The next day we finally arrived at Frédérique Constant and met with Yasmina Pedrini, the Communications Director, and Francisco Manzano, the Social Media Manger. They explained what would be transpiring for the three days of our watchmaking session, and Francisco would be taking numerous pictures. We were told that due to production scheduling, we would be assembling the brand-new Slimline Moonphase Manufacture that had only been introduced at Baselworld a few weeks before, and were therefore going to be the first to own them! They introduced us to Pim Koeslag, the Technical Director and master watchmaker who would be our guide in our watchmaking adventure. My impression of Pim was that his youth belies his incredible talent in designing and building watch movements, and he turned out to be an excellent instructor with uncommon patience and a great sense of humor.

Pim showed us around the ateliers and walked us through the stages from CNC machining to decoration, to assembly and finally to casing and testing. Despite our lack of experience in watchmaking, Pim patiently instructed us step by step on the proper stages of using the tools and putting the movement together. He was a great teacher. With us monopolizing his time, I think we may have annoyed the other watchmakers, yet everyone at Frédérique Constant was unbelievably kind and patient with us American goofballs. We also met with the founders and chief executives of Frédérique Constant, Aletta and Peter Stas, and the new CEO of Alpina, Guido Benedini. All of them were plainspoken but very affable, and obviously are heavily involved in daily operations and passionate about the watch business. Although I had never seen Frédérique Constant or Alpina watches before this trip (as we have no dealers in Indiana) I became a huge fan of the company and greatly respected the talented people working there.

So what was it like to be a watchmaker? I can say with certainty that it’s harder than many surgical procedures and can often be less forgiving of mistakes. Some parts were relatively easy for me; handling small parts, dropping in gears, and putting on bridges were fairly straightforward. However, it was still challenging as the parts are so incredibly tiny and one has to take great care not to scratch the finish with inexact movements of the screwdriver or the sharp, very pointy tweezers. My errors were the most memorable, though. When trying to lubricate the KIF antishock system, which is comprised of two rubies held together with a spring, I failed to lubricate it properly (a fact that could only be appreciated under a microscope!) and it had to be removed, disassembled, washed in benzene, and reassembled and oiled by someone much more skilled. Another error was during placement of a miniscule U-shaped spring used in the winding stem mechanism. When I placed another piece over it, the spring dislodged and I had to open it up again. Once I did that, the spring leapt into oblivion and I needed a replacement. Overall, though, I think I did a reasonable job putting together my movement, and the feeling when the balance wheel started beating and my watch came to life was just awesome. What a sense of accomplishment!

I have to mention our field trips to the local ateliers that helped us make our watches much more personal. Stéphane Greco and his staff at Rhodior took the moon phase plates we machined at Frédérique Constant and applied the perlage finish and rhodium plating before our eyes, turning a relatively ordinary-looking brass plate into a beautiful movement component. He also showed us his own line of whimsical, nerdy watches that I thought were totally cool. Likewise, Christophe Blandenier and his artists at the exclusive engraving atelier Blandenier SA gave Ariel and me a huge honor when they agreed to hand-engrave our initials into our respective movements. Blandenier works on the most exclusive watches from the most exclusive marques, so having them lend their workmanship to our watches was a mind-blowing privilege, and unsurprisingly the results were impressive. This personalization really was the cherry on top of this whole experience. I now have a “piece unique” that I can show my friends and tell my kids and grandkids about, and one day pass it on to them.