Why I translated 1,200 pages of French
In this industry, credibility usually comes from a diploma on the wall from a Swiss school. I don't have one.
With traditional watchmaking school not an option, I went directly to the source material.
I approached EPFL Press with a proposal: to translate the 1,200-page industry bible, Traité de Construction Horlogère, into English.
Dedication
Over nine months, this project became a rigorous, self-directed apprenticeship.
I didn't just translate the text; I studied the physics and engineering principles behind it. I had to understand the torque calculations of the mainspring before I could write the sentence in English.
Application
This provided the theoretical bedrock necessary to move from assembling components to engineering them from scratch.
When you look at Origin, you aren't looking at a "design" that was sketched on a napkin. You are looking at a machine built on first principles. The wall thickness, the lug geometry, and the tolerances were not chosen for style—they were calculated for rigidity.
It is 1,200 pages of theory, cut into a block of 316L Stainless Steel.
Mike Armstrong
Founder, AW Labs