1986 in Switzerland I Read An Article About JEAN-CLAUDE BIVER

When I first went to W.O.S.T.E.P. in 1986 to further my watchmaking training I received a watch magazine that had an article about Jean-Claude Biver and how he resurrected Blancpain.  I liked those 1980's Blancpain watches, they were very classic and I would stop in look at them in the store windows in Switzerland as I walked around Neuchatel. 

The article talked about his passion and how he was hands on creating the designs and even picking the leathers for the straps.  He was doing what I wanted to do and I admired his desire to be involved at every level of the creation of the watches.  I have the privilege to do the same with RGM be it on a smaller scale.

Blancpain was his Brand, it was his baby!  I always wondered how he could sell it and move on as a watch executive.  I had a chance to ask him online as I received an email from Watchoogle that they had setup an online Q&A and anyone could ask him a question.   So I sent off my question.

QUESTION BY: R. MURPHY / U.S.A.

Was it hard to leave Blancpain when you were the man who brought it back from the dead and made it a viable top brand?

Jean-Claude Biver:

Yes, it was probably my most difficult moment in my 40 years of career. The reason being that I sold Blancpain for the wrong reasons….

------------------

It seems there is some regret in his answer, I am sure he looks back at that time as one of his best in the world of watches.  

Roland

You can see more questions and answers from his Q&A here.  Link

Picture from Watchoogle.

A Few Pictures From New York Last Week

We were in New York last week for the Balvenie 2015 Rare Craft Collection Tour. Here are a few photos we took during our week, I hope you enjoy a little look at a few of the sights we captured.

View from the Empire State Building

Our Stand at the Balvenie Rare Craft Collection 

New York City Public Library 

Time Square

Grand Central Station

Two New 801 Models Introduced

We are very happy to introduce two new 801 models, the PS-801-EE, and the 801-EE.  The EE stands for Engine-Turning and Enamel. These new models have a real glass enamel skeleton dial, and hand cut Engine-Turning on the main-plate.  Two old world arts in the same watch.

 

Below is some details from the press release and newsletter.  I hope you like them,  Roland

We are pleased to announce two new additions to our in-house 801 collection: 801-EE and PS-801-EE. These latest models combine two time-honored crafts: Grand Feu Enamel and Guilloché, or Engine-Turning.

Following on the heels of our first two enamel-dial models, we have created an enamel skeleton dial version. Grand Feu enamel requires the repeated baking of each layer of powdered glass at extremely high temperatures to ensure a uniquely crisp aesthetic while permanently setting the enamel. The Roman or Arabic numerals are baked into the surface, creating the vivid, unmistakable appearance distinctive of a real glass enamel dial. 

The enamel skeleton dial reveals the hand cut Guilloché mainplate. Guilloché, or Engine-Turning, is a centuries-old craft that today involves the use of antique hand-cranked machines to cut or engrave delicate geometric patterns. At RGM, we have 6 vintage and antique machines that are used to decorate dials, or in this case, the movement mainplate.

The pattern seen on the mainplate of these models is called Moiré. This complex geometric pattern is achieved when each line is slightly offset from the previous cutting line, thus creating a classically pleasing effect that can captivate the wearer of the timepiece.

Exposed under this unique skeleton dial and hand cut Guilloché mainplate is our original in-house American movement: Caliber 801. Inspired by America's great watchmaking history, the 801 has classically shaped bridges, hand polished or blued steel components, and is entirely hand-finished and decorated. The movement can also be customized at your request. The watch is housed in a polished 316L stainless steel or 18 karat solid gold case. 

RGM Selected For Balvenie 2015 Rare Craft Collection

Hand-selected by Anthony Bourdain, The Balvenie 2015 Rare Craft Collection brings five remarkable craftspeople together to showcase their creative process, personal stories and finished crafts like never before.

We are proud to have been selected from hundreds of potential craftsmen here in the USA.  We will be touring with the collection starting next week in New York city from October 5-8.

We will have an antique Rose Engine at the event and I will be demonstrating how we hand turn the Guilloché (Engine-Turn) patterns for dials and movements.  We will also have one of the RGM watchmakers assembling a Caliber 801 watch movement.  We will have a number of RGM watches on display, including a brand new 801 model.

Link to Balvenie webpage here.

Progress on Rebuilding Playground

The work has started on rebuilding the playground "Joyland" here in Mount Joy.   The watch we donated is doing very well in the ebay auction.    EBAY Auction Click Here

Here is a little video to show you some of the progress.  Regards, Roland


RGM Donates Watch to Help Rebuild Playground Burned by Arsonists

In 2012, arsonists destroyed the playground "Joyland" here in Mount Joy, also home of RGM.  It had a negative impact on the community; the rebuilding that is soon to take place this month has lifted the spirits of many, especially the children.

We wanted to help, so we decided to build a special custom version of our RGM model 151-B. We added an engraved case and etched case-back crystal in honor of Mount Joy.  This special watch is being auctioned on ebay to help raise money for the project. See link below.

EBAY Auction Click Here

Please note that RGM is not running the auction. We have only donated the watch.   Also, we have not and will not receive any compensation, except for the smiling faces of the children in the community!

Story about how the playground was destroyed in 2012 below.

http://lancasteronline.com/news/two-teens-charged-in-mount-joy-arson-fire/article_b0c98792-86a0-5d00-9f9f-4078fe991a14.html

Some information about the project to rebuild the playground this month

https://www.facebook.com/KidsJoyLandOutOfTheAshes

Best Regards,

Roland Murphy

RGM

 

The Making of A Watch Bridge

We just finished this new video, it shows most of the steps involved in making the center bridge of the RGM Caliber 801.  Each  801 movement has a minimum of 120 parts, this video shows just how much work is involved in the making of just one part.  

This short video represents hours of work in just a few minutes.


All The Best

Roland

Blast From the Past... RGM 151-E

Over ten years ago we had the model 151-E in gold and stainless steel, with a silver dial, copper and silver dial, or a blue and silver dial.  The dials were solid silver with hand cut Guillochè "Engine-Turning"

What do you think, should we bring this model back some day?

Let us know on Facebook.

Thanks

Roland

New RGM Short Video

In the coming months and years we will be making more videos to show you the watches we make, and how we make them.  We hope you will get a feel for just how passionate we are about watchmaking here at RGM!

All the Best, Roland

RGM Will be at WatchTime New York 2015 (New Event)

We are looking forward to talking with many of you at this event, and showing you first hand watches like our 801-COE, or maybe something new!

Below is information from WatchTime:

On October 23 and 24, WatchTime stages its biggest and most luxurious watch collectors’ event to date, WatchTime New York, in Manhattan’s Gotham Hall. Among the luxury watch brands displaying their wares at WatchTime New York will be U.S.-based RGM, which will showcase its new vintage-inspired timepiece, the RGM 801 Corps of Engineers watch.

Link to Watchtime page with details: Click Here

We Can Build a Few RGM Model 254 North Pointers

We were organizing our vault and found enough parts to build a couple 245 North Pointers, or one of the Richard Sachs versions.  This model has been out of our lineup for a few years.  It has the soft iron cover over the movement to help prevent the movement from becoming magnetized, and has the 24 hour hand that can be used for a second timezone or to find the direction of north, as such it was called the North Pointer.

If interested in one of these watches let us know!

Best Regards,

Roland

Tower Clock Movement at RGM

I have loved tower clock movements since I was much younger and visited the NAWCC Museum in Columbia, PA back in 1979 for the first time.   In the early 1980's I worked for a clock shop in Lancaster, PA repairing all kinds of antique clocks. I also went on several tower calls to repair tower clocks.

The desire to own a tower clock was always in the back of my mind, but I knew they were hard to find and expensive.  Also, I only wanted an E. Howard or a Seth Thomas as they were my favorites.   

E. Howard Tower Clock Model #1 - Circa 1880

Six or seven years ago I had the urge to fulfill the desire to have one, so I went to a few auctions and I was very disappointed at the high prices they were going for, so I kept looking.   I then stumbled onto an obscure ad online about a tower clock movement for sale.   After a few calls, I planned a visit to see it, and quickly made the purchase.    The clock was in an old train station in Athol, Massachusetts. The owners had sold the building to the local county, who did not want the old clock.   So we removed the clock from the tower of the station in the middle of summer. It was so hot in the attic I almost fainted and had to take a break and have my assistant get the remaining parts from the tower.  I was so happy with this purchase because it was the exact model I wanted.  It was an E. Howard from 1880, Model #1 one of the smallest free-standing models they made, so it had those very nice E. Howard style legs.  

The clock is in our small lobby here at RGM; I often point it out to visitors.

Hope you enjoyed the little story about my Tower Clock.

Roland

Original Location of Our E. Howard Tower Clock

Inside the Bromo-Seltzer Clock Tower

This past April I arranged to go up inside the Bromo-Seltzer Tower so I could take some pictures of the clock and the dials from the inside.  I wanted a portrait of myself for the history page on the website, but in a unique place that was still associated with the measurement of time.  I am an amateur photographer, so I knew I could get something interesting.  With the help of my wife, son, and a visiting watchmaker who did a short internship with us, we headed up the tower.  I brought a tri-pod, my Fuji X100, one flash, a photography umbrella, and wireless triggers. After a little time and setup I had some nice shots; the one I picked for the website is here.

Regards,  Roland

 

Some history on the tower I found online.

Emerson Tower often referenced as Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower is a 15-story, 88 m (289 ft) skyscraper erected in 1911 at the corner of Eutaw and Lombard Streets in Baltimore, Maryland, designed by Joseph Evans Sperry for Bromo-Seltzer inventor "Captain" Isaac E. Emerson. 

It was the tallest building in Baltimore from 1911 until 1923.  The design of the tower along with the original factory building at its base was inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, which was seen by Emerson during a tour of Europe in 1900.  Systems engineering for the building's original design was completed by Henry Adams. The factory was demolished in 1969 and replaced with a firehouse.

Bromo Seltzer tower on Eutaw Street in 1912. The Bromo-Seltzer Tower remains one of Baltimore's most distinctive landmarks.

The building features four clock faces adorning the tower's 15th floor on the North, South, East and West sides. Installed by the Seth Thomas Clock Company at an original cost of US$3,965, they are made of translucent white glass and feature the letters B-R-O-M-O S-E-L-T-Z-E-R, with the Roman numerals being less prominent. The dials, which are illuminated at night with mercury-vapor lamps, are 24 feet (7.3 metres) in diameter, and the minute and hour hands approximately 12 and 10 feet (3.7 and 3.0 metres) in length respectively. Originally driven by weights, the moving parts are now electrically powered.

The tower originally had a 51 ft (16 m) Bromo-Seltzer bottle,[8][9] glowing blue and rotating. Weighing 20 tons (18.1 tonnes), it was lined with 314 incandescent light bulbs and topped with a crown on a clearly night it could be seen from 20 miles away.  The bottle was removed in 1936 because of structural concerns.

The tower was virtually abandoned in 2002, but in early 2007 the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts began renovations to transform the building into 33 artists' studios. The Baltimore Fire Department's John F. Steadman Fire Station, which opened in 1973 and is situated at the tower's base, houses BCFD Hazmat 1, Airflex 1, Medic1, Medic 23, MAC23, Engine 23, Rescue 1, and formerly Truck 2.

The Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.  

The Latest Bespoke RGM Watch

Our latest RGM Pennsylvania Series 801 custom watch - this is a custom version of the PS-801-E with a galvanic blue and silver hand-cut Engine-Turned dial, polished steel Keystone hands, and a blued steel second hand.  One of the most interesting and enjoyable things we do here at RGM is work on unique bespoke timepieces for individuals.

PS-801-E Specifications:

Movement Caliber: American made RGM 801, Manual wind, 19 jewels, 18,000 vph. Rhodium or Gold, Hand finished - Cote de Geneve, perlage. Unique 7 tooth winding click. Optional wolf's tooth winding wheels.

Functions: Hour / Minute / Second 

Case: American Made Polished 316L Stainless Steel. 43.3mm X 12.3mm. Sapphire crystal front and back, 22 mm lug width and water-resistant to 5-ATM.

Weight: 2.8 oz. in stainless steel

Keystone Hands: A keystone is a central wedge in an arch that locks all other pieces of an arch in place. It is the part of an arch that all other parts depend upon. Pennsylvania's popular nickname, "The Keystone State," refers to this necessary element.  The idea for RGM's Keystone hands came from a set of hands Roland Murphy was given when he was in watchmaking school in Lancaster, PA.  They were a thin set of gold hands with a Keystone on each hand.  He found out from some old watchmakers that they were made by Keystone Watch Company which was in Lancaster, PA between 1886 and 1891.  Never forgetting these beautiful hands, they eventually became the inspiration behind the Keystone hands he designed for RGM.

Caliber 20's Motor Barrel a Great Idea from America's Past

The Motor Barrel is an old American system that was used in the highest grade Railroad watches, like the Illinois Bunn Special and the Hamilton 950. The Motor Barrel allows the mainspring barrel to ride between jewels when the watch is running.  In America's great watchmaking past, there were two Motor Barrel types:  one protected the movement if the mainspring broke; a later system reduced wear and friction, and made a more stable barrel in the movement. We use the later system.  Prior to the Caliber 20, the last watch with a Motor Barrel was made more than 50 years ago. 

The system is comprised of many parts compared to a traditional barrel as you can see in our exploded view drawing.   You can see a similar system in the Elgin cutaway drawing.

RGM's Roland Murphy at W.O.S.T.E.P. in 1986

Wow, I look young in this picture!

In the early 1980's, I went to Bowman Technical School here in Lancaster, PA,  for training in clock and watch repair and restoration.  In 1986, I was accepted to W.O.S.T.E.P. (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Education Program) in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.  The picture shows some of our class on a field trip to tour one of the many watch companies in Switzerland.  I am not sure which factory this was; we visited many as part of our training.  So many memories! 

Anyone who has visited my office knows I like cameras and photography, so as a major clue I am the guy with the camera around my neck.    You get bonus points if you can identify the camera!

The Orange 151 is back!

We have brought back the orange 151 to add some color to the 151 line up.   The 151 is available in several variations and is one of our most popular watches.  The case is made here in the USA and is available in Stainless Steel or Titanium.

The orange version shown here will be known as the 151-OP.  A few interesting details are the black background calendar disc, and the Hirsch Performance strap made of leather and rubber.

More on the Hirsch Performance strap here.  Video

Specs on the Model 151 

The 151 models have an American made case in either stainless steel, or titanium.  Any stainless steel version can be polished, brushed, or a combination of both finishes.  The thin bezel and large dial are a hallmark of the 151 models; in fact the dial is larger than watches of a much greater size.  The case is thin for its diameter and curves comfortably to the wrist.

Movement Caliber: RGM-ETA 2892-A2 - Automatic, 21 jewels, 28,800 vph. Rhodium  finish - Cote de Geneve lines and perlage

Functions: Hour / Minute / Second / Date on some models

Case: American Made 316L Stainless Steel, or CP2 Titanium, 38.5 mm x 9.9 mm. Sapphire crystal front and back, 20mm lug width and water-resistant to 5-ATM.

Weight: 2.0 oz. in stainless steel

Intense Engine-Turning on a Custom RGM Watch

Many people know we make several custom RGM watches every year.  We are one of the few watch companies in the world that offer this service.  Some custom watches are minor changes to existing models, and others are more elaborate like the one pictured.  The custom dial on this PS-801-E is one of the most complicated dials we have ever made.  We made the dial in our shop from a raw sheet of silver, and used our vintage Engine-Turning machines to create the intense patterns on the dial and movement.  The result is one of the most unique dials we have ever made, and we are very happy we can do this kind work/art here in our Pennsylvania workshop. 

Here is a link to our Custom Page

Left-Handed RGM 151 Models Available

We have now added a left-handed version of one of our most popular watches to our website.  http://www.rgmwatches.com/watches#/model-151/.  You can now order a 151-P, 151-PW, or a 151-B in the left-hand configuration with the crown at 9pm.  Only available in the non-date version.

Model 151 

The 151 models have an American made case in either stainless steel, or titanium.  Any version can be polished, brushed, or a combination of both finishes.  The thin bezel and large dial are a hallmark of the 151 models, in fact the dial is larger than watches of a much greater size.  The case is thin for its diameter and curves comfortably to the wrist.

Movement Caliber: RGM-ETA 2892-A2 - Automatic, 21 jewels, 28,800 vph. Rhodium  finish - Cote de Geneve lines and perlage

Functions: Hour / Minute / Second / Date on some models

Case: American Made 316L Stainless Steel, or CP2 Titanium, 38.5 mm x 9.9 mm. Sapphire crystal front and back, 20mm lug width and water-resistant to 5-ATM.

Weight: 2.0 oz. in stainless steel