The Naked Watchmaker

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Part 2, Pliers. A photo study from 1991 by Willy Abplanalp and text by Gil Baillod...

Pliers

Eagles beak, fisheye, a cold approach to the hard reality of the pliers.

Steel speaks painfully to noble metal, which are much softer. This is why the jaws of the forceps must take the form of the prey so that it is held tightly without hurting it.

The function of the pliers is in a word that sounds like a motto under the coat of arms of a high lord: "Hold."

So, the pliers are a tool of the left hand in the service of the one who works with the saw or the file, the hammer, the polisher ...

When the pliers are used to shape the material, to bend, it is with the tools of the right hand.

The pliers can intervene in each hand; they are then capable of extreme tension! The vice is a tethered pair of pliers, locked to the bench.

It is a mechanising tool whose power of the jaws is increased tenfold when hugged.


Material reproduced with the agreement and consent of Bergeon SA