Restored dial

Today was a productive day. I restored a long case mechanism in the morning and then worked on the dial, renewing the lettering and numerals. I also got some other repairs finished as well. It gives me great pleasure to breath new life into artefacts that are so old and usually much treasured. I also appreciate the workmanship involved in the original fabrication and the breadth of skills involved in the manufacture. As well as the clockmaker and watchmaker, there would have been the dial maker, the dial painter, the fusee chain maker, the case maker, the silversmith and goldsmith, the hand maker, the enameler, the gilder and a few more beside no doubt. Sometimes I see elaborate and time consuming embellishment to parts that only another repairer would ever see. Those were the days when a workman did not cost his time.

The unrestored dial