007 我的钟表匠生涯

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Welcome to Geneva, Switzerland! I am Jean-Paul Baptiste, a watchmaker

whose family moved here from France about a century ago.

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My grandfather, who was a watchmaker too, used to say to me

"Jean-Paul, all the best watchmakers are French."

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But now, in 1676, many French watchmakers live in Geneva; in fact

Geneva has the most watchmakers in the world.

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We are called cabinotiers because we work in

shops almost as small as a cabinet.

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But even though our workshops may be small, the workmanship

of our watches is grand indeed.

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Becoming a watchmaker takes hard work and patience

because the parts of a watch are so tiny.

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The precision needed to create or repair a watch takes a long time

to learn, so you must start as an apprentice.

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For example, when I was 15, I apprenticed to an excellent

watchmaker who is a friend of my grandfather.

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After five years as an apprentice a person with real aptitude will be

hired by a master watchmaker to be an assistant in his workshop.

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The work is tedious at times, the hours are long, and

the pay is meager, but you learn a lot.

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After my apprenticeship I was fortunate to be hired by Monsieur Girard

a master watchmaker and one of the best in Geneva.

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The rules of a watchmaker's education are set down by the

Watchmakers' Guild of Geneva, which was established in 1601.

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The guild is a group that was created by talented watchmakers to ensure

that every watchmaker in the city is an artist of the highest quality.

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In order to join the guild, a young man must work with

a master watchmaker for three years,

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and within that time, he must create a watch to present to the guild

在这期间，他必须制作一块表，呈交给行会。

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This watch is known as his masterpiece. If the guild approves his watch

the young man becomes a master and a member of the guild.

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Only then is he allowed to open his own shop

只有到那时，他才被允许开设自己的店铺。

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If the young watchmaker's watch is not approved, he can never open his own

business and must toil as a watchmaker's assistant forevermore.

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As for me I successfully produced my masterpiece in just over a year

至于我，我只用了一年多一点的时间，就成功制作出了我的代表作。

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Naturally that watch is on display at my own workshop

here on Saint-Gervais Street.

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Watchmaking requires many tools and accessories

制表需要许多工具和配件。

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First of all, there's my workbench, which is very important because

it holds small hammers, brushes, tweezers,

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and anything else I need to repair or make a watch

以及修理或制作手表所需的任何其他东西。

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This bench keeps my tools organized in small drawers

这个工作台通过小抽屉让我的工具摆放整齐，

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and I, like other watchmakers, have placed it in front of

a large window that gets good natural light.

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Second, a watchmaker needs a magnifying eyeglass called a loupe to see

close up the details of the inside of a watch.

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Third, various types of polishing and shaping implements are

needed, such as oilstones and bluestones.

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Lastly, every watchmaker needs a small lathe, a very ancient tool

最后，每位制表师都需要一台小型车床，这是一种非常古老的工具。

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The lathe is a machine that holds a piece of material, such as

wood or metal, in place and rotates it.

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This allows a craftsman to shape the material using both hands, as he likes

这样工匠就可以用双手随心所欲地塑造材料。

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I have operated my own shop for almost twenty years, and currently I have

two apprentices, Max and Julian, who help keep the workshop clean.

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We do a lot of filing and shaping of metal, which creates countless tiny

slivers of brass and steel that get all over the place.

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We also use large amounts of sperm whale oil to make sure the watch parts

move together smoothly, but it drips on everything and makes a mess.

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Watchmaking has changed substantially since my grandfather's day

从我祖父那个年代以来，制表业已经发生了巨大的变化。

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Back then a fusee was commonly used in watches

那时候，手表里普遍会用到“芝麻链”装置。

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A fusee is a kind of cone-shaped device that has a post attached to a wheel

芝麻链是一种锥形装置，它带有一根固定在轮子上的柱子。

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A chain is wrapped around the fusee, and the chain is attached to a metal

coil, which is around another post inside a barrel-shaped container.

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The metal coil turns the barrel, and then the barrel

turns the fusee by pulling on the chain.

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The fusee moves the wheel, and time ticks by as

the metal coil slowly unwraps.

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When the metal coil completely uncurls, it can

be wound up again by a watch key.

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This older type of watch had only an hour hand, and it didn't keep

time very well since it kept running down quickly.

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Plus these watches were also thick and heavy

此外，这些手表又厚又重。

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People wore them on chains around their necks as jewelry, and the wealthy

decorated them with precious gems and gold.

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But this custom changed when the preacher John Calvin

came to Geneva in the mid-1500s

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and passed laws that forbade anyone from wearing big pieces of jewelry

他通过了法律，禁止任何人佩戴大型珠宝首饰。

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The watchmakers quickly realized they'd have to make their watches smaller

and lighter, and they also wanted them to keep better time.

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After many years of experimentation, last year the

spiral balance spring was invented.

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It is a finely coiled spring made of steel that

balances the movements of the watch.

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Imagine a grandfather clock with a pendulum moving

back and forth at an even speed.

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This movement drives the ticking of the clock

这种摆动驱动着钟的滴答声。

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This new little spring does the same thing inside a watch

这个新型小弹簧在手表内部起到了相同的作用。

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Timekeeping has now become more accurate, and watches made now have two

hands instead of one—another hand has been added to count the minutes.

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Just think how our concept of time has changed

because of this little invention.

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Now I can tell precisely how late my apprentices

are arriving at work in the morning!

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It has certainly been an exciting year for watchmakers; my workshop has a

large number of orders for watches with the spiral balance spring.

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We will be quite busy, I can assure you, but

we won't just be making watches.

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My shop also makes surgical instruments and

mechanical figures called automata.

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But I must admit, for me, making a beautiful pocket

watch is the most rewarding work of all.

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Even though I am now 41 years old and my eyesight is not as good as it

once was, I can still make masterpieces that will last a long time.

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Combining beauty and quality is the key to making a good timepiece

将美观与品质相结合，正是制造一块好时计的关键所在，

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and Jean-Paul Baptiste has always been known on

Saint-Gervais Street as a true artist!