The timely revival of watchmaking

In the digital era, when most of us tell the time almost exclusively by glancing at our smartphones, the historic craft of analogue watchmaking may seem like a relic of times gone by.

But far from dying out, the profession of horology is actually "enjoying a resurgence" of interest, said CNN, and the new wave of appreciation for the artistry of watchmaking is being partly "triggered" by Gen-Z aficionados.

Young saviours

For decades, the watchmaking industry had worried about an imminent "labour shortage" as older artisans retired, but even as "baby boomers" continue to hang up their straps, a new generation of enthusiasts have come to represent a "saving point" for the craft, said Johann Kunz-Fernandez, of the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program. This year, a "lot of young people, very young people", attended Watches and Wonders, a major watch fair held annually in Geneva, he said – something that "absolutely was not the case before".

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Connoisseurs have "heaped praise" on a "fresh generation" of "independent, artisanal watchmakers", all graduates of the Lycée Edgar Faure, a prestigious watchmaking school in eastern France, said the Financial Times last year. Later this year, the Finnish School of Watchmaking will offer an English-language watchmaking degree course for the first time in its 80-year history after would-be students registered interest from as far afield as Canada, the US, the UK, Turkey, South Korea and Iran, said CNN.

Heavily gendered

The watchmaking industry has historically been heavily gendered. Although women have "long been present" in the industry because their "smaller hands" were "seen as beneficial", female workers have been primarily "operators", with the more responsible position of "watchmaker" mostly held by men, said CNN.

However, the Finnish School of Watchmaking said women made up one-third of the applicants this year, amid a rise in interest from female watch-lovers. In 2023, Shona Taine became the first woman admitted to the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, a prestigious association of independent watchmakers.

In Pakistan, when Isra Arif moved from being an editor to a watchmaker, it "wasn't merely a career pivot", said Pakistan's The News International, but a "quiet act of rebellion" in a sector that's "both niche and heavily gendered". Women's hands aren't "expected" let alone "celebrated", in a field that's been the "domain of men", but Arif is among a new generation hoping to change the sector, for which she sees a healthy future.

"Horology is the perfect amalgamation of precision engineering, creativity and history," she told the newspaper. "The artistry and craftsmanship are things technology can't replace."