Our
May 9, 2004
meeting was held as usual at the Boys & Girls Club. Turnout was poor
as that Sunday was Mother’s Day. We even had open MART tables. In the
past we’ve rescheduled for the first Sunday in May, also with poor
attendance. So, we decided
to stay on schedule, the second Sunday, odd months.
Those who made the Membership meeting were treated to a special
program. After a short business meeting, Chapter President Frank
Keillor, turned the program over to member Don Levinson, a dealer in
vintage watches, who presented a video (VHS) Four Generations of
Watch Case Making. The video featured Martin Matthews, now living in
Switzerland
, making an outer pocket watch case. Martin is reported to be the last
remaining custom, hand made, watch case maker in the world. Viewers were
shown how a sheet of precious metal was cut and formed by hand, creating
a custom pocket watch case. Even the bow, spring and latch was hand
crafted. One fascinating aspect of assembly was the use of a mouth blow
pipe for soldering. The Video was approximately 55 minutes in length and
shot under the credit of the Society of Goldsmiths,
London
in the year 2000. This was an altogether excellent presentation that
included a display case with examples of the case makers art.
John Stohr, NAWCC 79281
