Awatchmaker is anartisan who makes and repairswatches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they weremaster craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand.[1][2] Modern watchmakers, when required to repair older watches, for which replacement parts may not be available, must havefabrication skills, and can typically manufacture replacements for many of the parts found in a watch. The termclockmaker refers to an equivalent occupation specializing inclocks.
Most practising professional watchmakers service current or recent production watches. They seldom fabricate replacement parts. Instead they obtain and fit factory spare parts applicable to the watch brand being serviced. The majority of modern watchmakers, particularly inSwitzerland and other countries inEurope, work directly for the watchmaking industry and may have completed a formal watchmaking degree at atechnical school.[citation needed] They also receive in-house "brand" training at the factory or service center where they are employed. However, some factory service centers have an approach that allows them to use 'non-watchmakers' (called "opérateurs") who perform only one aspect of the repair process. These highly skilled workers do not have a watchmaking degree or certificate, but are specifically trained 'in-house' astechnicians to service a small number of components of the watch in a true 'assembly-line' fashion, (e.g., one type of worker will dismantle the watch movement from the case, another will polish the case and bracelet, another will install the dial and hands, etc.). If genuine watchmakers are employed in such environments, they are usually employed to service the watch movement.
Due to restrictions on genuine spare parts, an increasing minority of US watchmakers are becoming 'independent,' choosing not to work directly for the industry or at factory service centers.Rolex, a leading Swiss watch brand, pre-qualifies independent watchmakers for spare parts access. Requirements may include a modern training certificate from a reputable school, a workshop that meets Rolex's cleanliness standards, modern equipment, or—for American watchmakers—membership in theAmerican Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute. TheOmega brand has the same approach. However, the vast majority of modern Swiss brands do not sell parts to independent watchmakers, irrespective of the watchmaker's expertise, training, or credentials. This industry policy is thought to enable Swiss manufacturers to maintain tighter quality control of the after-sales service for its watch brands, produce high margins on after-sales services (two to four times what an independent watchmaker would ask), and reduce the availability of second-hand watchmaking parts on the used and fake market.[citation needed]
Historically, in England, watchmakers would have to undergo a seven-yearapprenticeship and then join aguild, such as theWorshipful Company of Clockmakers in London, before selling their first watch. In modern times, watchmakers undergo training courses such as the ones offered by theBHI, or one of the many other schools around the world following theWOSTEP style curriculum. Some US watchmaking schools ofhorology will teach not only the Wostep style, including theETA range of movements, but also focus on the older watches that a modern watchmaker will encounter on a daily basis. In Denmark the apprenticeship lasts four years, with six terms at the Danish School of Watchmaking inRingsted. The education covers both clocks and watches, as a watchmaker in Denmark is also a clockmaker. In France, there are three diplomas: the lowest is theCertificat d'aptitude professionnelle (CAP) in horology (in two years), then the "Brevet des Métiers d'Art" horology for another two-year course. And optionally, theDiplôme des métiers d'art / DMA Horlogerie (two years).
William Paley and others used the watchmaker in hisfamous analogy to imply the existence ofGod (theteleological argument) .
Richard Dawkins later applied this analogy in his bookThe Blind Watchmaker, arguing thatevolution is blind in that it cannot look forward.
Alan Moore in hisgraphic novelWatchmen, uses the metaphor of the watchmaker as a central part of the backstory of his heroic characterDr. Manhattan.
In the NBC television seriesHeroes, the villainSylar is a watchmaker by trade. His ability to know how watches work corresponds to his ability to gain new superpowers by examining the brains of people he has murdered.
In the scifi novelThe Mote in God's Eye byLarry Niven, theWatchmakers[broken anchor] are a small technologically intelligent sub-species of theMoties that will repair/improve things left for them (accompanied by food as payment).
In the 2015 major motion picture filmSurvivor directed byJames McTeigue, one of the world's most wanted killers is played byPierce Brosnan, who demonstrates just how devastating the precision skill sets of a watchmaker can be as he plays the role of 'Nash,' a professional killer who excels at bomb making and long-range shooting.
In the film12 Angry Men, Juror 11 is a watchmaker. Like most of the jurors, his job reflects how he views the case, approaching the facts very methodically and keeping everything in order. It also reflects his status as a European immigrant, a fact commented on by Juror 12.
