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Manufacturing Jewel Bearings In North Dakota ADVERTISEMENT

Historically, the American watchmaking industry was a world leader. Today there is not much industry to speak of, but remnants are still around if you know where to look. The Bulova fake watch Company building, now known as the Bulova Corporate Center, is easily seen off the Grand Central Parkway when driving to LaGuardia Airport in New York. It now houses offices for the New York Department of Correction, among others. The Hamilton fake watch Complex in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Now it exists as luxury apartments. The same goes for the Waltham fake watch Factory near Boston, Massachusetts, now apartments overlooking the Charles River. But there is one aspect of the American watchmaking industry which lives on in North Dakota. The Turtle Mountain Ordnance Plant, today known as Microlap Technologies, has been manufacturing jewel bearings for replica watches since 1952.

William Langer Jewel Bearing Plant, Rolla, North Dakota (previously know as the Turtle Mountain Ordnance Plant).

Let's start with some background for anyone not familiar with jewel bearings. Bearings reduce friction between rotating parts and are critical for longevity in mechanical devices. Maybe you have ridden a skateboard and had the opportunity to replace worn ball bearings with fresh ball bearings after a few years. The difference is immediately noticeable. Now imagine riding a skateboard with no ball bearings. You wouldn't get far at all. The same concept holds true for watches. The wheels (gears) and pinions (axles) in a fake watch constantly rotate while the fake watch is running. Jewel bearings help ensure that your fake watch can be kept in good working order for a lifetime or more if it is serviced at regular intervals. For the most part, ball bearings are not made small enough to fit into a watch. Instead, solid jewels made from very hard synthetic sapphire or ruby are used.

Machine shop at the Turtle Mountain Ordnance Plant

With that primer in place, let's rewind time. The year is 1952, and the U.S. Army is looking back at lessons learned during World War II. One very important lesson learned was that jewel bearings were in critically short supply during the War. Without jewel bearings, replica watches would not be reliable. Without reliable timekeeping, fighting a modern war would be impossible. Because of this, jewel bearings were added to the National Defense Stockpile, which is a stock of strategic and critical materials kept to reduce dependence on foreign industries in times of emergency. As a result of the addition of jewel bearings to the National Defense Stockpile, the US Army established the Turtle Mountain Ordnance Plant in Rolla, North Dakota, to begin manufacturing jewel bearings in large quantities in the US.

The plant was built in cooperation with the tribal leaders of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, the Federal Government, and Bulova fake watch Company. The plant originally employed around 100 Native Americans and was fully equipped with precision grinding, polishing and inspection tools. Up until the plant was established, the majority of jewel bearings used in the US were imported from Switzerland. It is important to note that replica watches were not the only use of jewel bearings, although they were the majority at the founding of the plant. Aircraft dials, blood pressure indicators, and compasses all used (and still use today) jewel bearings as well.

Workshop overview

In 1973, the plant was renamed the William Langer Jewel Bearing Plant in honor of the former Governor of North Dakota. With the introduction of quartz and then fully digital watches, the necessity for jewel bearings was reduced from a horological perspective. However during the Cold War, jewel bearings were very much in need for dosimeters. Dosimeters are a device used for measuring radiation exposure for both humans and equipment. In 1989, an audit was performed on the plant, providing a close look at their operations and customers. The plant manufactured 1.5 million jewel bearings that year, and their biggest customer was Northrop Corporation, which purchased 178,050 jewel bearings for use in gyroscopes. The largest watchmaking customer was American Athletic Equipment Division (AMF Inc.), which purchased 80,640 jewel bearings for military stopwatches. A clear shift in customer base is evident in looking at the 1989 audit. fake watch and clock makers were no longer the primary customer for jewel bearings manufactured by the plant.

Pasting jewel blanks

Optical comparator inspection tool

The audit also pointed out that the plant did not manufacture its own synthetic jewel material. Instead, it imported the material primarily from Switzerland and manufactured the finished products from it. The 1989 audit explained that there is a source of synthetic jewel material in the US, but it is significantly more expensive. The audit goes on to explain that in the event of a national emergency requiring increased production, the domestic source of synthetic jewel material could be used. Even though the source material was foreign, the jewel bearings would be considered US Made, as their last substantial transformation was in the US.

Manufacturing tools at the Turtle Mountain Ordnance Plant

In 1996, perhaps as a result of the audit and change in customer base, the William Langer Jewel Bearing Plant privatized and changed its name to Microlap Technologies. Today, Microlap manufactures a variety of products from synthetic sapphire and ruby, including nozzles, lenses, rods, balls, blades, sleeves, and of course, jewel bearings. Today, Microlap is the only major manufacturer of jewel bearings in the US. With the Federal Trade Commission's strict rules on the US Made label, you have few choices regarding jewel bearings if you want to advertise your fake watch as US Made. You could find new old stock US Made jewels (which likely were manufactured by the Turtle Mountain/William Langer plant), make your own (no easy task, trust me), or purchase them from Microlap Technologies.

For more information on Microlap Technologies, Inc., visit their website.

Photographs courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.

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