“BOTCHMAKING”: HOW AMATEURS BUTCHER WATCHES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 9, 18 October 1948, Page 6

“BOTCHMAKING”: HOW AMATEURS BUTCHER WATCHES

English language has been enriched by the addition of another new word—the “botch- ; maker.” Mr J. Hanman, secretary of the Horological Guild of Australia, a body of expert watchmakers, coined the word to describe unskilled and unprincipled “watchmakers” who swindle the public out of thou- . sands of pounds yearly. These untrained watchmakers, hundreds of whom set up businessses in Australia during and after the war, have been charging fantastic prices for sub-standard_ work and often for no work at all. Many of them gained a sketchy knowledge of watch repairing in the services where they were trained as instrument repairers, a considerably different trade to watchmaking. Experienced watchmakers are convinced that “botchmakers” often deliberately damage parts in watches, which have been taken to them for inspection, if the owners decide not to allow them to do work which they claim is necessary. Proper equipment for watch repairs may cost hundreds of pounds, but the “botchmakers” aren’t , worried about proper equipment. They use anything from a fourinch nail to a soldering iron. Results are often disastrous. One trick is to solder broken mainsprings together and charge for a new spring. The soldering process usually destroys the temper of the spring and within a few weeks the watch becomes erratic. Device used to repair hairsprings which break near the end is to dip the broken spring in acid and replace it in the watch. The replaced spring, which is shorter than normal, • would cause the watch to race if it had not been weakened by acid. But the weakened. spring usually breaks fairly quickly and the unfortunate watch owner is faced with another bill for a new hairspring. “Botchmakers” rarely replace broken parts—it cuts down the profit too much. Their method is to repair broken parts with soft solder and charge full replacement prices. The soldered parts rarely last long and the owner has another re--pair bill. The “botchmakers”. method of cleaning watches clogged with dirt is very fast and very inefficient. They remove the balance wheel and allow the watch to run down quickly, thus dislodging particles of fluff or dirt which have locked the cogs of the watch. After oiling they recase the watch, leaving most of the dirt inside, and charge for a complete overhaul. One of the tall tales told* by “botchmakers” to customers, whose watches have refused to go after the “botchmakers” have serviced them, is that the customers have too much magnetism in their systems, which stops the watches! “Whether New Zealand ‘botchmakers’ go to such lengths as those described above is not the real point,” says the N.Z. Horological Journal. “Every institute member has work brought to him that has been botched by the inefficient. The need just now is to impress on the public that watchmaking is a highly skilled craft, and that to deal with an institute member is not only a guarantee of craftsmanship, but also that it implies a code of ethics. “Only the other day a senior journalist in a newspaper said to the Journal editor, ‘you know, watch repairing is a bit of a racket. Any chap with a mechanical bent can pick it up in three months. All watch movements are much the same,’ “Just remember, his record shows he is a highly intelligent man and that he helps to shape public opinion. If he could gain such an utterly absurd idea of watch repairing what of the public?”