The 16-year-old watchmaker fixing split-seconds chronographs

And Jackie Kennedy's 'cursed' Cartier Tank

Intersect had a roadshow here in Chicago last night—a few small brands at a brewery with some cool watches. I recently dug up my old point-and-shoot camera from 2011, so snapped a few photos:

In this weekend edition: Chatting with a teenage watchmaker; the untold story of Jackie Kennedy’s cursed Cartier Tank; fun watch stories ft. Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler.

The Unpolished archive is the best way to find old newsletters. Also check out this week’s podcast and follow the feed on Spotify or Apple:

Indie Trends, Breguet, and a 2-Watch Collection for $50k

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A chat with a 16-year-old watchmaker

When I chat with 16-year-old watchmaker Owen Berger, he has about 25 watches waiting for service. About to enter his junior year of high school, Owen spends evenings and weekends at his bench, working through a backlog of watches from collectors and dealers, including a steady stream from dealer Eric Wind. Owen got started about three years ago after his dad gave him a vintage Heuer stopwatch from Eric.

We talked about starting with battery swaps, moving on to Vulcain Crickets and chronographs, and what’s next.

Eric's Breitling Duograph split-seconds chronograph that Owen serviced. Second photo courtesy of Owen.

Unpolished: What was the first watch you worked on?

OB: It was at the kitchen table—an Elgin size 12 from the 1920s. They made millions of them, so it’s good practice. I found a similar watch on YouTube and followed along to figure out how to take it apart.

Unpolished: What did your setup look like back then compared to now?

OB: I started at the kitchen table. Now I’ve got a proper bench in my room, and workshop space in the basement for the messy stuff—lathe, press, that sort of thing. Tools are expensive—It’s not hard to spend $1,000 on one tool, and you end up doing that a few times. My biggest one is my lathe. I don’t use it every day, but it’s useful to have around.

Owen meeting Roger Smith; a Heuer Monaco 'Dark Lord' he serviced. Photos credits: John Cote and Owen Berger.

Unpolished: What’s something you’ve done with the lathe recently?

OB: I had a split-seconds chronograph pocket watch from around 1900 that’s pin-set so you hold a button as you move the crown. That pin was too short, so I used the lathe to extend it.

Unpolished: How have you learned watchmaking?

OB: Mostly just experience. Some YouTube videos, a couple of day-long classes, and a little bit of help from other watchmakers. The watchmaker I bought my lathe from showed me the basics of how to use it.

Unpolished: What was your first real specialty?

OB: The Vulcain Cricket. It’s an odd design and probably not the easiest thing to start on, but it got me comfortable with complications and dealing with more parts.

Eric said, ‘If you can learn to work on these, I’ll send you more.’ So my dad and I bought a loose Cricket movement on eBay, and before long I had 3-4 movements’ worth of parts. It was my first specialty, but also the first time I’ve gotten bored of a watch after doing 30 or so.

Unpolished: And that’s when chronographs came in?

OB: Yeah. With chronographs, there are always more problems to fix. And there are dozens of different movements—with vintage alarms, there are basically three: the Cricket, JLC Memovox, and the A. Schild movement. So I enjoy seeing different chronograph designs and comparing them.

My favorite complication is the rattrapante. If you can work on a chronograph, you can work on a split second—there are more parts, and a few very fragile ones, but it’s not more knowledge.

Unpolished: Any standout chronographs you’ve worked on so far?

OB: The most impressive in terms of quality was a Vacheron Constantin pocket watch with a Victorin Piguet movement. The finishing was simple black polish. More old-fashioned than the rhodium or nickel-plated movements you often see, but that’s my taste.

The Vacheron (&) Constantin chrono. Notice the black polish on almost all the top levers and bridges. "It's more old-fashioned, but that's my taste," Owen said. Photos courtesy of Owen.

Unpolished: What about Rolex?

OB: I’ve enjoyed working on Zenith Daytonas. It’s a fun movement, the case quality is fantastic, and it’s really easy to make water resistant with the screw-down crown and pushers.

The stock Zenith El Primero movement is very complicated. It’s a nicely designed, classic movement—accurate, with a solid winding and chronograph feel. But certain aspects—like the date and quickset—are incredibly over-complicated. So Rolex removed the date and simplified other aspects of the movement. It’s only the good parts of the El Primero without the bad.

[Ed. note: Rolex reduced the frequency of the El Primero, changed the escapement, balance, and gear train, removed the date, and reworked the chronograph mechanism.]

Unpolished: You’re still in high school—what’s next for you in watches?

OB: I haven’t made any decisions, or thought too much about watchmaking school, but I could see myself doing it as a career. I don’t have any other professional interests yet—I like cars, but I don’t really want to be a mechanic. Watchmaking is so much more unique and has more opportunities.

Thanks also to Owen for sending some of his photos. You can find him on Instagram.

An observatory-style Patek pocket watch and an Abercrombie & Fitch Seafarer, both serviced by Owen. "Figuring out the tide disk module on top of the Valjoux movement for the Seafarer was a fun challenge for me," he said.

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The cursed Cartier, and other tales

The untold story of Jackie Kennedy’s Cartier Tank; Rory McIlroy’s ‘horrific’ first watch; the scramble to get a Rolex Scottie Scheffler after his first Masters win.

Slow Summer. Scottish brand Paulin introduced the Mara, the first diver from AnOrdain’s accessible sister brand. It feels playful and even toy-like, meant as a compliment—there are enough serious divers ($1,650). Meanwhile, Swatch found itself reaching for relevancy with an ad that made a racist gesture towards Asians. Reuters placed the ad in a broader context:

“Businesses—especially those that make money from buzzy trends—are pushing the envelope as federal actions have shifted the legal and regulatory landscape surrounding DEI programs.”

But let’s look at three watch stories that are a bit more fun—

The untold story of Jackie Kennedy’s Cartier Tank

Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ (cursed?) Cartier Tank. Carole Radziwill recently told the full story behind one of the world’s most famous watches.

When Carole Radziwill turned 30, her husband gave her the Cartier Tank that had once belonged to his aunt, Jackie Kennedy.

As the watch passed through multiple hands over the next 30 years, even appearing at auction, Carole came to believe it was cursed.