How I Became a Watchmaker

Welcome to Lifehacker’s “How I Became” series, where I ask real people how they actually got their jobs. This week I had the pleasure of talking to Matt Chapman, a contemporary watchmaker. The official term is “watchmaker”: one who studies the art of designing and making clocks and watches.

After years of spending all day in front of the screen for major advertising campaigns, Chapman finally moved from office work to workshop work. Now he spends his days following his passion: bringing clocks to life. Here’s how this former creative director became a watchmaker, and how you could follow in his footsteps.

Turn a hobby into a career

Chapman has been fiddling with watches for years, but like many who have had more free time during the pandemic, COVID-19 has been a major catalyst for a career turnaround. Realizing that he was spending more time fiddling with watches than his official day job as art director, he thought, “Well, maybe I should make watches my career.”

His first dive into watch repair was a combination of necessity (“I need to fix this watch”) and courage (“Maybe I can fix it myself?”). Although he received no formal education, Chapman was able to establish a career as a self-taught watchmaker. His experience is mainly based on YouTube videos, internet forum searches, and a host of other experiments. He is particularly fascinated by chronographs, a special type of watch that is used as a stopwatch in combination with display watches, with new movements that are “incredibly complex” compared to your regular watch.

Chapman says the first time he took the watch apart was horrendous – “like bungee jumping.” But as he managed to make hours after hours, he gained confidence in himself. “The only way to do anything is to do it right,” Chapman says. When you service a watch, that means taking it apart completely, cleaning every part, and putting everything back together again.

For aspiring watchmakers looking to take a more traditional approach to the craft, there are apprenticeships and formal watchmaking schools. To receive an apprenticeship, you must be willing to do your own research and prove yourself. Since many independent watchmakers do not work for the company, you may need flexible hours that allow time to work with your watchmaker’s schedule as it becomes available between projects.

Making money from watchmaking

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics , watchmakers earn an average of $45,290 per year. Chapman gives a little more information than that, explaining how the money side of things varies from hour to hour.

For example, Chapman says he could buy a broken watch for $1,000 and also spend several hundred dollars on parts. Once restored, the watch is typically worth around $2,500. Chapman prefers to stick to the $2,000 to $3,000 price range, calling it a “gold spot” to keep his repair business viable.

Of course, luxury experts can make big money. Chapman notes that he has seen a broken Rolex watch that is still worth over $10,000 today. And once they’re restored, you’ll see watches worth over $50,000.

Be your own boss

The beauty of self-employment lies in the fact that you get to decide what your working day will look like. Chapman is prone to tunnel vision; it is not unusual for him to continue working late into the night. But other watchmakers may maintain a standard 9 to 5 workday.

Chapman says that when many watchmakers first start working, you spend more time on all fours than at your desk. In other words, most of the work is about finding the smallest springs and screws that “fly out of your hands if you even look at them the wrong way.” Whether or not he thinks the microscopic spring is “all part of the madness and charm” that makes Chapman love what he does. Watchmaking is painstaking “careful, correct and meticulous… that’s why the moment a watch comes to life in your hands, there is nothing like it.”

How to plan a great escape

When Chapman first started working in advertising, his whole job was to “come up with ideas.” It was a work that could be seen, touched and felt. In his office there was a notepad, a marker, a telephone – and there was no computer. In the decades since he started his career, digital has taken over.

A big part of leaving advertising work to repair watches was to “run away from the screen.” This is the first part of the double meaning of the title of Chapman’s antique clock restoration, The Great Escapement . The second meaning is that the “escapement” in a watch is the part that makes it tick. Escape from the same world to follow what makes you tick… well, it’s safe to say that Chapman’s shop name does a great job in the metaphor department.

Chapman says the key to such a career leap is not to base your decision on money. Obviously you need a roof over your head, but if you’re really passionate about something, there’s a way to make it work.

Chapman admits it was an intimidating leap at first. One of the monetary moves he made in the beginning was to liquidate his own collection of watches. This move gave him income to invest in more broken watches, thus starting a flood of inventory. Luck plays a huge role in pursuing any passion, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the importance of doing some serious serious research and making informed decisions.

Chapman says people ask him all the time, “How do you remember where all the pieces are?” And his answer is always the same: “I don’t have to remember where the details go. If you know what this part does, it can only go one place!” And if you know what you really have to do, there is only one place for you to go too.