Show AROUND ABOUND D THE CLOCK i He Still Has Hos Time on His Hands i filter Alter Half Holl Century at ut Trude Trade I Features ELGIN ILL ILL the United States there may exist an untutored and unknown genius of like Job-like patience who after months of painstaking effort could put together a watch that would run But the odds are just about abou to one that it would fall far short of the performance demanded of fine watches today in the opinion of William H. H director of Elein ers college ought to know He has made watches for more than 50 years rears Now teaching others the pro- pro profession profession at the Elgin school he re- re received received his first introduction into the lore from his father who at one onetime onetime time ime was the royal watchmaker of Sweden came to America as a lad in 1881 Today he is still active in the profession an honor honor- honorary honorary honorary ary member of at least eight state associations and the dean of American fine ers Always ready to talk about his lifes life's work explained some of the reasons why making a watch is not the easiest thing in the world Our flOur students learn that the best sest watches must be within a lim- lim limited ted tolerance of time fast or slow before they are released from the factory facto he says They learn to maintain tolerances of of an aninch anInch inch to fit parts into precision watch movements They master all the in in- individual individual individual manufacturing operations necessary to restore a watch to its timekeeping ability An idea of how small these tolerances are can be gained from the fact tact that ten one-ten thou thou- thousandth thousandth thousandth cf of an inch is the size of ofa a human hair after it has been split the long way 30 times students also work with roller jewels that are so small that weigh a pound Some of the screws used in watch manufacture are so tiny tin that of them Just barely barel fill an ordinary sewing thimble Despite their size each screw has h s a perfect thread and its head h d is perfectly slotted Some of students be be- become become become come proficient in the art in a period of from 11 to 14 months Although he has been in the business for more than half hal a century still manages to keep posted on latest developments in the field He admits that making watches today is con con- considerably considerably considerably easier than it was 50 years ago He attributes this in part to innovations in repair equipment and parts |