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What IS a Watchmaker?
What is a Watchmaker? What is the difference between a Watch Repairer and a Watchmaker? I will attempt to answer each of these questions below.
Although Watch Repairer and Watchmaker are sometimes used interchangeably this is not exactly correct. A Watchmaker is a person that not only cleans watches but can also fabricate needed parts from scratch. As an example I have went to school to learn how to make a balance staff or winding stem for a watch from a piece of raw steel rod. Training for this included the correct steel to use, how to heat treat the steel, making gravers (turning tools used on jewelers and watchmakers lathes) from scratch out of tool steel and carbide, correct way to use a watchmakers lathe, turning, and polishing. When I went to school to learn hairspring vibrating I was taught how to select the proper raw spring to use with a balance, how to measure the spring, different bends to make, how to collet the spring to fit the balance staff, how to use a hairspring vibrator, how to finish and stud the spring, and how to time the watch when the spring is finished (I am also one of the few people in the US still offering a hairspring vibrating service, seems to be a dying art). I also make jewel settings and other parts on my lathe. To pass a Certified Master Watchmaker test at AWI the watchmaker is required to make a staff and stem (these must both actually work in the watch). To pass a Certified Watchmaker test only turning of a stem is required (stem must work in the watch).
A Watch Repairer would be someone that does most general work on a watch such as cleaning, perhaps jewel replacement and hairspring truing, etc., but they may not even own a lathe or be able to use one (a good lathe and collets and the training to use them do cost a lot of time and money). In the case a part were needed that could not be ordered, the watch, or part of it, would be sent out so the part could be made and fitted by a Watchmaker. A Watch Repairer may also not be able to fix more complex movements such as chronographs. A Watch Repairer may be a hobbyist that does general watch cleaning and adjustment for extra cash to supplement their income.
In the end I suppose it is all up to individual interpretation. I advertise my business as Watch Repair because that is what most people search for on the internet when they need their watch cleaned or repaired.
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