THE SWISS WATCH SCHOOLS. 65 



The essential difference between the American manner of 

 making a watch and the Swiss is brought to mind in the course 

 of your stay in this room. Take the lever in illustration. The 

 American manufacturer cares little how a lever 

 looks, provided only it serves its purpose prop- sn^^^g 



erly. The Swiss workman, however, must needs 

 dress down the lever until it shall have a deli- ^*'' can~Lever"'^'*' 

 cacy and comeliness all its own. The difference 

 between a Swiss and an ordinary American lever has been 

 likened to that between an antelope and a bear (compare Figs. 

 3 and 5). 



Having remained in the escapement room long enough to 

 master the principles and the practice required for making those 

 delicate and critical parts the boy, or rather young man for he 

 has added several years to his age by this time is ready to enter 

 the last or timing room. Here he learns to do the very fine work 

 which makes a watch a fine timekeeper. Without this work a 

 watch may run a little faster when wound up tight than when 

 partly run down. It will often run a little faster in the cold than 

 in the warm pocket. It may not keep quite the same time when 

 hung up that it does when lying down. 



To get rid of all these imperfections requires very careful, 

 patient, and skillful work. It will suffice for the ordinary reader 

 if we give but a few suggestions as to the manner of procedure. 



The tendency of a watch to vary by reason of the varying 

 pressure of the mainspring is overcome by means of the hair- 

 spring. Experimentation has proved that if certain peculiar 



piQ. 4. Scape-wheel. Fig. 5. Swiss Lever. Fig. 6. Balance. 



curves and inclinations are given to portions of the hairspring it 

 will compel the balance to beat equal time for a longer or shorter 

 swing. What these curves are the student learns from drawings 

 which he follows as closely as he can, and then proceeds on the 

 " cut and try " principle. Timing for heat and cold is a simpler 

 matter, and is accomplished by adjusting the screws on the bal- 

 ance. Every respectable balance is made, by means of a combi- 

 nation of brass and steel hoops, to adjust itself more or less accu- 

 rately in changes of temperature. But to bring about great 

 accuracy in this respect requires much patience and experimenta- 

 tion. Then comes the adjustment for changing positions. If a 

 watch runs a little faster lying down, the bearing affected by that 



