WATCHES TV 15th Anniversary

WATCHES TV

15th Anniversary

HoroPedia.Org Announcement 

In the video below, we hear from Marc André Deschoux, founder of  WATCHES TV. I’ve been a huge fan of Marc’s amazing YouTube channel for many years, and I continue to be impressed by the extraordinary depth of knowledge and insight he has shared with the watch community over the years. His contributions have been truly invaluable, particularly when it comes to understanding the people, history, craftsmanship, and inner workings of the entire Swiss watch industry.

In this video, Marc outlines his latest project, HoroPedia.org—WATCHMAKING CULTURE, a broad platform that might be called a Wikipedia focused solely on global watchmaking. In effect, HoroPedia.org is totally impartial in the way it addresses not only brands but the full ecosystem of the watch world.

Based in Geneva, Switzerland—the epicenter of Swiss watchmaking—HoroPedia is devoted to documenting, preserving, and sharing the extraordinary history, knowledge, craftsmanship, people, and culture that have shaped the world of horology. HoroPedia describes its mission as follows:

    Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the Horopedia Foundation was established in February 2023 and obtained public interest status. Its mission is to contribute to the preservation, transmission, and sharing of watchmaking knowledge and know-how, while promoting the technical, artistic, and cultural skills that shape watchmaking and its evolution.

    As a non-profit organization, Horopedia is funded by donations in order to preserve its impartiality and independence.

1974 Rolex Watchmaker Ad

1974 Rolex Watchmaker Ad

If you are a regular reader of Jake's Rolex World you know I am fasciated with vintage Rolex ads, and the story in this one is superb as it tells the story of a Rolex Watchmaker who worked for 50 years...

100 Year Old Rolex Watchmaker

Georges Dubois

Retired 100 Year Old Rolex Watchmaker

My favorite aspect of researching and writing about Rolex history is PEOPLE. As much as I love superb timeless Rolex design language and the watches themselves, I have always been more fascinated with the people who wear and make Rolex watches a reality, and that is what makes this story so interesting...

My horological history colleague, David Boettcher who is a Fellow with the British Horological Institute and I were recently having a brilliant conversation about Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf. David Boettcher is the world's leading expert on early Rolex history and wrote a superb article on Hans Wildorf which I highly recommend reading. 

I mentioned to David I only knew of one person who is still alive today that knew Wilsdorf—who is featured in a soon to be published story I have been working on for many years. I asked David if he knew of anyone else who is still living that knew Hans Wilsdorf, then today he sent me this link to a superb WATCHES TV interview between retired Rolex and Patek Philippe watchmaker, Mr. Georges Dubois and Marc André Deschoux, which I highly recommend watching. After working for Rolex during World War II, Mr. Georges Dubois went to work for Patek Philippe as a watchmaker for 38 years.

Introducing Haris from Fine Swiss Watch Service...

Introducing

Haris from Fine Swiss Watch Service

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Haris Durakovic. Haris is an independent Watchmaker who is the proprietor of Fine Swiss Watch Service. Haris is a Certified Swiss Watchmaker who specializes in service for Rolex, Panerai, Baume & Mercier, Omega, Tag Heuer, Breitling and other Fine Swiss Watches.

In For Service

Rolex Explorer 3185

Haris really enjoys working on Rolex watches and he is going to sharing his insight with the readers of Jake's Rolex Watch Blog on everything he knows about Rolex. Today he is sharing this photo with us that shows a Rolex 3185 that is in for servicing. It is fascinating because we see every part of the watch after it has been taken apart for servicing.

When watchmakers do a full service, they take apart every piece of the watch, clean and refinish every piece as necessary to return as close to like-new condition as well as lubricating all the necessary parts and setting the timing to make sure your watch keeps as good a time as possible.

You must click on the following image of the Rolex Explorer [Reference 3185] taken completely apart. It is fascinating to see all the parts that make a Rolex a mechanical masterpiece!!!

In the future, if you want to contact Haris at Fine Swiss Watch Service you can find him by clicking on his banner located on the upper right hand side of Jake's Rolex Watch Blog.

Rolex Video: The Art Of Watchmaking By Rolex...

The Art Of Watchmaking By Rolex

Rolex supports several watchmaking schools in the United States. Gerard who is a big fan of Jake's Rolex Watch Blog mentioned that Sheldon Smith (of minus4plus6.com) had a great Rolex watchmaking video from 2001 that he thought we should share on the blog so I asked Sheldon and he said yes. Here is the Rolex Watchmaking video from 2001: