Work in progress

Dan Messmer’s desk. He’s currently working on a Paul Gerber calibre 33 manual movement. As soon as test parts come out of the CNC machine, he gets hold of the anno cinquanta and…

Inserts them, examines them, tests them, takes them out again, changes something, puts them back in… Designing a watch destined for such short production runs is bound to generate surprises. How long it takes to get a new project ready is, like a budget, anybody’s guess…

Pokémon on a pile of settimana junior modules… Lukas Messerli, Paul’s man on the new CNC machine, is busy finishing the parts by hand. During his breaks he relaxes by coming up with these little creatures fashioned out of Swiss chocolate foil…

The weekday module dreamt up by Ludwig Oechslin is manufactured at Paul Gerber’s place together with the dial and then mounted onto an ETA 2824 ebauche. All credit to Paul’s creative expertise for designing the jigs and holders that secure the parts precisely and carefully while they’re manufactured. This brass holder is used in the machine to lathe the flank of what is to become the dial of the settimana junior. The back of the dial is designed as a bridge – nice and functional…

The blades of the screwdrivers are honed. We reckon we’ll be inserting the screws into the cases of the first ochs und junior timepieces in June  –  2009, natch!