Hi Colin,

Thank you for your reply, it has allayed some of my concerns about being a leftie.

Best regards
Matt

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your message, I’m glad you found the information useful.

Being left handed doesn’t really make any difference, as the primary tools; tweezers and screwdrivers, are ambidextrous. Just make sure that if you ever buy a lathe, that you get one where the attachments can be fitted on both sides – that way you can simply turn the lathe around to be able to use it with your left hand. Best of luck in your training!

Colin

I just stumbled on your site and I’m loving it, lots of useful info. I am very much interested in training as a watchmaker, I have always loved small objects. There is one issue in my mind though, I am left handed. Do you think this would be an issue training and subsequently in my career? I wish you godspeed in your efforts to revive British watchmaking.

Best regards
Matt

Hi Colin and thanks for your reply. I will take note of your advice and act accordingly. Thanks again 😉

Hi George,

I’d tend to be a lot more optimistic than Steven. You’re not going to get rich from fixing watches, but you can be comfortable and have a stable income.

The key is to value your time and skill correctly and thereby charge the right sort of hourly rate, which should be between £20-50 depending on your experience, plus the cost of any materials. Too many watchmakers are too quick to do favours for friends/family, or do a partial repair of a watch free-of-charge because it wasn’t a noted fault when the work was first estimated.

Learn to say no to jobs that look like they’re going to be a can of worms, learn to re-estimate work as required, and learn to value your time and skill.

The most profitable part of watchmaking is often quick and easy jobs such as changing batteries or fitting a new bezel or bracelet.

For repairs you probably only need to advertise a little on-line, most people don’t like sending their watches off in the post and would rather hand it to someone directly. So local advertising will work best for you. Use on-line message boards, which are free and help you build up a reputation.

Watches are generally very tactile things, and so particularly if you’re going to look to sell unusual or vintage watches, people will want to see what it is they are going to buy and see it working. Ebay generally is a tough business place. Again a decent forum, where you can build your own reputation in a closed environment, could work out best for you if you want to stick to on-line.

Do the BHI’s distance learning course. I did it 1 year full-time and 3 years part-time and got it all finished. I worked in the industry after 2 years studying, so before I’d finished and become “qualified”; there are so few people who’re actually professionally trained in the industry that even partially skilled makes you in great demand.

I would say that you’d need at least 3 years of bench experience before you can go alone; which is real-world practice at finding faults, making repairs, buying parts, dealing with customers, finding pit-falls, and knowing what to charge – and of course learning to work to a speed and accuracy that you can be commercially viable and not have all your work returned back.

Like everything, it all depends on how much effort you put in. There’s a huge shortage of skilled watchmakers, particularly vintage watchmakers, and so if you want to make a decent go of it then the only obstacle is you.

Colin

Yeah, we are pretty much on the same page on this…. I wiill just continue it as a hobby, and eventually seek to become a good dealer of vintage watches and accessories. Thanks for taking your time in replying to me, I appreciate it.

Regards.

If I was you I would do the BHI distance learning course and find a local watchmaker that would allow you to work with him in your spare time and treat it very much as a hobby.

By the time you got skilled enough to charge a professional fee and had enough customers to make a living from you would be well into your 50s and I’m talking if you went at it full time from now.

I did the BHI in Birmingham University, have 8 years in the trade and I’m starting a business now and I really think I have the bare minimum experience necessary to go it alone. And even now there is not much money to be made for the learning and work you have to put in and the equipment you have to buy.

Hi Colin and thanks for your kind reply. I will be following your guide to become a watchmaker avidly, as I do with any other bit of information I find on the Internet regarding the subject. Problem is, I live in Germany, and there are very little ways (or few places if you will) to become a professional watchmaker, many if not most of it involve relocating and paying a small fortune in school fees, a second rent (I have family and kids whom I cannot force to move right now) and all the rest, not earning money in the process. I have looked into online courses, but apart from the most known ones that are affordable and being online won’t force me to move out from my family, are not professionally recognized: I would only earn a certificate stating that I attended the course as a “hobby”. It still would be useful to grasp the basics of watchmaking, but it is no proper school. So I am stuck basically.

It is a hard choice, full of unanswered questions and that a person my age just cannot make lightheartedly.

I do have the possibility to become a “dealer” in vintage watches, buying and selling, and this is what I am actually looking into, since it is the nearest thing to watchmaking I can professionally do, and that could allow me to suport my family while at it. I started an onlineshop and am slowly populating it with watches that I find and repare myself. I guess I am not allowed to post the link here so I won’t.

Only issue, is getting to be “seen” on the Internet, and even if I have experience (I own a webdesign company that does also SEO) it will take some time before I see the fruits of my efforts.

In the end, I will continue to follow your blog, as I do with many others, and try and learn as much as possible. Sorry for the long reply.

Regards.

Hi George,

Age isn’t an issue with regard to coming into watchmaking. Generally being older is an advantage as some important traits such as self-discipline and patience develop with age.

I was 32 when I changed careers, and was considered young. 43 isn’t an issue, as you have at least 20 years of work ahead of you, and within this industry the actual retirement age goes on until your health falters.

It’s a great career choice, and if you’re passionate and inclined towards it – incredibly rewarding. If you specialise in vintage watches you will never be short of work as each year there are fewer parts available and fewer people available with the knowledge to repair them.

Colin