September 27, 2005

Portrait of a Master
Much has been written about Philippe Dufour, his mastery of the craft of watchmaking, his insistence on perfection, his stubborn-ness to remain close to the art of his forebears, his open-ness to sharing with collectors and other watchmakers alike.
  • Great stuff.
  • )
  • Just saying.
  • Because of his exposure to certain alloy concentrates, tell. The guy is using really obscure acids and other shit to etch those workings, I would assume. That could pollute his body over a long period of time, pretty weirdly, I imagine.
  • He probly haf a cock the shape of a noose.
  • Get moneyjane over there, ve perform ze experiment!
  • Man, you don't even want to know what's flying in the back of your average jeweler's or horologist's shop. Between the metal dust and the polishing compounds and the heated chemicals, it's a wonder I wasn't born with four legs (my dad's a jeweler). Used to be worse -- they used to boil acid to do some work.
  • Anthony Ainsley was the best.
  • Wow, loved that. I needed a glossary in a few places though.... this one and this one
  • tellurian- Muehrcke's Lines are defined as transverse in your link, so that would be parallel to the nail bed. He doesn't appear to have any banding like the photo examples at the bottom of your link. The longitudinal ridging on the nails doesn't seem so bad to me... I just don't see any problem other than hands that actually get a workout rather than spending all day poised above a keyboard :) Oh, and ) for the link, Skrik.
  • Gestas, You're right. I wasn't thorough. It's not often that you see someone's fingers so close up and the ridges just caught my eye. Interestingly, it did bring out a couple of comments about the working conditions that I wouldn't have thought of. Third the ) for Skrik.
  • Please find out, because I have those ridges in my nails. Seriously.
  • What Muehrcke describes are lines across the nail. Nails and teeth have similar characteristics to trees in that you can spot abnormalities during the time they've been growing in the form of lines. The lines on teeth are called perikymata and can be used to calculate an individual's age. If the lines are close together, that means there have been periods during the tooth's growth where the individual has lacked important nutrients, so may have suffered malnutrition. Presumably similar things can be derived from lines on nails. (That's a very rough description, sorry. Hope it makes sense.)
  • Lara: It doesn't seem to be a problem really. I'll quote here because the link is somewhat graphic and you may not want to go there (but if you do). "Vertical Ridges are also characteristic of aging, although are not limited to the aged or elderly. The nail plate grows forward on the nail bed in a 'rail and groove' effect, much like a train rides on its' tracks. As we age, the natural oil and moisture levels decline in the nail plate, and this rail and groove effect becomes apparent. Ridged nails will improve through re-hydration of the nail plate with twice daily applications of a good quality nail and cuticle oil containing Jojoba and Vitamin E."
  • Ah! I'm hearing this "as we age" thing more and more these days. Still, at least all that lead I was probably exposed to as a kid isn't the culrpit. Now about this extra nose... Thanks so much for the info, tellurian!
  • OK, and I just braved that link, and thank you even more. That's a rough site to have scouted!