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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

#151

Post by laughing_man »

epihelix wrote: post #67
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…

I have a Seiko I bought for around $100. I reached the point where it needed to be serviced and was chagrined to discover the service costs $130. Makes more sense to throw the thing away and buy another.

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

#152

Post by bluGill »

zuzululu wrote: post #140
bluGill wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It always depends. You get people in Mississippi who don't have electric, pump water by hand and use an outhouse. (They are not Amish or otherwise religiously against technology they just can't afford it) you also find engineers and doctors making as much as anywhere else in the US. Mississippi has great weather year round. Canada gets really cold (most of those I know in Canada live in Manitoba). Your standard of li…

Most Canadians and Americans I'm guessing takes their cues from movies like My Cousin Vinny when they think Mississippi and probably have never ventured through it. I have. It is a very safe and clean city. There are ton of engineers and professionals out there making equal or more than what creme of the creme in Canada take home after taxes (another major point besides the exchange rate that puts Canadians behind Am…

I haven't seen that movie, but I suspect I know the stereotypes. There are people like that, but the majority are just normal people like anywhere else in the world.

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

#153

Post by piskov »

amiga386 wrote: post #111
piskov wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s why I eventually settled with gshock that has solar charging and syncs time twice a day with radio towers (or bluetooth if you are somewhere in the world where there is no time radio signal) Even rolex needs time setting, servicing to lube and clean metal parts, etc. Gshock on the other hand will work for 10-15 years without a single manual time adjustment or battery swap needed. Absolute unit. This gold metal…

So you can understand why the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz_crisis had Swiss watchmakers fearing for their industry. Mechanical watches couldn't hope to compete with electronics on accuracy. Hence their pivot to understanding that watches are jewellery . Fancy, complicated jewellery with moving parts, but jewellery, and priced based on style and cachet, rather than on function.

There is innovation in mechanical, no doubt, eg seiko spring drive which is a spectacular feat; stuff like new synthetic lubes or silicon balance springs to counteract magnets (which are everywhere now: from the back of the phone to the rim of a macbook).

So mechanical watch can be pretty accurate (very much so, if you buy one without a seconds hand).

Ultimately, it is a combination of inaccuracy, servicing at least once every 5-7 years, not so great running time (if you have many watches), etc. that turned my obsessive-compulsive gaze away from them (after I manually regulated with a timegrapher my Raketa Big zero to be accurate around to +3 seconds per day if I wear it constantly, which was fun akin to bonsai or what have you).

The only thing I would have wanted from gshock is having more apocalypse-level accuracy (if there is no time signal available): like having a built-in offsets to account for temperature-based quartz fluctuations.

That and a battery inside that can last a century of solar charge — so it can be an ultimate tool :-)

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

#154

Post by annzabelle »

selimthegrim wrote: post #126
annzabelle wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinking about it. I'm pretty attracted to the idea of a career with some kind of protectionist licensing system, like doctor or actuary, but that may just be staving off the inevitable. Might teach high school. After I got laid off in the US, I moved to a mountain town in New Zealand planning on being a ski lift operator while I think about the future, but got a software developer job by accident instead.

I still get emails from NZ begging for people to come fill IT jobs

It's great for a couple years, but compensation is so much lower here I wouldn't do it long term, except if you marry a local or are independently wealthy.

I make a third of what I did in the US, and my job in the US was in a medium cost of living area and wasn't a startup or big tech. Housing costs about the same amount.

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

#155

Post by annzabelle »

piskov wrote: post #153
amiga386 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you can understand why the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz_crisis had Swiss watchmakers fearing for their industry. Mechanical watches couldn't hope to compete with electronics on accuracy. Hence their pivot to understanding that watches are jewellery . Fancy, complicated jewellery with moving parts, but jewellery, and priced based on style and cachet, rather than on function.

There is innovation in mechanical, no doubt, eg seiko spring drive which is a spectacular feat; stuff like new synthetic lubes or silicon balance springs to counteract magnets (which are everywhere now: from the back of the phone to the rim of a macbook). So mechanical watch can be pretty accurate (very much so, if you buy one without a seconds hand). Ultimately, it is a combination of inaccuracy, servicing at least…

What's the drift like on a G Shock with no time signal available? There isn't a time signal in my region.

I've been considering getting a second watch (on top of my Coros running watch) because my phone has bad time drift when in battery saver + airplane mode, and my watch has a habit of dying at the wrong moment because of GPS and sleep tracking power drain.

That doesn't sound like it would be a problem, but I am in the habit of 5+ day hikes with no cell service and the occasional 40 hour flight with 3 layovers each in a different time zone.

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

#156

Post by piskov »

annzabelle wrote: post #155
piskov wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is innovation in mechanical, no doubt, eg seiko spring drive which is a spectacular feat; stuff like new synthetic lubes or silicon balance springs to counteract magnets (which are everywhere now: from the back of the phone to the rim of a macbook). So mechanical watch can be pretty accurate (very much so, if you buy one without a seconds hand). Ultimately, it is a combination of inaccuracy, servicing at least…

What's the drift like on a G Shock with no time signal available? There isn't a time signal in my region. I've been considering getting a second watch (on top of my Coros running watch) because my phone has bad time drift when in battery saver + airplane mode, and my watch has a habit of dying at the wrong moment because of GPS and sleep tracking power drain. That doesn't sound like it would be a problem, but I am in…

If unable to sync (even via bluetooth), these models are rated for +/- 15 seconds of drift per month.

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

#157

Post by b112 »

titanomachy wrote: post #145
b112 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And regardless, Apple products aren't "luxury" anything. They're just computing products, with a range of buildout from low to high. Not a single thing Apple has ever made has been in the luxury category. They're more like VW. A range of products low to high, but more expensive than domestics. Luxury cars, luxury products are typically hand made, extremely niche. Apple is certainly not niche market.

> not a single thing apple has made has been in the luxury category Well, maybe exactly ONE thing https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/2/23900158/apple-watch-edit...

OK, I guess one is indeed the case.

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

#158

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

coldpie wrote: post #116
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently left my career as a software engineer to train to become a violin maker. Couldn't be happier.

Also looking to leave software, lots of options in front of me. Are you still in training, or are you making a living from it now?

I'm in training.

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

#159

Post by l8rlump »

laughing_man wrote: post #151
epihelix wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

I have a Seiko I bought for around $100. I reached the point where it needed to be serviced and was chagrined to discover the service costs $130. Makes more sense to throw the thing away and buy another.

I was quoted AUD$300 for the service on my Seiko, so I got it back and learned to service it myself :)

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

#160

Post by throw2ih020 »

jhbadger wrote: post #134
throw2ih020 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guy a mechanical watch should lose like a minute a _month_, tops. Get your watch serviced.

A real, completely mechanical watch? No battery or crystal? I'm sure my Seiko isn't be best there is and maybe it could be improved with servicing, but I think electronics have given people unreasonable expectations of accuracy

I collect watches and even my cheapest old Chinese automatics will lose like 30 seconds per month or so.
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