William J. H. Andrewes, Sundial Architect & Horological Consultant, Concord, Massachusetts

With the phenomenal advances in technology that have transformed the wristwatch over the last few decades, it is easy to overlook the seminal contributions made 250 years ago by the pioneers of precision timekeeping. Chief among these was John Harrison, who, against all odds, made the first timekeeper that solved the problem of finding longitude at sea and thereby ushered in the age of high precision, portable timekeeping. At the December 2020 lecture of the Horological Society of New York, William Andrewes will discuss Harrison’s history.

One hundred years ago this year, Rupert Gould saw for the first time John Harrison’s marine timekeepers, H1, H2, H3, and H4, and, soon after, began the painstaking task of their restoration. H1, in particular, was in such deplorable condition that, had he not brought it back to life and described it so eloquently in print, it might not have survived. Yet, Gould did not fully recognize Harrison’s influence on the development of precision timekeeping. Fifty years ago, Harrison’s marine timekeepers were considered by some to be a glorious dead-end and his claim of the accuracy of a second in 100 days for his precision regulators was regarded as a gross exaggeration.

Since the publication of Dava Sobel’s best-selling book Longitude and the documentary and feature film that followed in its wake, John Harrison has become as well-known as Isaac Newton, Thomas Tompion, and George Graham and is now honored like them with a memorial in Westminster Abbey. Most recently, his timekeepers were featured in an international touring exhibition called “Ships, Clocks, and Stars” organized by the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. 

The story of the renaissance of mechanical timekeeping over the last 50 years forms a tapestry of time, woven with a common thread of interest by many remarkable and colorful characters — makers like George Daniels, collectors such as Seth Atwood, dealers, writers, artists, and others with whom William Andrewes has worked to give Harrison the recognition he was for so long denied.

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About William J. H. Andrewes

William Andrewes was born and educated in England. He trained as a clockmaker, working under the guidance of George Daniels and Martin Burgess, and as a designer, graduating from Kingston College of Art in 1972.

Specializing in the field of time measurement for over four decades, he has worked at Eton College (1973-1977), the Old Royal Observatory, Greenwich (1974-1977), The Time Museum (1977-1987), and Harvard University, where he was the David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments (1987-1999). He organized the Longitude Symposium (1993), edited The Quest for Longitude (1996), and was co-author with Dava Sobel of The Illustrated Longitude (1998). For his contributions to horology, the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers awarded him the Harrison Medal in 2007.

William Andrewes has been awarded three patents for his “Longitude Dial”. Examples of his sundials may be found in the United States, England, France, Mexico, and Spain.

Joseph Kirk, Brand Curator and National Training Manager, Grand Seiko Corporation of America

Since its birth in 1960, Grand Seiko has been dedicated to perfecting the essentials of watchmaking. With the goal of making the ‘ideal watch’, Grand Seiko strives to attain the ultimate in accuracy, legibility, durability and beauty, and uses its resources and history of mechanical watchmaking to craft the best possible movements they can in quartz, their proprietary Spring Drive technology, and since the launch of the brand, finely adjusted, purely mechanical calibers.

Kodō is Japanese for heartbeat. This lecture will cover Grand Seiko’s philosophy in mechanical watchmaking, the frequencies used and the advances in the mechanisms themselves, such as the newly introduced 9SA5 Hi-Beat 36000 80 hours with Dual Impulse Escapement and the new T0 Constant Force Tourbillon with the world’s first fully integrated constant force tourbillon on the same axis. While Grand Seiko offers various movement types, it is the purely mechanical type that is the beating heart of Grand Seiko.

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About Joseph Kirk

Joseph Kirk is the Brand Curator and National Training Manager for Grand Seiko Corporation of America. Kirk has worked in the watch industry for over 15 years, in retail, media and educational formats. His knowledge of timepieces was gained through hands-on experience and time; along with the help of many watchmakers, engineers and designers from the industry overall, as well as the brand itself.

Special Guest: Akio Naito, Chairman and CEO of Grand Seiko Corporation of America, will be in attendance. In addition to his work at Grand Seiko Corporation of America, Naito oversees the rest of the international markets outside Japan for both the Grand Seiko and Seiko businesses. Naito also serves concurrently as Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Seiko Watch Corporation, Chairman of Grand Seiko Europe S.A.S., Seiko Europe B.V. and Seiko UK Ltd., as well as a member of the Board of Directors for Seiko’s subsidiaries. Naito brings over 35 years of dedication to the well-known international watchmaking enterprise, having held leadership roles also in Australia and Japan.

Special Guest: Takuma Kawauchiya, Product Development Dept. of Seiko Watch Corporation will be in attendance. Kawauchiya was born in Shizuoka city, Shizuoka Prefecture in 1978 and gained his bachelor’s degree from the Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management, Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2000. In 2010, he received his diploma from WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) and joined Seiko Instruments where he became involved in the research and development of mechanical watches. This year, after 7 years of development, his concept creation the T0 Constant Force Tourbillon was announced to the world.

Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, President, Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, Switzerland
Vincent Lapaire, General Manager, Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, Switzerland

HSNY lectures will be streamed live via Zoom for the foreseeable future, with no in-person gatherings. All lectures remain free and open to the public.

An exceptional horologist, Ferdinand Berthoud left behind a work of immense scope in the fields of marine chronometers, decorative watches and clocks, specialist tools, and scientific measuring instruments. In addition, Berthoud authored many books on horology, comprising over 4,000 pages with engraved plates.

Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud draws inspiration from the remarkable heritage of the Swiss master watchmaker while giving his work a contemporary twist. Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the accession in 1770 of Ferdinand Berthoud to title of "Clockmaker and Mechanic by appointment to the French King and Navy", Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud recently unveiled a new collection of watches - the Chronomètre FB 2RE. At the October 2020 lecture of the Horological Society of New York, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and Vincent Lapaire will discuss the history of this pioneer of marine chronometry, and explain in detail the innovation seen in the new Chronomètre FB 2RE.

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About Karl-Friedrich Scheufele

Profoundly fascinated by the history of art and watchmaking, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele is the driving force behind the Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, of which he is President.

Born in Germany in 1958, he was raised in Pforzheim until the age of 15. In 1963, when his family took over the Chopard watch Manufacture in Geneva, he enrolled at Geneva International School. He later served an apprenticeship with a Geneva jeweler before continuing his studies at the University of Lausanne Business and Economics Faculty and preparing to join the family firm.

In 1996, Scheufele founded Chopard Manufacture and opted to focus on the production of finely crafted mechanical movements. The company is based in Fleurier, in the Val-de-Travers.

In 2006, when inaugurating a watchmaking museum in Fleurier named “L.U.CEUM – Trace of Time”, he also acquired the rights to the name Ferdinand Berthoud which he subsequently registered in 2013 as the Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud. His goal is to offer incomparable and resolutely contemporary watches reflecting the spirit of excellence cultivated by Ferdinand Berthoud.

About Vincent Lapaire

Vincent Lapaire, was born 1964 in Zurich, Switzerland. He started his career in the Swiss watch industry in 1990 in the field of supply chain and project management. Passionate with arts and history and benefitting from a proven experience in the watch development field, he joined the Chronometrie Ferdinand Berthoud in Fleurier (Switzerland) in 2011 as General Manager. He is currently in charge of the development of the brand under the leadership of Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, President and Co-President of the Chopard group, that is at the origin of the rebirth of the illustrious name of Ferdinand Berthoud, watchmaker-mechanic to the French King Louis XV and under the Empire.

Eric Ku, Vintage Watch Expert, San Francisco, California

HSNY lectures will be streamed live via Zoom for the foreseeable future, with no in-person gatherings. All lectures remain free and open to the public.

Over the course of the last six months, our way of life as we knew it has completely changed. As COVID-19 impacts the world, international travel has ground to a halt, millions have lost their jobs, and we are still facing more uncertainty as there is no timeframe for when things will, if ever, “get back to normal”. Despite all this, interest in watches has never been stronger — waiting lists at authorized dealers are longer than they have ever been, and interest in watch auctions has propelled prices further into the stratosphere. As we adjust to life in the age of “no contact”, what stays the same and what changes? Is now the right time to buy, or the right time to sell? At the September 2020 meeting of the Horological Society of New York, Eric Ku will discuss how to navigate the waters of watch collecting in the time of COVID-19.  

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About Eric Ku

Eric Ku is an internationally recognized expert in vintage and contemporary watches. In 2005, he launched the website 10 Past Ten, specializing in the sale of fine and rare vintage Rolex watches. His interest in the scholarship of vintage Rolex led him to acquire the Vintage Rolex Forum in 2013. Vintage Rolex Forum has been the epicenter of scholarly discussion about all topics relating to vintage Rolex since its inception in 1999. In 2016, he co-founded Los Angeles Watchworks, a business specializing in the service and restoration of vintage and modern timepieces. A member of the GPHG Academy, Ku has served on the jury twice, where he and fellow jurors have been responsible for recognizing achievements and innovation in watchmaking. 

François-Paul Journe, Founder of Montres Journe, Geneva, Switzerland
Osama Sendi, Founder of TheJourneGuy.com, Toronto, Canada
Pierre Halimi, General Manager of Montres Journe North America (translation)

The phenomenon of resonance can be traced back nearly three centuries within the history of horology and has been shrouded in mystery for most of this time. Discovered centuries ago and understood by only a very small handful of watchmakers since, it is no surprise that it remains a topic of controversy. How can two objects suspended in free motion possibly synchronize themselves and better the performance of a timekeeper? At the March 2, 2020, meeting of the Horological Society of New York, François-Paul Journe and Osama Sendi will discuss the history of resonance in horology, its discovery, development and Mr. Journe’s creation of the first modern Resonance wristwatch in 2000.

About François-Paul Journe

François-Paul Journe has been inventing and making watches for over 35 years. He draws on his historical knowledge and expertise to face the most daring horological challenges, demonstrating a timeless consistency in research and innovation with a single goal: to make each mechanical timepiece as precise as possible.

At the crossroads between the arts and haute horology, the independent F.P.Journe manufacture is a world in itself, embodying excellence, know-how and innovation, in respect of the haute horology tradition. It was founded with one principle in mind: innovate and uphold, if not outrival the high standards of haute horology. Every effort was made to verticalize the production in order to produce inside its walls almost all of the components necessary for the making of F.P.Journe watches. It includes the creation and production of all its dials and watch cases.

About Osama Sendi

Known by the watch enthusiast world as The Journe Guy, Osama Sendi is a passionate collector and historian of F.P.Journe watches. Through his Instagram presence and website, TheJourneGuy.com, Mr. Sendi has become the preeminent source of information on all things Journe. In 2018, Mr. Sendi wrote a comprehensive piece about Resonance throughout the history of horology and the development of the F.P.Journe Resonance models. Part one of this piece was the cover story of Volume 61 of the NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin.

Cole Pennington, Editor at HODINKEE

Most of the time we don’t even consider it, but a single line of text on the caseback of a watch can tell us so much about where it’s been and what it may have seen. It can add context to the marks in the case and the patina on the dial. Watches have stories to tell, and in this case, a small bit of info can unravel fascinating accounts about the watches and the people who wore them during WWII. 

Last July, Cole Pennington published an article that chronicled the tale of buying a watch at a fair and using the caseback engravings to get it back to where it belonged -- the next of kin of the original owner. This specific watch was involved in the grim and desperate business that was the Battle Of The Atlantic, and the mission concluded with placing the watch in a museum in Canada. A number of other watches led to dead ends, and no further information could be found -- until he received an anonymous email that included a few key pieces of missing information that started the search back up. At the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) lecture on February 3rd, Pennington will present detailed imagery and archival documents that bring to life the tales of those watches.

About Cole Pennington

Cole Pennington landed as an editor at HODINKEE after nearly a decade writing about watches, travel, motoring, and aviation. After graduating from Loyola Maryland with a business degree, he moved to Bangkok, Thailand, on a whim and taught English for a year. While in Thailand he worked for an English-language Bangkok lifestyle weekly as a music and nightlife correspondent; freelanced for CNN Travel and the BBC; produced web documentaries for Coconuts Media; and eventually took a staff position at Travel & Leisure Southeast Asia. In 2016, he returned home to pursue a graduate degree at Columbia Journalism School, where he earned the PGIF Fellowship that saw him do extensive research in India. At HODINKEE, he covers all aspects of horology but specializes in tool watches, particularly military watches. He contributed the chapter on military timepieces to the recently published Watches: A Guide By HODINKEE.

Bernhard W. Stoeber, CW21

You likely have heard about the watch that went to the Moon, OMEGA's Speedmaster. But what you may not know is the fascinating story of the movement inside that watch, the Caliber 321. At the January 6, 2020, meeting of the Horological Society of New York, Bernhard Stoeber, will discuss the evolution of Caliber 321. Stoeber's lecture will cover the history of watchmaking in the Vallee de Joux and that of Lemania, as well as their relationship with OMEGA. The focus will be on the early development of Caliber 321, why this caliber was selected by NASA for their manned space program and the transition to Caliber 861. The lecture will also include the changes at Lemania after 1982, how it became part of Breguet, and the more recent Special Editions released by OMEGA of the Speedmaster.

About Bernhard Stoeber

Bernhard Stoeber is a third-generation watchmaker who received his formal education and training in Germany. He has over 40 years of experience working for the Swiss watch industry in Europe, USA and China, with over 11 years for OMEGA Service Operations (1975 to 1986). His expertise is in operations management of large service centers, technical consulting and training of watchmakers (apprentices and continuous training).