'm not interested in owning a luxury watch, I like the Garmin ones.

Re: Canada's only watchmaking school still ticking after 80 years

#69

Post by cwillu »

zuzululu wrote: post #37
sanswork wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Canada's GDP is $2.2t vs $165b for Mississippi. Immigration rate is decreasing.

thanks for bringing this up and I have to reiterate the importance of per capita which is something that is curiously ignored in these discussions but I'm sure you know the difference from just measuring GDP alone and just forgot about it Canada's nominal GDP per capita is roughly $53,800 USD, which places it nearly on par with Mississippi also Canada admits people from third world countries at a per-capita rate roug…

If you don't say the words “per capita”, you don't get credit for having said them.

Re: Canada's only watchmaking school still ticking after 80 years

#70

Post by cik »

noufalibrahim wrote: post #45
cik wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on what you consider viable, and your level. As someone in love with fountain pens and ink, I can tell you that there are absolutely wealthy pen turners, private designers, and the same with watches.

I'm glad fountain pens came up here. There's a shop a few hours away from where I stay in an old town in India called the "Pen Hospital". It was a thriving business in the 60s when my father went to college. Lots of people came there mostly to repair fountain pens. He's mostly just a stationery store right now but if you take a fountain pen there for repair, he does it for free just as a nod to the tradition I guess.

My dream is to visit this store. I've heard that it's by far the greatest modern fountain pen store in the world. I'm dying to go, just for this. I've ordered from them before - all the way to Canada and Israel. A gem, might be my favourite store in the world.
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