Simon Willard Award for School Watches

Awards up to $10,000 for school Watches

Watchmaking schools often ask their students to create a school watch before graduation. School watches bring together the multitude of skills learned in watchmaking school into a final finished product and can be the first step towards independent watchmaking. Preserving traditional watchmaking techniques used in making school watches is important, and the Horological Society of New York wants to help motivate watchmaking students to go the extra mile in their last school project. This award is named for Simon Willard because of his pioneering work in establishing the American horological industry.

Any student enrolled in a full-time watchmaking school in the U.S., or who has graduated no more than one year prior to submitting their entry, is eligible for the Simon Willard Award for School Watches. The entry must be a mechanical watch or clock that was utilized as their school watch project and the applicant must certify that the entry was designed and made by themselves. As is the tradition with school watches, students should at minimum manufacture the bridges. Awards up to $10,000 are available.

Simon Willard

Simon Willard (1753 - 1848) was an important American horologist, and a pioneer in the American horological industry. The Willard family clockmaking business was among the first in the USA. In about 1780, Simon Willard moved to 2196 Roxbury Street in Boston (later known as Washington Street), and set up a four-room workshop on his own. Soon thereafter, his brother Aaron settled in the same neighborhood, a quarter mile away. In 1784, Willard advertised: "Simon Willard opened a shop in Roxbury Street, nearly facing the road which turns off to Plymouth. There, Simon Willard carries on the clockmaking business, in all its branches." Like Aaron, Simon was still interested in perfecting the mechanism of compact clocks. Nonetheless, from the 1790s onward, Willard's workshop also built tall clocks in great numbers while also performing general clock repair. In 1802, Simon Willard obtained a patent for his famous eight-day "banjo" clock. Today, the banjo is widely considered to be one of the most significant styles of early 19th century American timepieces.

Simon Willard's clocks required considerable skilled hand-craftsmanship, and their movements were outstandingly precise. His own skills were considerable, and he was able to file cogwheels without leaving file-marks, producing mechanisms with a margin of error of just thirty seconds over the course of a month. By about 1810, both Simon and Aaron were producing clocks which were as good as those being produced in Europe.

DETAILS

To apply, students should complete the form on this page. The application period is January 1 to January 31 of every year. After the application period, selected applicants will be asked to deliver their watches to HSNY for judging. The Selection Committee for this award is comprised of a panel of experts from HSNY’s Board of Trustees and the watch collecting community. Awards will be granted to one student per watch or clock. The winner will be announced each year at HSNY’s annual Gala in April. The Simon Willard Award was started by the Horological Society of New York in 2022 in collaboration with Samy Al Bahra.

DonorS

The Simon Willard Award for School Watches is made possible by a generous donation from Samy Al Bahra.

Are you a potential donor with an interest in supporting horological education and the school watch tradition? Contact HSNY for more information.

Application

Please fill out this form to apply for the Simon Willard Award for School Watches. HSNY will contact you with further details.

Exempt from the scholarship are board members, trustees, fellows of the Horological Society of New York, and their family members. Award recipients will be asked to complete a W-9 form before receiving their gift (check) for tax purposes. For more information, contact us.