DELAYED REPAIRS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 64, 16 March 1945, Page 4

DELAYED REPAIRS

CLOCKS AND WATCHES

POSITION GROWING WORSE

War has taken its toll of Auckland's clocks and watches. Never was there a time when so many timepieces, large and small, were so erratic and so badly in need of repair. Clocks and watches unoiled uncleaned, with defective springs and other vital parts, have nevei been so numerous. "In many homes there's a horrid silence," said a city watchmaker. "The only clock has been out of or t der for weeks, perhaps t oo Or perhaps, it is too fast 01 too slow, and has to be adjusted daily. Then he remarked that chimes in private homes were rarely heard these days, yet there must be hun dreds of chiming clocks in ana around Auckland. There must be a big accumulated programme of r • pairs, which the experts couldnot cope with. The music of these clocks was missed, but it could not be helped; there was a war on.

Impatient Customers Mantel and chiming clocks had been a rarity in city shopsforyears, h#> <;aid and ot laie about tne oniy available Socks were those of wartime brand, Which cost dbout £1 and were of strictly utility type. As for repairs, watchmakers looKed askance at clocks when there were more watches offering than they could deal with, and one learned that a watchmaker regarded a clock in much the same way as a racing man would a draught horse; it was hardly the first choice for the expenditure of a craftsman's skill and care. Some watchmakers, it was explained, had a kind of gate control to regulate the inflow of work. They would take in a certain number of watches to keep them busy for, perhaps, six weeks or two months, or even slightly longer, then they would accept no more until these were almost all completed. Others would keep two or three months work ahead all the time. Still others were willing to accept watches for repair even if the work could not be done for months. There were always many disappointed and impatient customers. ■ „ "Main springs are a big problem, said one watchmaker. "We have asked the Government to help by permitting the import of. more springs and also other parts, but the position remains unsatisfactory. Tne difficulty has been increasing for several years, and now a deadlock exists as far as springs are com cerried, for reserves have been exhausted. Many people have been relying on old watches because of the scarcity of new ones, and this has further added to the demand for repairs."

Shortage of Craftsmen But the worst feature, said this authority, was the lack of expert craftsmen. It was the same all through New Zealand. Large firms could employ a dozen men immediately if they were available. Most of the eligible young men were held in the instrument branch of the Air Force, while the number of older men in employment was steadily falling as a result of physical breakdowns. . , "Dozens and dozens of watches cannot be repaired because of the lack of hair springs and mam springs," was the statement of another watchmaker. "Stems and_ staffs are also extremely scarce, and it will be a long time after the war before the position is restored to normal. Jewellery repairs was another problem, and there was a tremendous accumulation of work. Just as with watches, there was a long list of waiting orders, and it was. impossible to make headway against the position.