Is It Worth Becoming A Watchmaker?

When you get deep into watch collecting and wondering if you are addicted, you might ask yourself if you should become a watchmaker. This way you can play with watches all day and get paid for it, but is it worth doing this?

Well, it can be, but really it totally depends on your individual circumstances and your goals in life. If you really want to do this, it can be very worth it. You can be paid well and you get to play around with watches all day. I would say it’s probably harder than you think and maybe the work is repetitive, but it can also be very rewarding.

Watch Making Is A Skilled Trade

You have to remember that watch making is a real job. It’s not just messing around with watches.

If someone asks you to fix a cheap watch, you are going to have to do it, no matter how boring and simple the problem is. If the next 100 people come in with the same cheap watch and the same problem, then that is just how it is. You won’t be just playing around with the top watches when and how you please.

Maybe you don’t work at a repair shop and work for a luxury brand, building the watches, as amazing as that sounds you might just be the guy that put the bezel on the case. You will have to do just this, 100s of times a day. That is it.  You are just one piece in the human conveyor belt of the watches construction. 

It’s easy to fantasise about how great it might be but you need to always remember that it’s a real job with real skill. The good part about this is that means it is a legitimate business and there is legitimate training and qualifications. If you want a proper job it is there for you. You just need to decide if this is the job for you. 

If You Love Watches, Watch Making Could Be For You

The best way to know if this career could be for you is to really look at your relationship with watches. We are all into them, but if you are super deep into how they work and how they are made then this could a job for you.

If you have started tinkering or you do repairs for a hobby, you are probably going to have more of an appreciation of what might be entailed. Watch parts are really small and until you are holding a pair of tweezers and trying to pick up a tiny screw you might not appreciate how skilled it actually is.

If you are actually doing this for fun in your spare time, you are probably going to be in a very good position to do this for a job. It will just be down to you ask yourself if you want to keep it as a hobby or start to really increase you skill and do it professionally.

There Is Always Demand For More Watch Makers

The majority of watch makers are slightly older. Within the next few years they will all start to retire. This means there will always be a demand for fresh young blood to come in and follow in their footsteps.

If this is a job you are interested in, you should always be able to find work pretty easily.

You also need to consider that watches are not going anywhere. Even if there are arguments that the popularity of watches are slowly declining, there are still plenty of watches. There is still a very healthy market and new watches are being made all the time.

You also need to consider that even if all new sales stopped tomorrow, there is still a tremendous amount of watches out in the world right now that will all need serviced and repaired at some point. The demand for a watch maker is not going to go down any time soon.  

Becoming A Swiss Watchmaker

I am sure if you have thought about it this far, you will be wondering what are the possibilities of working for one of the Swiss giants.

Well, honestly, it’s going to be hard. They tend to use Swiss people, who are already local and can also speak French or German. They are able to source most of their work force locally, but that does not mean exclusively. While it may be hard to get a job with these companies, it is not impossible. You may have a few extra hurdles to jump over, but if you really want it, I am sure you can achieve it.

(You can read more about – What Makes Swiss Watches So Expensive?)

Watch Making Elsewhere In The World

No matter where in the world you are, you should be able to find a local qualification that can teach you what you need and get you set up for you career.

While these may not seem as glamorous as going to Switzerland, they are still a high level and very legit.

How Much Do Watch Makers Get Paid?

While the idea of playing with watches seems fun, what we really want to know is how much you can get paid. That is really going to let us know if it is all worth it.

The truth is that a lot of watch makers can do financially very well.

Of course it is going to depend where you live and it will depend on what exactly you are doing as well as your experience.

However, on average a watch maker makes around $30-40k a year in the USA and it is a similar figure in the UK.

Some of you may be young and think this sounds great, some of you may be a little older and think your current situation is better. This is why it is so hard to give you a straight answer. Only you will know if becoming a watch maker is worth it. 

Conclusion

Is it worth it, only you can answer that, but it might be. There are certainly plenty of benefits to being a watch maker and if you love play with watches, especially opening them up and fixing them, then it could be the perfect career for you.

It will be a lot of work and it is quite difficult, so it is not a decision you should take lightly. It really is just like any other skilled trade; it just happens that you probably already love watches, so it’s the perfect industry. 

If you do decide to go for it, I am sure you will love it, I think if you have that feeling deep inside that this could be for you, you should follow that and give it a try!

(Maybe you would rather sell watches, than make them. You can read more about this – Is Flipping Watches Worth It?)