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Watch/Clock Repairer

Interviews

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Darryl Lesser learned his profession from an old master Swiss watchmaker.

To keep pace, Lesser says you have to believe in yourself and love what you're doing.

"I still can't wait to go to work and help people with their inherited timepieces, clocks or pocket watches," he says.

"It's hard to do what I do, and many people would get frustrated easily. If the cat purrs or if the phone rings, it is very hard to get back into the concentration mode. But it's a great living, very interesting, and not many people left...can do it."

Lesser works by himself, but he consults with other master clock and watchmakers when he has problems.

"To be at the top, one must listen to others and learn, even if you're their senior. Listen, listen, listen and you'll learn."

Repairing new watches is often more expensive than buying a new watch. But it's a totally different situation with an antique watch.

"It's an art to take a 200-year-old pocket watch and bring back to life a very valuable piece of history. You think about where this pocket watch has been and who has owned it."

Being a clock or watchmaker can be stressful, so Lesser relieves the pressure by playing hockey three times a week.

"I sit at times for 14 hours with watches worth $10,000. If I make a mistake, it can cost me $1,000. Hockey lets me recharge my batteries so I can focus and relax to classical music and repair itty-bitty parts.

"Yes, I make mistakes at times. It's very frustrating when I work on a watch for five hours at a crack, put it all together again, take a deep breath and lightly shake it, and it doesn't work. Then I find out that I forgot to put a screw in or some dumb thing like that. It's an exact science. You can't force it to work. It has to be 100 percent perfect."

Lesser's hours at work can vary widely -- from 15-hour days to three-hour days.

"When it's quiet, I go to flea markets, jewelry stores or antique malls to try to find old watches and clocks or other horology things," he says.

"We're historians of watches...who made them and why they were made. The army needs one type of watch. Doctors need another type for measuring pulses. Pilots need a chronograph with a slide rule for distances and scuba divers need very reliable watches so they won't run out of oxygen."

Mike Murray took a correspondence course and learned clockmaking at his own pace. Then he looked through the phone book for antique dealers and visited every one of them.

"That's how I got a very short-term, quick education. I saw a lot of different well-made pieces in a short period of time."

But the one thing Murray lacked was a mentor.

"Find someone who's in business and wants to retire, and who's willing to give his or her knowledge to you. Apprentice as long as you can to gain knowledge and training, for a minimum of two to five years."

Early on, Murray fell into the trap of working too much. "I worked six to seven days a week, 12 hours a day. You burn out with any job that way. The most valuable lesson I learned was taking some time off. I try to take off two days every week."

To help those starting out in the field, Murray developed a website that offers an abundance of information.

"I created the website because of my background. I didn't mentor -- I corresponded. A lot of people just read books, which is like a correspondence course.

"While I was working and slowly developing my skills, I asked myself what would I need if I were just starting out and getting into this business. People accessing the site will have a fountain of information that I never had."

Charlotte Woodyard received her training as a clockmaker at Gem City College, a horological school in Quincy, Illinois.

"There are several colleges in the United States that teach the skill, and some learn it from apprenticeship," she says.

Why are people in this career called a "clockmaker" or "watchmaker," when they don't actually make clocks or watches?

"We are called that because of the training in lathe work and being able to make the parts or tools needed. Mostly though, it's not economical to make new parts as they're available from parts houses for the newer models. Only with great antique clocks and hard-to-find special clocks do I use the bench for fabrication. It's a needed skill, though."

Woodyard is confident about the future of her trade.

"Customers seek us out. There'll always be clocks handed down from generation to generation, and they require periodic upkeep."