Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups






















« Ace of Spades Pet Thread, June 15 | Main | Saturday Evening Movie Thread 06/15/2024 [TheJamesMadison] »
June 15, 2024

Hobby Thread - June 15, 2024 [TRex]



Hobby Thread - June 15, 2024 [TRex]

20240614-m116503-0001_2401jva_001.jpg


Welcome hobbyists! Do not adjust your interweb. This thread is going to have an edge. A spin of the Ace of Spades "wheel of hobbies" has come up with timepieces. Happy horology!


TRex is not wise in the ways of collecting or making watches, clocks, or other timepieces, but the horde has shown in various posts and threads that there is deep and wide interest.


Do you collect watches? If so, do you collect modern or classic watches? Do you have a watch that was handed down from an ancestor? Do you have a grandfather clock that chimes to mark each quarter hour? Do you have a story of finding a gem at a garage sale or antique store? Have you been on antiques roadshow with a rare Rolex with original box and paperwork? Do you repair or restore watches? Have you worked selling or repairing watches or other timepieces? Do you have a soft spot for old-style pocketwatches with a chain? Do you have traditions to give watches as gifts? Did you receive a watch as a special gift?


As usual, keep this thread limited to hobbies. Politics and current events can wait for other threads.


***

Let's get started with some Huey Lewis:

20240615-outtatime.jpg


***

Top photo - the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona is one of the few watches that you can't buy at a Rolex store. Rolex sponsors the 24 Hours of Daytona each year, a sportscar endurance race in Flordia. The winners get engraved watches that are based on the Rolex Daytona, but the winner versions are not publicly available for sale.

Five-time race winner Scott Pruett has a watch from each victory. Pruett tells the story behind each in this MotorTrend article.

***

This may be one of the most well known Antiques Roadshow moments:

***

Did you know that Rolex watches is run by a charitable organization? Hans Wilsdorf, a Bavarian, was born in 1881. In 1903, he moved from Switzerland to London. In those days, watches were pinned to a garment or carried in a pocket. Wilsdorf thought that accurate wristwatches worn by lifelong owners would be the future.


In 1905, Wilsdorf joined with Alfred Davis, who provided funding. They put small and accurate watch movements from Aegler, a Swiss maker, in watch cases made by other companies. Early watches were stamped with "W&D" on the inside of the case. In 1908, they trademarked the Rolex name. The name was easy to remember and pronounce in any language.


British excise taxes caused the company to move from London to Geneva in 1919. Wilsdorf bought out Davis and renamed it as the Rolex Watch Company.


In 1945, Wilsdorf established the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation and gave his 100% ownership stake in Rolex to the foundation. His wife died in 1944 and he had no descendants. Hans died in 1960. The Foundation maintains ownership and control of Rolex. The ownership structure also means there is little to no public information about the Rolex business.

***

This thread won't be all about Rolex but how does Rolex test its diving watches?

***

How a mechanical watch works:

***

Looking for tips on collecting watches?

***

This isn't the art thread, but how about an artistic interlude with a melting clock theme?


The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali

20240614-The_Persistence_of_Memory.jpg

Dali reportedly said melting watches and clocks were inspired by the surrealist perception of Camembert cheese melting in the sun.

***

There are plenty of opportunities to get lost in Youtube videos showing restoration and repair of old watches. Check out this restoration of a 100+ year old pocket watch:

Since we've talked a little about Rolex and Rolex history, let's include a restoration of a very early Rolex watch (1923-1925 era). All the pieces are taken apart and displayed at about the 4:10 mark:

***

One of the most treasured possessions of Japanese Emperor Hirohito was his Disney watch, presented to him on a visit to Disneyland in 1975. When Hirohito died in 1989, he was buried with a few personal items - including his Mickey Mouse watch.

***

The Dresden astronomical clock was manufactured between 1563 and 1568. It was one of the most mechanically sophisticated and artistically refined clocks of the period. It has lived in Dresden since its completion. It and many other scientific masterpieces are on view at the Zwinger museum in Dresden. More info and a video at the link.

***

Patek Philippe has a four-level museum in Geneva that looks amazing.

Patek Philippe is one of five watch museums on this list - the first is the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania (about 30 miles southest of Harrisburg). I've never heard of it either but it is the only one on the list located in the US. The others are in Germany, Switzerland, Japan and the United Kingdom.

***

Time for science. The word "minute" comes from the Latin "pars minuta prima," meaning "first small part." The word "second" comes from "pars minuta secunda," which means the "second small part." There are 60 seconds in a minute, but how how long is a second? Quartz vibrates at a consistent frequency when prodded with a precise electrical pulse. In a watch, the battery sends electricity to a small piece of quartz. The quartz vibrates at 32,768 times per second. The elecric circuit measures the vibrations and translates those into pulses to move the gears and hands of the clock around the dial.

What if quartz is not precise enough for you? Official sources of time currently rely on cesium atoms. The best of these clocks is accurate to within one three hundred millionths of a second per year. For perspective, a quartz wristwatch may be accurate to within about 15 seconds per month. Atomic clocks aim electromagnetic waves at a collection of cesium atoms that absorb this radiation and make a "quantum jump" to a different energy state. The frequency waves are consistent - 9,192,631,770 cycles per second. The waves are counted to determine the length of a second. Anything deeper than that makes my head hurt.



***


If timepieces are not your thing and you can't find something in the content that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different hobby next time around. Send thoughts or suggestions to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Thanks for being here. This thread may or may not have been endorsed by Flavor Flav.


digg this
posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Commissar Hrothgar (hOUT3) ~ Next year in Corsicana - again! ~ [/i][/b][/u][/s]: "Twasn't me that now has an appointment with the ba ..."

Braenyard - some absent friends are more equal than others: "His daddy was a pistol and he was a son of a gun. ..."

Tonypete: "[/i] Good evening Italicans! ..."

Commissar Hrothgar (hOUT3) ~ Next year in Corsicana - again! ~ [/i][/b][/u][/s]: "Argggh! [/i] ..."

Pug Mahon, Pledge in a Beanie: "The chill I just felt was knowing that I am LAST! ..."

Commissar Hrothgar (hOUT3) ~ Next year in Corsicana - again! ~ [/i][/b][/u][/s]: "Nice one TRex! ..."

AlaBAMA DeButts: "Italican noods ..."

JohnFNotKerry: "italics ..."

mindful webworker - so they say: "Overnight thread, overnight thread Pops up when I ..."

AlaBAMA DeButts: "Egads! Italicans! ..."

JohnFNotKerry: "wow 5th ..."

Pug Mahon, Pledge in a Beanie: " Doof! Howdy, amigo. Posted by: Notorious BFD at ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64