***One Year On - by Tyler
Last Friday marked a year since I began my journey into the wonderful world of horology.
I’d always loved watches and wanted to be involved with them in some way but as you can imagine, it’s not exactly the easiest field to get into nowadays, especially as a watchmaking apprentice - and doubly so here in Australia.
I’d always loved watches and wanted to be involved with them in some way but as you can imagine, it’s not exactly the easiest field to get into nowadays, especially as a watchmaking apprentice - and doubly so here in Australia.
As such, when I first heard about the opportunity to become Nick’s apprentice, it was something I jumped at without a moment’s hesitation, and I’m forever grateful that he agreed to take me on. Some thought it strange that I’d chosen to go down this path in the 21st century. And of course, given my background in computer science, there was some confusion as to how the two might be related (in the world of modern day watchmaking, it turns out there’s a lot of crossover skills!). ‘It’s a dying art’, ‘no one needs a watch’, ‘what about smart watches?’ - but three of the most common remarks I’d hear.
This, coupled with the fact that apprenticeships are on the wane across all industries, make undertaking one an ominous sounding proposition. But as Nick and I have endeavoured to prove, with just a little perseverance it can be a beneficial thing for all parties, and we hope to encourage others to undertake one too.
Thankfully I paid no mind to the doubters and, as I’ve discovered over the last year, watchmaking is anything but a dying art and has a very bright future indeed. I had some idea of what I was in for, but I couldn’t have imagined just how fascinating and challenging it’d be, nor how much I’d enjoy being a part of the community.
Truly, watches seem to attract a special type of person who has a high attention to detail and an appreciation for engineering and art pushed to extremes, just for the sake of it. They tend to have an insatiable curiosity and whenever there’s a room full of them, you can be sure that some riveting conversation is taking place. It’s a community comprised of a cross-section of society like nothing else: tradesmen, politicians, scientists and bankers are just some of the people I’ve been privileged to meet, and I can’t wait for many more years of it.
So what lies ahead? More of the same - and so much more. Things are moving incredibly fast around here and we’re never really sure what’s coming ourselves. I couldn’t possibly list everything I’ve learnt and all that we’ve done over the last year, but suffice to say that we’ve laid the groundwork for some very exciting things and we look forward to sharing it all with you.
Until next time,
Tyler
Tyler
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