4/8/2023 0 Comments Horology complicationsA co-worker would call on me and I would have to change hats again. I could be working at my workbench, the phone rings, I have to answer the phone and put on my salesman’s hat. To be a watchmaker and president of a company at the same time, is it do-able? What are the biggest hurdles? I try, I touch, I evaluate, I take apart and rebuild 20 times, 30 times my mechanism before finding the right solution. Watchassembler and watchmaker, how do you go from one to the next? We are doing a creative job, not building washing machines… Furthermore, it is a job that should be seen as a calling. It is impossible to train properly such a great number of watchmakers, or with the means that are far from what we have nowadays. But only 50 or 60 come out of the schools! Why and how should the industry promote more people to become students?ĥ00 new watchmakers a year seems utopian tome. With the production of millions of mechanical watches a year, the Swiss watch industry would need around 500 new watchmakers a year. Start with the foundations in order to build upon solid ground. You should learn to walk before you can run. Is it sensible to jump into the deep end as quickly as possible, or should they hone their skills on base calibers first? I will confess that is a moment of pure pleasure.Īll the young watchmakers dream of working on “complications”. Not willing to admit defeat and then suddenly the solution appears. I will admit that I often lose track of the time, bent over my workbench, trying to figure out the why and the how. I know of nothing that is more engrossing and yet more frustrating that trying to adjust a piece that resists you. What are the exiting and routine parts of the job? It is a job that is mastered by everyday practice, hands deep in the springs and wheels… Picture the profession with realism and honesty. With hindsight, what tips would you give to today’s young apprentices? I was sitting next to him at his workbench and we were sharing a moment that belonged only to us. When I was still very young, he would teach me the basics of the watchmaker’s work by making me clean the springs of his clocks in restoration. He was passionate about it, I took that from him. It goes to show I was "infected" at an early age…Īre the learning years difficult? Did you have doubts at any time? Did you think about quitting? Why did you carry on? My mother still tells me that as soon as I could hold a pencil I was decorating my bed's headboard with watch dials. A great and incredible clock sttod in my bedroom, regulating my life since my first living hours. I am the son and grand-son of watchmakers. Ready to conquer any storm.įor me, the question did not arise in those terms. A little retired from the world, a little mysterious. I saw myself as a captain, a kind of captain Nemo, leading a fantastic vessel. When you were a child, what did you want to do? Urwerk produces stunning watches with original displays and complex mechanisms. Felix Baumgartner is with Martin Frei the co-founder of Urwerk.
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