"Snails" a watch by Andrew Vorontsov

[Bill Tokyo]

Hi Everyone,

I'm pleased so see how many people appreciate's Andrew's work. As I had some requests, I'd like to post a complete watch by Andrew, as well as pictures of the movement and case and the Work In Progress.

First of all I'll be posting a case by Fricker GmbH that we use. Then, I'll post a picture of the escapement side of the movement. Chiosi SA, who I buy these some already does considerable work on them: they blue the screws and do "Cotes de Geneve" stripes on them, a type of engine turning. However, the leave the front of the movement unfinished so that Andrew can work on it.

Next is a picture of the movement plate with a preliminary drawing on it. As you may notice, Andrew has stripped off the plating so that it is down to the brass. The next photo is of the dial that Andrew is cutting out of brass before he blues it.

The next picture is of the completely engraved plate after it has been plated in GP and Rhodium before Andrew assembles it into a movement.

The final photo is of the assembeled watch. Andrew has also made the hands of this watch as well as the dial and blued them.

I hope these photos inspire some of the many outstanding engravers in this group to try their hands at watches.

 

[Degs]

That's fantastic work, I've always admired the intricate work on the old pocket watch movements. I didn't think anyone did this type of work inside watches anymore.

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Excellent work very unique. Andrew is a very skilled craftsman that's for sure. Is the dial pierced from a conventional dial and is it attached with dial feet? Is the case stainless or platinum? Sorry for all the questions. Can't wait to see the escapement side.
Beautiful thanks for posting.
Mike

 

[Sam]

Bill: THANK YOU for your posts. This is extraordinary stuff! Many of us don't have the opportunity to see such things, and it's inspiring to see. I preach to all of my students to consider exploring different areas, and this is a great example of that.
~Sam

 

[Don Cowles]

Superb in both concept and execution! Very well done.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Simply incredible. It's nice to see the process behind the finished work. Who would have thought that snails could be made to look so attractive!!

Thanks for posting the pictures

Cheers
Andrew

 

[pilkguns]

Fantastic! this is really inspirational!

 

[Bill Tokyo]

Hi Mike,

The case is stainless steel and the dial is the photo show with the numbers being cut out. Andrew does not put dial feet on the dial. The dial is cut out of a piece of steel and blued, but due to the reflection, looks like brass. The cases by Fricker have a bezel that screws off. Andrew positions the cut out dial crafully and screws the bezel shut. That's enogugh to hold it in place.

Andrew does very little work on the escapement side. He thinks (and I agree) that it would be excessive due to the detailed carving on the dial side,