Swatch Group Watchmaker John Teifert To Lecture On A Critical Skill Needed For Accuracy, At The Horological Society Of New York

Did you know that mechanical watches run at different rates in different positions? Dynamic poising is an important skill that allows watchmakers to minimize these positional errors. The operation is fairly straightforward as long as it is understood why each adjustment is made. The history of dynamic poising allows us to appreciate the value of a well adjusted movement and the difficulty involved in making dynamic adjustments. For the June meeting of the Horological Society of New York, John Teifert will discuss the history, theory, and practice of proper dynamic poising.

The image above shows a tourbillon cage and balance in a poising tool.  The idea is to make sure there are no heavy spots or light spots anywhere and you do this by changing the position of the balance pivots on the ruby edges of the tool, and seeing whether or not they roll.  Static poising is done with the balance alone.  Once a balance spring is attached and the balance placed in the watch, however, dynamic poising has to be done, which involves timing the watch in different positions and re-poising the balance (typically by removing very minute amounts of material where necessary) to take into account the effects on its poise due to the effects of the balance spring oscillation.  It's a demanding operation, but essential to get the best performance from a high precision watch.

We hope you'll join us to hear more about this relatively little known technique – one that is indispensable in precision horology.

About John Teifert

John Teifert is a lifelong watch collector, a WOSTEP certified watchmaker and graduate of the OSU-Okmulgee School of Watchmaking. After graduation he earned ten years experience at the bench and eventually completed tourbillon training at Breguet. He currently manages Swatch Group's watchmaking workshop in Secaucus, NJ.

All HSNY lectures are free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. for coffee and conversation. Lecture begins promptly at 7:00 p.m. For more information, visit HSNY's website.

Monday, June 13, 2016, 6-9 p.m.
HSNY at the General Society Library
20 West 44th Street, between 5th & 6th Avenues
New York, New York, 10036

HODINKEE is a sponsor of the Horological Society of New York