David Walter: Limited Edition Great Wheel Skeleton Clock

A Watchmaker's Clockmaker Australian born clockmaker, David Walter, was trained as a watchmaker in the city of Perth. A six year apprenticeship was followed by a three years in London working for Garrards & Co. where the restoration and repair of antique complicated pocket watches and high grade wristwatches was undertaken, as well as repairs for many members of the Royal Family and for the well known horological author, Donald DeCarle. The London experience led to eight years with Omega Watch Co. in Vienna, Austria, repairing chronograph and chronometer rated wristwatches. It was during this eight years that his first four clocks were made. Having been abroad for over a decade, he moved back to Perth in 1980 and opened an antique shop selling clocks, barometers, restoring clocks and, of course, furthering his own creations. As of 2002, David has lived in Solvang, California where he continues to make clocks of his own design, as well as antique clock restorations. After making over 100 individually hand-made clocks, he is now offering his first series - The Limited Edition Great Wheel Skeleton Clock. As with all of David's work, the Great Wheel Skeleton Clocks demonstrate his watchmaker's training in their design and execution. They are light in appearance, with finely executed parts, jeweled bearings where possible and capped when necessary, with crisp internal angles and mirror polished surfaces that don't betray the squareness of the edges - All qualities of first class craftsmanship. Specifications The series will be available in yellow gold, rose gold or rhodium and will be the first time David does not do all of the movement fabrication himself. In order to meet the demand for the clocks, the laborious tasks of cutting and filing the plates, as well as crossing out the wheel blanks, will be left to a workshop with EDM capabilities. Once these bits are retrieved he must tidy them up for the planting of the train, screws, springs and whatever else is required of the plates and, additionally, he must cut the teeth in the wheels. So, while the grunt work of those jobs are sent out, the critical work for those parts are done by David, as is the making of the screws, arbors, pinions, pallet, crutch, pillars, cocks/bridges, flat springs, hands, pendulum and bob, fusee, all of the finishing... the only things not made by David Walter are the dial (his design), the marble base (his design and cut by a specialist), fusee chain, jewels and mainspring. Standing 22.5 inches, this precision month-going skeleton clock's specifications are: A .925 Sterling Silver, split seconds/minutes/hours astronomical dial that is hallmarked with David's own maker's marks, mother-of-pearl moon dial, jeweled Graham dead-beat escapement beating 1/2 seconds using a 60 tooth escape wheel, jeweled bearings (capped where necessary), blued steel hands, 24 kt. gold-plated (yellow or rose) or rhodium-plated brass and a solid marble base. With the high level of craft exhibited and a price tag of $28,000.00, this watchmaker's clockmaker will be extremely busy for the foreseeable future. To contact David directly you may email him at david@davidwalter.net. ThePuristS AHCI discussion forum | ThePuristS Homepage Comments, suggestions, and corrections to this article are welcomed. Please e-mail comments Copyright June 2003 - Mr. Curtis D. Thomson and ThePuristS.com - all rights reserved All pictures provided by David Walter