Last updated on August 16th, 2025 at 12:40 pm
When searching online for someone to fix your timepiece, you might use terms like antique watch repair, vintage watch repair, or even old hand-wound watch repair. However, one term that’s often overlooked is “watchmaker.” While it may sound outdated, “watchmaker” traditionally refers to a skilled professional trained in the art of mechanical watch restoration and repair—long before battery-operated quartz watches became common. In this brief article, let’s dig into the origins of the term, and what it means today.
Origins of the term
A Watchmaker was originally a craftsman or artisan who made timepieces from scratch. In later years this term became synonymous with a person who possessed the knowledge and skill to repair pocket and wristwatches. Even though actual watch manufacture was not part of a watchmaker’s duties, a similar level of expertise was required to repair a watch. Understanding of theory, mechanics, metallurgy, and manual dexterity was needed. If a part was not available, it had to be made. The scarcity of parts was especially a problem for the watchmaker who was isolated from urban centers, where parts were not readily available.
Although requirements differ in each country, traditionally, a watchmaker would have many years of apprenticeship under a skilled artisan and join a guild (specialized groups for any particular craft or trade). In more recent times (early to mid 20th century), states and provinces would issue an official registration for watchmakers meeting specific requirements. Many schools existed for watchmakers, and companies such as Elgin provided training for employees. As part of this training, many classes required students to make a pocket watch (using pre-engineered dies and molds).
Transition from mechanical to battery powered
In the early 1970s the mechanical watch fell from favor and cheaper quartz watches dominated the market. The number of watchmakers diminished as they aged and retired. Schools slowly closed, and formal training opportunities became limited. Traditional watchmakers were becoming rare.
Many watchmakers today have learned their skills through apprenticeship under experienced watchmakers. For the self-taught, tremendous amounts of information can be obtained by searching scanned internet archives such as Google books. There are also several training options available (although very limited).
Finding the right person today to repair your watch depends much on the age of the timepiece and the watchmaker’s particular expertise. I will cover this subject in a future article.
If you would like to initiate the repair of your vintage timepiece, be sure to visit getting started. For additional information on watches we work on please visit these pages: Vintage Rolex repair, Vintage Breitling repair, Vintage Omega repair, and Vintage Heuer repair.
