In the 1970s, quartz clocks revolutionised the watchmaking industry. People predicted the death of mechanical watches, and watchmakers feared they would go out of business. But the exact opposite happened. Not only are mechanical watches still on the market, they have gained in value and skilled watchmakers are in demand across the world.
Young Post meets Manfred Weber, service manager for Asia-Pacific at A. Lange & Sohne.
Requirements
Watchmakers have a passion for micro-mechanics. Weber remembers that as a child he would spend time in his uncle's jewellery and watch shop, tweaking and repairing old clocks.
In this job, you need good eyesight and be meticulous and agile with your hands. You also need to be extremely patient. There can be more than 1,000 individual parts in some watches, so you need to have logical thinking to put them in order. Being good at mathematics will certainly help, and you must enjoy problem solving.
Qualifications
