The "Damaskeening" - or "damascene" - machine was an ingenious and beautifully made device used to produce an ornamental finish on the small, flat metal parts of a watch.
A rotating cutting tool was held vertically in a holder capable of being adjusted through minute increments in the vertical plane, as well as sideways on a slideway. The workpiece was fastened to a small rotary table which itself was mounted on a compound slide; both the rotary table and the slides were driven under power through a complex system of interchangeable gearing and cams so that the resulting movement under the cutter would produce a pattern not dissimilar to that obtained by an ornamental turning lathe - or a modern plastic "Spirograph" drawing outfit.
In the late years of the 19th century the  Stark "Damaskeening" machine cost as much as their combined Universal Milling Machine and Wheel & pinion Cutter - $400.

Stark Automatic Staff Lathe. This was used for turning staffs and pinions for clocks and watches - or other precision mechanical instruments. In the latter part of the 1800s these machines cost the then enormous sum of $300.