Guild members came together to celebrate John Harrison in style at a memorable evening in the State Room at Number 11 Downing Street on Thursday 28 November.Harrison experts Jonathan Betts…
Eur Ing David Boettcher CEng MIET FBHI In the article about my grandparents’ watches in the previous issue of TimePiece, I mentioned that my grandfather’s watch has a white alloy…
The Guild/BCU award winner for 2024 is Meichel Wright, who received a £500 Cousins tool voucher for the highest achievement in clock and watch servicing, final year. He received his…
Meet Colin Andrews FBHI – who was voted onto the Guild’s Board of Directors at May’s Annual General Meeting.Colin, a former Guild Prize winner, was a student at both Birmingham…
Sell out event showcasing the Best of British The Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers, British Watchmakers’ Day, was billed as the first major live event dedicated to British…
NBSWCM – the trade charity providing financial help for over 200 years As we enter 2024, with the backdrop of world unease and continuing financial difficulties, it is heart-warming to remember…
British School of Watchmaking Presentation Evening The BSOW/Guild 2024 Award winner is Mark Murran, who has just completed the 1800 hour course at the Manchester School. He was presented with…
A hidden treasure in the Swiss Jura mountainsMaximin Chapuis, a French watchmaker and WOSTEP watchmaking instructor visitsLe Musée de la Boite de Montre – The Watch Case MuseumHoused in an…
South African student horologist Jurjen van der Eems has won the Guild/BHI Prize for 2023 and receives a £500 Cousins tool voucher.His success, achieving the best result in the Distance…
Meet the new Guild Chairman, Shuajb Berisha FBHI, who was elected at the AGM on 18 May 2023.Shuajb takes over from retiring Chairman, Paul Roberson FBHI, who has held the…
Two talented students at the British School of Watchmaking have received Guild awards for their outstanding achievements during study.Rafal Chmiel, who studied on the 3,000 hour course (two years) and…
Hidden HistoriesCoventry Jewish Watchmakersby Mark JohnsonWith foreword by Professor Emerita Gillian HundtISBN978-1-7393102-0-2 Softback £9.99978-1-7393102-1-9 Hardback £16.99978-1-7393102-2-6 eBook £6.99 or free with Kindle UnlimitedAvailable at: Amazon.com This book achieves what it sets out…
Title: Hands of TimeA Watchmaker’s History of TimeAuthor: Rebecca StruthersISBN: 9781529339031Publisher: Hodder & StoughtonIllustrations by Craig StruthersPhotographs by Andy PilsburyPrice: £22Available from Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles and all good bookshops.First and foremost, this book…
In the first of a planned series of articles, I want to explain how I approach every watch I service. There are naturally many differences between each brand and every…
Planetariums, telluriums and lunariums that are out of this world... Part 2 José Gómez In the last TimePiece we highlighted how José first became interested in planetariums and how his…
Two students received BWCMG prizes at the BHI Awards Day in November.It was the first time that the event has been held since before Covid, hence the two awards (one for 2021…
Horological students are being encouraged to apply for the latest scholarship grants on offer through QEST. The next round will be open 9 January – 13 February 2023 and details…
Birmingham City University horology student William Oke has won the BWCMG Annual Award for the highest achievement in Clock and Watch Servicing. He was presented with a £500 Cousins tool voucher by…
BWCMG member Colin Andrews has embarked on a very special project – hand-making British watches using parts of an old war-time spitfire. Colin at the Bench Since embarking upon my…
This is the fifth in a series of six articles, by Maximin Chapuis, a French watchmaker, which takes a look at traditional finishing skills that are all carried out by…
The Great Clock of Westminster restored in tiny Cumbrian hamlet As the Palace of Wesminster renovations finally draw to an end after five long years and at a cost of…
Starting from Scratch, Part 1 Looking back it is hard to remember that eight years ago the idea of making my own pocket watch from scratch was something bordering on…
Well here we are again at the start of another new year – one which will hopefully be kinder to us all as this dreadful virus at last seems to…
The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST), which is dedicated to supporting excellence in British craftsmanship, is looking to encourage more watch and clock makers to apply for funding. Since it…
Information in Timepiece helps to keep members of the Guild abreast of apprenticeship opportunities, ideal for filling that gap in the workshop. This edition reports on the latest news about…
This year will be the 9th edition of this internationally-followed event, which has so far raised more than 70 million euros. It will take place on 6 November 2021 in…
Birmingham City University BA horology student Lewis Sorrill has won the BWCMG 2021 Prize for achieving the highest score in watch/clock servicing. Due to coronavirus restrictions the award was presented…
This is the first in a series of six articles, by Maximin Chapuis, a French watchmaker, which takes a look at traditional finishing skills, which are all carried out by…
Two top students at the British School of Watchmaking have won BWCMG prizes for achieving the highest overall grade on the two courses run by the Manchester-based facility. Naïs Hamelin,…
The unit of time (the ‘second’) can now be measured more accurately than any other physical quantity and there has been a tenfold increase in the accuracy of the measurement…
£5m restoration secures Loughborough Bell Foundry’s future John Taylor & Co – the UK’s last traditional bell foundry – has embarked on a £5m restoration project, thanks to Lottery funding and…
Firstly, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish members of the British Watch and Clock Makers’ Guild a very happy new year. Let’s hope we can put the disaster of…
A new commercial trade organisation which will support and promote the British watch and clock making industry on an international level has recently been launched.A new commercial trade organisation which…
So much has happened since I last sat down to write an update on the Clockmaker Apprenticeship – no-one could have predicted Coronavirus and the devasting effects it has brought.…
The second cohort of apprentices will start learning at the Watchmaker Apprentice Training School (WATS) in January 2021. From a successful start, the apprenticeship programme is beginning again after lockdown…
Part 1 - Making the Annulus Wheel I have recently graduated from Birmingham City University with a first class honours degree in Horology. I came to the course with no…
The Guild is to fund a small research project into its formation and history after it was found there was little to no information pre-1930s. Although it is known that…
A functional hand-made military style chronograph – Part 1 Introduction Making watches has long been my main interest in horology and although the repair and restoration of watches has been…
