… is that nobody can take it away from you.

Several years ago, I realized something about myself: I am highly motivated when I can learn something new. It energizes me to do something I have never done before and I don’t yet have the skills to do. It’s not only the result that challenges me. It is rather the process of improving the skills and finally gaining the ability to do it, that are very appealing to me.

Nowadays, in the information age, …

you can get information on nearly everything. If you wanted to build a power plant, I am sure there are some web sites or YouTube videos explaining “How to build your own DIY power plant”. We have access to all kinds of information. And you can quickly become an expert in a certain field – but only in theory.

My watchmaking friend Reinhold Fluethe once said: “If you really want to understand something, you need to make it from scratch.”

And that is true. To have only the knowledge about something often is not satisfying for me anymore. During my watchmaker apprenticeship many years ago I had to  learn how a watch works so I would be able to repair it. Ever since, I have repaired and restored many clocks and watches. But the job title is “watchmaker”. And that has been bothering me for a long time. If it says “watch-MAKER”, then I want to make watches, not only repair them.

Restauration of a A. Lange and Soehne pocket watch from 1898

You can choose your field. Mine is watchmaking. I am fascinated by mechanical watches. Maybe because it is a whole universe – though tiny – rotating in my pocket or on my wrist. Maybe because I can behold and understand the laws of how the parts and forces work together. Maybe because watches are just a thing that men get excited about. What is your field? Your passion? Don’t be discouraged if you think you don’t have the talent for that area. All you need is a big amount of curiosity. And that’s not so difficult, right?  A. Einstein said once: “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

What can I learn from the Chinese?

In Europe and in Germany people sometimes look down on the Chinese because they think all they can do is to copy our products. But in my opinion it is very conceited to think like that. Copying is a vital part of the learning process. If you want to become good at something you need to first copy the work of your master. Either a personal master or a role model that lived before you. If you wanted to become a good song writer, it’s good to start studying the old masters like Beethoven, Bach and Schubert and learn how to play their pieces first, to understand how they work and why we still love their music today. Even after 200 or 250 years.

In watchmaking,

… it’s the same. I always wonder why we’re still captivated when we look into a watch of Abraham Louis Breguet after 250 years or the watches made by Louis Audemars, John Arnold or Adolf Lange. I think they have understood in technique and in design what George Daniels calls the “natural laws of the universe”. There is a beauty beyond time and fashion.

That’s what we try to discover as well and put it into our watches in order to create timepieces for this generation and the next, and the next and the next … This required great attention to detail. For example, the proportion of the watch, the dial, the hands are amazingly important. Sometimes a mere 0,05 mm added or taken off of the size of the digits change the entire look of the dial. The same for the hands. A tiny bit slimmer or wider has an amazing effect on the entire picture of the watch.

Regulator SC103-REG-03 in stainless steel case

It’s an adventure and a lifelong journey. Our current collection of watches reflects where we are right now on this journey. There is still a lot to learn. But the beautiful thing about learning is …

Yours

Steffen Cornehl

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

My daughter has them several times a day: Moments where she is so awed, surprised and happy that she shouts it out loud because …

"When God created time, he made plenty of it." (Irish/Celtic saying)
Why then does it feel like we never have enough of it - for the things we want to do and for the people we want to spend time with? You can give an easy answer and say: “Time flies!”, and it is true! Tempus fugit!

In a fast-moving world where everything must be quick, efficient and cheap, we are used to doing different things at the same time, communicating with different people on different channels about different topics and trying to focus on several things at once.

We try to be omnipresent in order to not miss out on something. The result is that we lose the ability to focus on one thing for a longer time. But if you want to achieve something significant, exactly this ability is needed.

It’s a new start, a new year. It’s a new day and a new chance.

Maybe you have already given up on half of your New Year's resolutions. Or you did not even have any this year. Don’t worry! You don’t need a new year to start over. Often, it’s not the future we are afraid of. It is the fear of repeating the past that makes us anxious.

Steffen Cornehl repairs and restores antique mechanical watches – he has been crazy about time for more than 20 years now. Big historical watches in museums in St.Petersburg and small distinctive pocket and wrist watches that are very dear to their owners. Crazy about time.