The watchmakers' hand book: Intended as a Workshop Companion for Those Engaged in Watchmaking and Allied Mechanical Arts

About this book

The watchmakers’ hand book is a practical manual aimed at the modern watch repairer, whose apprenticeship has been shortened and whose workload now includes a flood of poorly made timepieces. The author, Claudius Saunier, begins by explaining that the book gathers “many details as to the working of metals, and descriptions of various practical operations, new and improved forms of tools,” and that it has been reorganised from his earlier French works into six distinct parts, each cross‑referenced and indexed for daily use. The opening pages stress that the volume is intended for a broad circle of mechanical artisans, offering makeshift repair recipes alongside advice on when to replace a part, and it integrates illustrations directly into the text rather than relegating them to a back‑matter section.

Saunier’s voice is that of an experienced workshop instructor from the late‑19th‑century French tradition, written in a straightforward, instructional style that assumes a working knowledge of metalworking and geometry. Readers who appreciate detailed, methodical guidance, whether they are apprentice watchmakers, seasoned horologists, or makers in related trades such as clockmaking or fine instrument repair, will find the book’s exhaustive index, extensive tool lists, and practical tips especially valuable.

Opening lines

In recent years the work of the ordinary watch repairer has undergone considerable change. The apprenticeship he serves, if indeed it can be called a real apprenticeship, is shorter than formerly. The immense number of badly constructed watches that he is called upon to put in going order for a trifling remuneration, compels him to replace the older methods of procedure by others, whenever by so doing time can be saved. From this point of view, then, the value of the present Hand Book can hardly be over-estimated, since it contains, in a readily accessible form, many details as to the working of metals, and descriptions of various practical operations, new and improved forms of tools, etc. …

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