Category: Watchmakers

If you have spent anytime with staking sets, you know the difficulty of finding compatible ID numbers and what they mean. You will find in this post, a conversion chart for Round Face Hole Punches (Rundpunzen mit Bohrung). See the description below the chart. K&D Marshall Boley Star Bergeon Round Face Hole Punches 74 B2…

If you have spent any time with staking sets, you know the difficulty of finding compatible ID numbers and what they mean. You will find in this post, a conversion chart for Flat Face Hole Punches (Flachpunzen, ungebohrt). See the description below the chart. K&D Marshall Boley Star Bergeon Flat Face Hole Punches 43 36…

I have seen some confusion about a popular tool created by K&D around the turn of the 20th century, e.g., 1902. I notice that confusion as I browse eBay’s listings of pre-owned watch tools. The sellers lack knowledge of the tool, how it works and when K&D made it. Let’s take a shot at clearing-up…

After World War II, C&E Marshall started a price war with Kendrick & Davis, Co. It’s easy to understand, Marshall purchased the Moseley Company and acquired two products: The Lathe and the Moseley Staking Tool. Marshall released a modified version of the K&D 18R. Marshall called their product “The Moseley Staking Tool”  and offered it…

K&D manufactured the the 43-329 Incabloc set specifically to stake Incabloc “Rollers”. The designers of the Incabloc system intended to keep pressure off of the balance pivots and transfer shock to the Incabloc mechanism. From 1951 Lindstrom Catalog K&D invented their Incabloc staking set to reset the rollers and take the stress off of the…

Hairspring Centering Tool These are well-know tools and often difficult to find. Interestingly enough, they are American made. Some of them are over 100 years old.  You may not find contemporary replacements for them, since no one manufacturers them now. I don’t know that it matters, many of my tools are over 100 years old…

Henry B. Fried invented and patented a friction jeweling tool in 1976. The Patent Office awarded him the patent just about the time we began to see a take-over of the watch industry by LED and Quartz movements. The description and drawing of his patent provides a wealth of information about jeweling, balance and hairspring…

This post derived its material from the 1910 book, “Staking Tools and How to Use Them”.  You’ll find a PDF download link at the bottom. The material in this post remains relevant today. You will find the writing somewhat archaic. To view a page, you can click on it and open in another tab. Download

This post derived its material from the 1910 book, “Staking Tools and How to Use Them”.  You’ll find a PDF download link at the bottom. The material in this post remains relevant today. You will find the writing somewhat archaic. To view a page, you can click on it and open in another tab. Download

What’s Friction Jeweling any way? In 1924, Hamilton took credit for the first improvement in jeweling since Nicolas Facio patented the use of jewels in watches in 1704. Hamilton called their system “improved jeweling”. Now, the Swiss claim they invented friction jeweling, but they haven’t produced any names or dates to substantiate their claim that…