Reply With QuoteFantastic, and what a great turn of events! Welcome back. I’m intrigued who you’re working for, are you not allowed to say?
My word, it feels like a long time since I actually contributed to this forum, something I’m hoping to rectify in the future…
Looking at my profile I joined back in 2009, back then I was only 20 (Jesus, time really does fly!) and I would have been a Junior Draughtsman in a civil engineering company. It was my then manager that really reignited my love for watches and influenced the purchase of my first automatic watch, an Ollech and Wajs M5, a modest purchase, but something that would lead on to many flips and purchases down the line.
It’s now 2020, I’m 31, oddly a little lighter than I was over a decade a go, but alas that lost weight may have just come from my receding hairline haha. I spent that decade in a number of jobs, all office based and generally unfulfilling, especially my last, which gave me many headaches, late nights and even in one case, vomiting from the thought of the stress the day was going to bring me, dire times indeed…
However, Needless to say all the pain of the last decade have finally landed me the job of my dreams. Late last year, after a particularly awful day at the office, an opportunity presented itself which I dare say has changed my life. I’m now training to be a watchmaker and living in Geneva, my days feel much simpler and I can honestly say I look forward to going to work in the morning. I’m not sure how much detail I should go into, but it’s a well-established brand and one that I feel very fortunate to be working for.
I’m hoping that as I become more experienced I might be able to offer some advice/guidance where I can.
Anyway, a quick update on the state of the collection…
• Tudor Black Bay (ref 79230R)
• Dunhill RPM Chronograph
• Seiko Presage Cocktail Time (SSA343J1)
• Seiko SKX009J
• Seiko 8M25-8030
• RLT29 – heavily customised, long story
• Camy Chronograph – Landeron 248 movement (I believe)
• CWC G10 – 1988 (birth year) RN issue
• Casio F-91W
• Parnis Sterile Dial Radiomir homage (are we still allowed to say homage haha?)
I’m also keeping an eye out for interesting mechanical watches or various complication to try my hand at repairing, I’m watching a couple of doer uppers on eBay at the moment, I’ll of course keep you all posted with any additions.
Fantastic, and what a great turn of events! Welcome back. I’m intrigued who you’re working for, are you not allowed to say?
Thanks, I'm not sure to be honest, so I'd rather not. Amazing company to work for though, disregarding the actual work, the facilities and staff are amazing a really lovely atmosphere.
I keep finding myself looking at old chronos on eBay tonight, this could be dangerous and expensive haha, especially with the red wine being liberated from the bottle!
Time is short. We should all use it to do something we can be happy doing.
I once heard an interview with someone who worked in the City but was unhappy. She said she realised one day that she was "...sleepwalking through life...". She quit and started her own business doing something completely different.
Good luck to you.
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Welcome back and enjoy Geneva, must be quite a change. How long does it take to train? Can we post you bracelets for refinishing once you're fully qualified?
Congratulations, you made a brave move. I'm glad that it has worked out so well for you. I look forward to your future contributions here.
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Wow, well done. Quite a few people consider this sort of career change but very few actually do it.Originally Posted by TomWazza
Hope it continues to go well! :-)
Superb reintroduction, and it took a turn I was not expected about the watchmaking!
Congrats on being in a good place now by the sounds of it
Dan
Always nice to have a pro round the house!
Looks like you will have to make tz part of your job as horological marketing for research and development... Cool.
Now, about that rlt...
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A vocation is much better than a job. Sounds like you are about to embark on a fun journey in your life. Looking forward to hearing about it and congratulations.
Fabulous. Great that you’ve landed up somewhere that you feel comfortable and doing something that gets you excited.
Life is too short to be stuck in jobs that don’t fulfil you, bring on too much stress etc.
Great to have a pro to add to the knowledge at TZ-UK already.
Welcome back.
Excellent news Tom- pleased life is 'on the up' for you. Remember you can always specialise in the high end tiny watches worn by 'Swiss Gnomes'
Great story and glad you are now doing something you love - life is too short to keeping doing something that generates excessive stress.
Congratulations on the change. And, welcome back to TZ. Cheers!
Incredible story, you’re very lucky to now be doing something you’re passionate about. Enjoy!
Fantastic story! How did you even get into applying for something like this, especially at an 'older' (hate that word) age? And do you need to speak French?
Nice collection as well, did you buy pieces with tinkering in mind?
Nice re-introduction, so welcome back.
Don't inhale the solvents...
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Thanks for all the kind comments!
Yeh Geneva is amazing, when I arrived it was 30+ degrees and I nearly died, but we regularly have blue clear skies and today it's a very pleasant 14 degrees. The course is for two years, I should be finishing in the summer of 2021 and then returning to the UK. I believe we're only focusing on the movements and casing up, so you can send me your bracelets at your own peril haha!Welcome back and enjoy Geneva, must be quite a change. How long does it take to train? Can we post you bracelets for refinishing once you're fully qualified?
I think I'm many many years away from being considered a pro, but thanks and I'll be sure to pass on any requests haha.
Re. my RLT29, this is it...
Long story short - Sold out over on RLT website, found case and bezel on eBay in a job lot of Tag Heuer cases in Australia, had to also buy job lot of case backs (frustratingly from the same seller) to get the matching set, had the case sand blasted, bought a quartz ETA and sterile dial, sent it to multiple people to assemble it, but Duncan over at Genesis Watchmaking did a great job on it, reaming out the case to fit a correctly sized pendant tube for the crown (something the others had done by hand with a file!).
Originally I had a Tag dial fitted to it and did a mock up of a PVD version which I thought looked quite cool, but never got round to it and just went with the sand blasting in the end.
I'm not sure if i'd ever sell it, it's one of those 'where am I going to find another' watches and it's cost a small fortune haha
It was crazy really, I'd previously looked at watchmaking jobs in the UK, but obviously everyone wants experience and I had financial commitments that meant I didn't feel like I could go back to studying. Anyway, I went onto Indeed and this position was sat there on the home page under previously searched jobs. I applied not expecting to get anywhere, but after a fairly lengthy process they picked me. Still think it's crazy how it all happened. The course has a French speaking element and I have lessons twice a week.
Haha, I never intended to tinker with the watches, I wish they all worked perfectly!
The Camy chrono needs a new chrono hand, The 8m25 mode indicator hand slips a little when rotated and the CWC intermittently runs. These'll be the first to be looked at when I get back.
Haha, thanks, I'll try not to!
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