Central New Jersey Chapter 142
National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC)

August 2010

Next Meeting Date

Sunday September 12, 2010

Chapter News

March Meeting Featured Snowden Taylor

The March 21st Chapter 142/Chapter 25 Joint meeting/mart was very well attended by members of our respective Chapters and the Watch Makers Association of New Jersey. We had over 17 mart tables and a very large silent auction representing a wide selection of horological items for sale at very reasonable prices. Our featured speaker was Snowden Taylor who gave a presentation on “Development of the Connecticut Brass Weight Shelf Clock up to circa 1855”. This was one of our largest meetings over the past year and our growth in membership was very evident by all the new faces representing Chapter 142.

Snowden Taylor stepped through the development of the brass movement, highlighting the major changes that occurred over the years as the movements improved mechanically with an eye on profitability. Snowden pointed out that profitability did not always follow technological improvements as demonstrated by the historical time line where talented horological engineers started clock companies, introduced advancements, but end up running the business poorly to the point of going into bankruptcy.

There were also horological changes made for strictly promotional or marketing reasons such as having solid brass wheels (no cut-outs) for aesthetics that were more costly and had no technological advantage. Some of the design modifications over the years included reducing the train wheel count (reduction of friction), utilization of lantern pinions, cut-outs in wheels and plates (reduction of cost through recovery of scrap brass), and snail vs. count wheel utilization among others. By the time of the introduction of the Ogee, many of the design flaws were worked out to the point where the manufacturers were producing very reliable movements.

After the meeting, many attendees indicated that the presentation was very interesting and educational, and was a pleasure to listen to. They especially enjoyed Snowden Taylor’s detailed technical analysis of the horological development and its retrospective relation to the environment of the time.

Watch and Clock Repair Class Starts

The Chapter 142 “Watch and Clock Repair” class is scheduled as part of the Fall 2010 Adult Education program at Red Bank Regional High School. Over the past year we had students from the class join our Chapter as a result of this program from the 2009 Fall and 2010 Spring Semester. Dennis Fiala, our Chapter 142 Director of Education is the lead organizer of this program which over the years proved to be a good way to foster the interest in horology by the general public and introduce new members to our Chapter 

NAWCC Chapter Meetings In The Area         (click here for all chapter links)