GBW News & Articles
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Initial Watch Designs
This is where it all started. I had not long decided to get into horology, and had not yet started my studies in Birmingham, but I designed my first watch. It looks pretty awful, but I was quite pleased with myself at the time. This was around August 2011. This first image I drew in […]
School of Jewellery – Horology
I spent a year at the School of Jewellery (SoJ) in their horology class (2011-2012), before moving to the British School of Watchmaking (BSoW) in September 2012. When I first wanted to become a watchmaker, I knew that these were my two choices if I wanted to be a full-time student. At the time the […]
British House of Commons Debate about British Watch and Clockmakers Company – 1843
These are from the direct notes taken from the House of Commons debate in 1843. It’s quite long-winded, but really worth a read, as it puts into perfect perspective people’s attitudes at the time. Considering it was 170 years ago most of the attitudes are surprisingly contemporary. MAKING WATCHES BY MACHINERY 31 March 1843 […]
Book Review: All in Good Time, by George Daniels
I picked up the latest edition of George Daniels’ autobiography, All in Good Time. It’s quite an expensive book for its size, I paid £35 for it, but its 208 pages and numerous photographs make it seem worthwhile. Sadly George died in 2011, and I never had the opportunity to meet him. I had heard […]
How to Make a Winding Stem
A winding stem is usually invisible to the average wearer of a watch, and if it is made correctly and doesn’t break, then it will remain that way. For something that is just 2cm long, it has a surprisingly large number of parts and techniques required to make one accurately by hand. Nowadays, most watch […]
BHI Technician Grade Exam – Practical Piece – Part 1
Every year 1st year BHI students are asked to make a clock component. It’s a two week exam, and has a reputation for being very stressful, difficult and harshly marked. The exam is different each year, although the main areas being tested remain the same: Make a post A collet A wheel or lever that […]
How to Make a Screw Thread
In preparing to make a screw thread you must first make sure that the cylinder you are going to use is of equal width down its entire length. It should always be 0.01-0.05mm under the thread size. In this example I am turning a 1.2mm thread and so I took the post to between 1.19-1.15mm. […]
In the Beginning
I came into watchmaking almost out of nowhere. At the end of 2010 I had returned to the UK from an 8 year stretch in China. While there I had spent most of that time running my own business selling oil paintings to overseas markets. I thought upon returning home that I would have potential […]
About Me
I am Colin Andrews, a watchmaker with a keen interest in encouraging people within the industry and helping to promote Britain’s pivotal role in watchmaking history; and hopefully being part of its revival. At the moment I am busy working on creating a series of watches for sale, including “The Few”; a watch handmade from […]
About Great British Watch Company
In 2011 the Great British Watch Company was founded with the ultimate goal of helping to regain some of the ground Britain has lost as a centre of horology. __________________________________________________________ After I had founded the company, I stumbled upon the similarly named British Watch and Clockmaker’s Company of 1842-5. This was a venture founded with […]