The Greenwich Time Signal (GTS), popularly known as the pips, is a series of six short tones broadcast at one-second intervals by many BBC Radio stations. The proposal for a time signal came from one Frank Hope-Jones in a radio talk in April 1923. It was agreed that broadcasting the Greenwich Standard Time with a chronometer at the Royal Observatory tripping a switch at five seconds to the hour to create those iconic pips – using a 1kHz oscillator. The time signal was first broadcast at 9.30 p.m. on 5 February 1924. There are six pips (short beeps) in total, which occur on the 5 seconds leading up to the hour and on the hour itself. Each pip is a 1 kHz tone (about halfway between musical B5 and C6) the first five of which last a tenth of a second each, while the final pip lasts half a second. The actual moment when the hour changes – the “on-time marker” – is at the very beginning of the last pip. Our weekly bulletin is made up of five short posts and a snippets section outlining minor news.The Six Pips is Schofield’s vehicle for news, comment and insider information. It comprises of the Six Pips Bulletin, delivered most Thursday evenings at 8:15 and the Six Pips Podcast.
Why The Six Pips?
The Six Pips is a watch podcast without precedent. It is the first of its kind, as a podcast produced in-house by a British watch manufacturer
Six episodes, each comprised of six questions, explore everything from the everyday workings of a watch company to the microscopic details of design and production. Each episode focuses on a different topic, ranging from what it’s like to start a watch company to Giles’ point of view on many of the most controversial issues of the day. Schofield’s Principal Keeper navigates the choppy waters of modern-day watch making, accompanied by Harry, another Schofield stalwart. The Six Pips is an horology podcast with a difference, that difference being that we are the insiders and we’re ready to tell our tale.
Episode 1- Dial Design
Read moreGiles Ellis answers six questions on the subject of watch dial design and explains the processes, both technical and creative, that help get a project off the ground. He…
Episode 2- Starting a Watch Company
Read moreGiles Ellis answers six questions on the subject of starting a watch company, including his own experiences and the advice that he would give to anyone starting out in…
Episode 3- Made in the UK
Read moreGiles Ellis answers six questions on the subject of Made in the UK, taking a look at what this means in the watch industry and what the past, present…
Episode 4- A Day at Schofield HQ
Read moreGiles Ellis answers six questions on the subject A Day at Schofield HQ, taking a look at the inner workings of Schofield Watch Company and the people behind the…
Episode 5- Designing the Schofield Way
Read moreGiles Ellis answers six questions on designing the Schofield way. He discusses his own methodology for designing a beautiful thing before taking us right down into the detail of watch…
THE SIX PIPS BULLETIN
We send out an email; Six images and a little text to keep you in the loop. If you would like to sign-up to receive the Six Pips bulletin please click the button.
By clicking here you can see the Pips’ past. The contents of these pages contain an archive of observations and forecasts, watch making, British commentary, Sussex beauty, manufacture, engineering, design, poetry and amusement. Schofield executes all it does by thinking and the Six Pips is no exception. We are proud to be a very British watch company and this is our history of watch making.