The Watch Book (more Than Time Volume Ii)

By (author) Brunner, Gisbert L.
Short description/annotation
The Watch Book – More than Time II is the second volume by watch expert Gisbert l. Brunner that addresses the specialty functions and refinements of wristwatches, highlighting the supreme discipline of the watchmaker''s art. Text in English and German.
Description

Volume II of The Watch Book follows on the successful and comprehensive earlier volume with a magnificently illustrated book about the additional functions and refinements of wristwatches. For centuries, so-called "complications" - any feature of a mechanical timepiece beyond the display of hours, minutes and seconds - have embodied the crowning glory of fine mechanical watchmaking. Among the earliest of these are alarm clocks and calendar movements. Moon phase displays have also been known for several centuries. Striking movements can be considered among the most complex and technically elaborate additional functions, while finishing techniques such as skeletonising, which is mainly done by hand, also characterise the high art of watchmaking. This superbly illustrated volume by watch expert and historian Gisbert L. Brunner is dedicated to advanced functions of mechanical timepieces, their historical development and special technical features. Topics covered in this book include: Hands and numerals; Spring; Astronomical display (moon phases etc.); Tides; Double balance; Alarm clock; Altitude/depth measurement; Skeletonisation.

Text in English and German.

Table of contents
4 Thoughts on Timepieces and Time ⋅ Gedanken zur Uhr und Zeit 10 Dial ⋅ Zifferblatt Faces of Time ⋅ Zeit-Gesichter 40 Escapement ⋅ Hemmung The Great Escape ⋅ Andersartig gehemmt 62 Mainspring ⋅ Zugfeder The Power of the Spring ⋅ In der Feder steckt die Kraft 80 Phases of the Moon & Astronomy ⋅ Mondphasen & Astronomie Sun, Moon and Stars ⋅ Sonne, Mond und Sterne 100 Tides ⋅ Gezeiten Ebb and Flow ⋅ Von Ebbe und Flut 114 Double Balance ⋅ Doppelunruh Two Better than One ⋅ Ein Fall für zwei 124 Alarm ⋅ Wecker Time Signals ⋅ Zeit-Signale 154 Mechanical Spectacles · Mechanische Schauspiele 164 Altimeter & Depth Gauge · Höhen- & Tiefenmesser Flying High … ⋅ Hoch hinaus … 178 Skeletons · Skelette Ticking Skeletons ⋅ Tickende Skelette 198 Superlatives · Superlative Small, Flat and Pretty Complicated ⋅ Klein, flach und ganz schön kompliziert 214 Credits & Glossary ⋅ Bildnachweise & Glossar
Biographical note

Gisbert L. Brunner (b. 1947) is a renowned German expert and historian in the field of watches. He has been involved with wristwatches, pendulum clocks and other precision timepieces since 1964. He has written for GQ, ZEIT Magazin and Chronos from the early 1980s onwards, and he has written more than 20 books on the subject of watches.