Build A Watch Event – AWCI Boston, MA

44 mm case  /  22 mm lug width  /  mineral crystal  /  30m water resistance  /  18,000 bph  /  46 hr power reserve

A Journey To Boston

Hours before the sun rose on a cold February morning, I hopped on board what would be a 13 hour train ride from Erie, PA to Boston, MA. My weekend plan was set in motion after buying a ticket to attend the AWCI-hosted “Build a Watch” event I’d discovered on EventBrite a month prior.
 
From reading about the event, I knew three things:
 
  1. I’d be building a 44mm flieger style watch
  2. I’d be assembling a hand-wound ETA 6497 movement
  3. Lunch would be provided
Free lunch? Even if this went horribly wrong at least I’d get a good meal.

Saturday

After the same car alarm interrupted my sleep several times throughout the night, I woke up just minutes before my real alarm was set and tediously unwrapped the dry-out-your-skin mini hotel soap and took a shower. I got dressed, strapped on my Omega Speedmaster, and ordered an egg and cheese croissant with a cup of black coffee from the hotel cafe.
 
After paying my bill I braved the frigid Boston wind wearing my black peacoat and snugly-tied blue scarf. I walked a mere block and a half to the WeWork building where the class was to be held and was warmly greeted by a locked door. Luckily, this turned out to be a great opportunity to meet a few of the other punctual members of the class.
 
Once we were welcomed in, we rode the elevator to the third floor, passed through a set of french doors, and leisurely chose where we would sit for the next 8 hours. I settled into the front row window seat, figuring I’d get a bit more natural light that way. Atop each workstation was a watchmaker’s bench, a Bergeon tool set, and a pillbox full of tiny parts that were conveniently organized in the order of assembly.
 
My workstation from left to right: lubrication dish, dust cover, pillbox full of parts (movement in orange movement holder in front), and brass tweezers.
 
Our class was sold out with 12 students
Once everyone funneled in, our teacher Aaron introduced himself and gave the class a quick overview of what was in store for us and what was in our tool kits. He also introduced Jack and Jason, two other amazing watchmakers who would be assisting us.
 
Often compared to early Volvos, ETA 6497 movements are most famously used by Panerai and Maurice Lacroix.
Bluetooth remote in-hand, Aaron began to sift through a presentation, each slide illustrating a tiny piece of how, by the time the sun set, we were to transform these raw metal bits into a sophisticated portable pendulum. Each step was carefully explained while the watchmakers roamed the room checking our work and helping us out in any way they could.
 
These three little parts tested all of my patience

The first part of building our ETA 6497 was to hold its bones in a bright orange 3d-printed movement holder. I’m not certain as to why there wasn’t one contained within the set, but it was cool to see a tool built specifically for the class. We put on our loupes and carefully began to open our pillboxes. The tools most utilized were screwdrivers, brass tweezers, and an acrylic poker. The set was a nice one, and we were told we could take one home for the low low price of $299 (which really isn’t a bad deal)!

Not a bad looking hunk of metal
Right before lunch we were told that the watchmakers were going to lubricate a some hard-to-reach parts for us while we were eating. We had oiled a few pieces earlier but this step was apparently a bit more intricate. Expectedly, no one protested.
 
Finally starting to look like a movement with those blued screws
After lunch we finished up the movement and would move on to choosing a case. Unfortunately this was our only bit of customization (new classes offer a variety of dials and hands to choose from), so we all made our decisions carefully. I chose the black PVD for two reasons: the first being that I did not have any in my collection, and the second being I felt it might wear a bit smaller, even though I knew this would be a watch that would be far too large for my wrist. The other options were the usual stainless steel, and a pretty sharp rose gold (add $25).
 
Classic flieger styling
We attached the hands to the dial and then carefully placed the movement into the case. Once the crown was attached, we were able to insert the gasket and screw down the clear case back. I, stupidly, did not remove the gasket properly and had to get a replacement that was not stretched into a weird droopy oval shape.
 
At $7k for one timegrapher, I realized I was in the wrong field of work.
Timegrapher machines were distributed to us and were plugged in to laptops. These amazingly compact devices rotated the watch into different positions, all the while listening with a little microphone to see how accurate the movement was. Armed with this information, we were able to calibrate and see how close we were in real time, ensuring we would get it into spec (-5/+ 15 seconds per day). Mine ended up being around +2 seconds, which is quite good.
 
This little arm rotated the movement into several different positions, allowing us to calibrate on the fly.
Just before the last step where we were to put the completed piece in the water pressure tester, I wound mine up and felt a snap. Apparently something came loose and I immediately knew I needed help. As I wanted to be able to enjoy my watch for longer than the 46 hour power reserve, I was assisted by one of the watchmakers who saved my life was able to repair whatever I had screwed up. After that little crisis it was around 6:00 and my watch passed the 30 meter water resistance test. I helped clean up and left with a fully assembled and working timepiece.
 

Reflections

The most surprising takeaway from my experience was that the movement we worked with was large, even by modern standards, meaning I can’t even imagine the amount of precision involved in manipulating smaller movements. I have a respect for watchmakers that I’d only had in theory before. Actually doing the work made me realize how intricate everything is and how much control one needs to have over one’s hands and mind.

The most difficult time I had was lubricating parts. In some situations, we’d have to hold a part with tweezers in one hand while applying lubrication with the other. The challenge was twofold: scooping up the exact amount of lubrication on a microscopic shovel, and then applying said lubrication to the exact area of the part all while looking through a loupe. The first gear I lubricated took me a couple of tries, as I’d applied too much resulting in it dripping down into a pinion. The second time I didn’t apply enough (I was gun shy)… and the third time, well, I got lucky.

All in all it was an incredible experience and quite a bit of work that required 100% focus. The three watchmakers that ran the classroom were amazing and had unlimited amounts of patience. I am confident that I would NOT have left with a working watch without them.

(Note: I am NOT affiliated with the AWCI, I am merely a student who wanted to share my experience).