Since the invention of the mechanical timekeeper eight hundred years ago, the centre of the world of watchmaking has moved location on three notable occasions – from Germany between 1560 and 1630, to England between 1630 and 1890, and finally Switzerland from 1880 to present.[1] During each of these eras, watches produced within these areas have demanded a premium. The watches being analysed by this research fall into the second period when England, and particularly London, was home for many of the world’s most celebrated watchmakers. In the space of just 150 years, English horologists and inventors contributed the balance spring[2] which gave such an extraordinary improvement in timekeeping and accuracy it allowed for the addition of the first minute hand.[3] Thomas Mudge invented the detached lever escapement in 1755 which improved timekeeping by reducing frictional error.[4] By 1765 watches could keep such accurate time that they were worthy of the introduction of a seconds hand.[5] One of the most extraordinary watchmakers of the era was John Harrison, who created the first successful marine chronometer in history to win the Longitude Prize.[6] Among his considerable contributions to the history of horology, he made significant advances in our understanding and compensating for temperature variation, including bimetallic strip compensation.[7] He invented the caged roller bearing, a virtually frictionless assembly requiring no lubrication and used in virtually all complex machinery to this day.[8]
The earliest known record of watchmakers in Switzerland dates back to 1556.[9] By the mid-eighteenth century, the Swiss industry had entered a state of rapid growth financed by strong global trade links and organised for greater production efficiency than UK watchmakers. The Swiss industry was, and remains, primarily for export. While the 20,000 watchmakers of London were responsible for the manufacture of 15,084 watches for export in 1793, in 1790 Chapuis estimates that Geneva’s population of 1,800 watchmakers were responsible for exporting around 14,000 gold and 45,000 silver watches annually.[10] Additionally, those 20,000 London watchmakers were part of the city’s population of one million inhabitants representing around 1/50th of the population, whereas Geneva’s watchmakers represented around 1/12th of its 20,000 inhabitants.[11]
Where, in the UK, watchmakers still operated as relatively independent workshops, Swiss merchant watchmakers through the redistribution of labour to develop early non-standardised production line methods. To illustrate how successful this method was, in comparison, in 1796 London watchmakers Smith and Upjohn of Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell record selling 3,388 watches that year, falling to 2,307 in 1797. Another watchmaker, Richard Bailey, also of Red Lion Street sold 3,870 watches in 3,870 dropping to 2,940 by 1797.[12] Comparatively, in Switzerland in 1793, watchmaker Frédérick Japy sold approximately 40,000 watches. The production method was referred to as établissage, which is the predecessor to the ébauche (or unsigned movements for sale to another watchmaker who finishes and decorates them).
By embracing technological advances in standardised machine production made by watch manufactories in the United States, such as Waltham, and combining them with the skilled workforce existing in Europe, by the end of the nineteenth century Switzerland became the centre of the world’s watchmaking industry and remains so to date.
[1] These dates are generalisations with some overlap in the transitional periods.
[2] Robert Hooke, London, 1664.
[3] Daniel Quare, London, 1690. Previous to this, watches had an hour hand only as the timekeeping was not accurate enough to warrant any further precision in measurement.
[4] Thomas Mudge, London, 1755.
[5] John Whitehurst, London, 1765.
[6] Harrison’s final payment for the Longitude Prize was made in 1773, although he never received the full prize money. Source: BETTS, J. Harrison. National Maritime Museum, London, 2007, p. 89.
[7] Formed of a sheet for steel and brass riveted together which rely on each other’s different thermal expansion rates to move a fixed point. The bimetallic strip was used in the index regulating the balance spring on Harrison’s H3 chronometer made between 1740 and 1759, and is a common feature in homes around the world as the thermostatic safety control in electrical plugs. Source ibid, p. 56.
[8] BETTS, J. Harrison. National Maritime Museum, London, 2007, p. 57.
[9] CHAPUIS, A & JAQUET, E. (1970) p.15
[10] CHAPUIS, A & JAQUET, E. (1970) p. 72.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Guildhall Library; Commons Journals 53 (1797-1798) 326-336.
The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust award Scholarships to existing masters of craft to expand their skills and Apprenticeships both to those at an entry level as well as technicians who have secured a position with a master irrespective of age.
UK independent makers and micro workshops making watches and chronometers from start to finish including all parts (where viable):
Independent UK crafts businesses that make their main craft income from the conservation and restoration of vintage and antique watches and chronometers, including making parts for existing pieces:
Independent UK crafts businesses that make their main craft income from the modification and refinement of movements, including the significant making of parts for existing pieces within the UK:
These include:
A further 21-50 professional makers earning their main craft income from the conservation and restoration of vintage and antique watches and chronometers, including high-grade and complicated mechanisms, and have the ability to make parts for existing timepieces. A further 201-500 professional technicians earning their main income from the service of modern watches and chronometers, including changing parts. A further 51-100 technician trainees (i.e. those acquiring the foundation skills required to gain entry-level employment in this craft at a service centre, and those whose level of skill means that they largely have to work under supervision even if they are earning money while training).
There is a recognised national shortage of high-grade restorers and conservators capable of working on complex and historic watches and chronometers. Restoration also provides one of the best pathways for watch and chronometer makers to start designing and making their own timepieces from scratch as it requires the same skill set. Estimating the availability of work is challenging as the long-term shortage of skilled craftspeople has resulted in many workshops and retailers ceasing to work with vintage and antique pieces because they have no way of repairing them; rather than in response to a lack of demand.
The limited number of businesses still practising traditional watch and chronometer making means that if one or two were lost there would be a high risk of the skills dying out altogether. As there is national skills shortage of traditional watch and chronometer makers in Switzerland, it is not unknown for high-grade makers and restorers to be recruited internationally and their skills lost from the UK. The lack of supporting network and opportunities for development is another draw for UK watchmakers to relocate to Switzerland exacerbating the attrition of skills from the UK.
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