You wouldn’t think watches and trees have much in common, but they do. In a sense, they both record time. They are both governed by concepts of mechanics-the symbiosis of many moving parts. Some individuals are legacies, passed on from one generation to the next; ground breaking design to commemorate an occasion, or a priceless piece in a historic place. They also live and die in similar ways, by perpetual motion eventually coming to rest. And working on them is, with a little imagination, surprisingly similar as well.

The great English watchmaker George Daniels said in reminiscing about the first watch that truly captured his fancy that “it had a curious completeness”. In that watch, Daniels said, he found “the center of the universe.” As a craftsperson, I can sympathize with Daniels in the way that his work fascinated him.

Trees also have a curious completeness in the way they maintain order, which transpires through the seasonal cycles of the year. Isn’t it like clockwork that buds break, flowers bloom, seeds crop, and leaves drop; we can look at a tree for an accurate reference of just where we find ourselves in time-deep layers of cherry blossoms in spring, the summer stink of the chestnut, the hot glow of the sugar maple on a cool dusk, the deep red of twig dogwood against a fluffy snow drift. Trees are somehow a constant in place and time. They are a wonderful reference point. And yet they are also somehow a stark reminder that time moves on.

Shigo writes in Modern Arboriculture, “Living and nonliving systems…constantly interact and adjust to each other…the rules of dynamic equalibrium and dynamic oscillation are effective. They appear in balance only because we find it difficult to perceive the constant changes that take place between two systems,” (206). Through the nature of tree care the arborist constantly works within that dynamic oscillation of the tree, like the watchmaker opening the case. “Touch trees” Shigo reminds us. So there is the opportunity at every anchor point or pruning cut or root collar excavation or tree installation to crack the case and observe the mechanics closely, to set the rhythm accurately. Mending soil, reading rings of early and latewood, decay and callous growth, the ripples of reaction wood-a good reminder that time effects all mechanics. Handcrafted arboriculture requires this type of care though, demanding the ability to perceive the microscopic, constant changes between systems, we can maintain the mirage of perfect balance, although we may not be able to ever perfect it.

Real works of beauty, any true craftsperson will tell you, take time. This is true of both handmade watches and beautiful trees. The arborist, like the watchmaker, must master not one discipline, but many. The craft of arboriculture is then a cabinet of skills. A vast vocabulary of concepts from soil science to business to bio-mechanics to fibers and rigging becomes the language in which we live and work. It is critical that we maintain what is timeless in the architecture and design that we build into trees. We must realize our trade with simplicity as Daniels realized it: as being at the center of the universe. With a few basic tools, and an obsession for beauty, we can attempt to build a lifetime body of work that will hopefully outlive us: the trees on which we work.

When we think of trees like watches, the subject becomes very clear.