“It was a really good opportunity to start seeing how people buy watches,” she recalls.Īs for a full-blown watch-making project, however, that didn’t come until 2013 when the pair won the Lonmin Design Innovation Award for their pendant watch, named “Stella”, crafted in platinum. Struthers’ first job in the watch industry was in a jewellers in Birmingham. While both were learning, they were also able to work in related fields. After that, she completed a PhD in horology as well.Ĭraig came to his studies a little later, having already worked for a spell in government IT – which he freely says he “absolutely hated”. And she says she was able to “tailor” a history of art and design masters to suit a horology theme in order to take her studies further. She trained in various crafts useful to her trade, however – from diamond grading to silversmithing. “They were just like, ‘No, you can’t do horology here’,” she remembers. Rebecca found this out fairly quickly when she tried to find horology courses that weren’t based at Birmingham City University. “It’s not a very well-known or advertised trade to go into,” admits Burtoft. Then, there is a clock restoration course at West Dean College near Chichester and some classes offered by Epping Forest Horology Centre near London. There’s the British School of Watchmaking in Manchester and the BHI offers various programmes, including distance learning, for example. He had begun a course run by the British Horological Institute (BHI) that was also based at the School of Jewellery.Ī current BHI veteran and tutor, Alan Burtoft, tells me that there are just a handful of places in the UK where budding watch- and clockmakers can do this sort of course. It was around this time, in 2004, that she first met Craig. Back then, she had no idea that watchmaking was a career, but students studying horology, the art of making clocks and watches, suggested it might be a good fit for her. Rebecca was just 16 when she applied to study a two-year course at the School of Jewellery at Birmingham City University. Then they come out to our location – our workshops have very much been designed to fit in with that.” “All of our clients at the moment are pretty much word-of-mouth,” says Rebecca when I ask if this layer of mystique is intentional. It has the feel of a Victorian study, but the old factory building housing the studio gives nothing away to the passer-by. Archie, a young Staffordshire terrier, snoozes on his blanket. The walls are painted dark green, a shade labelled “Dragon Song” that caught Rebecca’s eye when the duo were decorating. Rebecca welcomes me into the largest of three rooms – a warm space filled with antique bits of furniture and bookshelves. Hidden inside is a frankly magical little place – a watchmaker’s workshop run by Craig and Rebecca Struthers, a husband and wife team. Just a small, brass “2”, the studio number, which is modestly affixed to the front. The encouraging results of this evolution did not go unnoticed in the industry resulting in the creation of a new certification body – SAWTA…Swiss American Watchmakers Training Alliance.Down a rain-soaked alley in Birmingham’s jewellery quarter, I find a simple green door. ![]() ![]() Over the years our curriculum evolved in many ways to meet the current need for full-fledged watchmakers in the United States. Since mechanical watches require routine servicing to clean, lubricate and calibrate, the industry is faced with a large and growing number of high-grade watches that will require skilled maintenance. However, in the 1990’s, sales of high-grade mechanical watches began to rebound and continue to grow. (from 40 twenty-five years ago to less than 10 today). The result was a dramatic drop in the number of watchmaking schools in the U.S. The shortage originated in the 1980’s when the quartz watch debut threatened the future of the mechanical watch and the demand for highly-qualified watchmakers. In 2001, Rolex established LWT as their contribution towards addressing the major challenge that concerns the entire watch industry – the shortage of watchmakers who are qualified to service the high-end brands.
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