It is obvious that timepieces are of extremely great importance for the functioning of many processes in society. These beautiful examples of craftsmanship must meet high quality standards. A great precision is required during manufacture. There the microscope comes into play. The user should be able to count on an accurate and durable indication of time.
It is clear that the above is only possible thanks to the existence of, amongst others, excellent optical equipment. In the picture a part of an old Russian pocket watch is shown. It is a curiosity from the beginning of the seventies of the last century.
Thanks for the fine shoot of this watch, Willem. I use my Motic stereo every day. It is used mainly to inspect jewel holes and pivots to check for wear but I also use it to apply very small amounts of oil especially to the pallet stones and escape wheel teeth. Also, some of the finely polished surfaces of chronometer mechanics need to be inspected to ensure they are still highly polished and absolutely clean. Another important use use is to view the balance spring for concentricity when manipulating the spring to remove deformations... this is an important step to achieve the best time keeping that a watch is capable of. Finally, after repair, it is somehow relaxing watching the watch movement 'tick' away under the stereo like a beating heart!
ReplyDeleteDouglas Downer-Smith, UK