Movement Finishing
There are 3 main elements to the movement finishing that I do. First, Côtes de Genève. Second, perlage. Third, bluing the screws. This entry will describe the perlage process.
Perlage
Of the three movement decorations, perlage is probably the easiest to do. I use a benchtop drill press and a 1/4" Cratex tip on a mandrel. But there are multiple ways to do it.
Before doing anything with the 6498, I practiced with some brass discs to get a feel for how the perlage shows up. I also experimented with the Cratex. I sanded some of the tips down to a 3mm - 4mm diameter to produce smaller perlage.
On to the movement itself...I started on the outside edge and worked my way to the center. I overlapped each circle about 1/2 way into the previous circle. I like that the result isn't perfect. To me, I believe, it adds to the handmade quality of the watch. Perlage done by CNC machines are spaced perfectly, which is fine, but I much prefer the unique pattern of the perlage when applied by hand. This will make each movement I decorate even more unique.