Going independent
Toward the end of last year I made a major career change. I looked at my retirement plan and realized that at my current rate I would never retire solely from my income as a watchmaker at this company, and an anti-moonlighting rule prevented me from performing any watch repair jobs on the side. I could work on clocks, but yuck. So I dusted off my resume and landed a great position in sales for a local tech company. No, not that one. Not that one, either.
I’m a member of my local Redbar chapter, and in case you don’t know it’s a group of people who love watches far too much. It’s mostly made up of men aged 20-50 who collect watches and heavily scrutinize new releases. The meetups are great fun, they usually take place in the back room of a bar or restaurant, and it’s like a car show that fits on a tabletop. The first few times it felt uncomfortable how casually everyone was passing around insanely expensive and interesting pieces. Most of the members work outside the watch business, (though a few are watchmakers) but some have taken their hobby to the point of taking watch repair classes, and some are self-taught and even work on watches with great regularity.
My first restoration purchase — two Rolex Submariners from the 1980’s
My experience, along with the knowledge that people do this as a hobby, (and some even do it for money) gave me the confidence to maintain my status as a watchmaker while working as a member of the Seattle tech scene. So I bought some watches in rough shape to repair and resell, and so far the results have been interesting. Here is what I have learned:
1) Major brands have made it very difficult to obtain parts, so maintaining a personal network of watchmakers worldwide has been an invaluable resource.
2) As an independent watchmaker with limited access to parts, you WILL find that flyaway cap jewel.
3) Ebay can be your friend, but the markups are high. Especially since I know first hand what parts really cost retail. Paying $250 for a beat-up aluminum bezel insert just feels…wrong.
4) Marketplace and platform fees will eat into your already slim margins, so sometimes you need to break even for the sake of developing relationships with dealers.
5) The act of starting a business is relatively easy if you take the time to read through the forms. State governments often have many resources in place to assist small business owners, but it all starts with a business plan. A business plan starts with writing down a goal, then slowly building on that goal, writing down obstacles, and building a plan for each obstacle. Before you know it you’re The Spring and Barrel, LLC, and licensed (technically as an antique and art dealer???) reseller in the state of Washington.
Having restored those two Submariners into two watches in good shape, I traded one for two other watches which I then quickly resold, and the other is currently available. It has been lots of fun to have projects to work on, and to interact with a variety of colorful characters across the industry for advice and parts. I’ve purchase a few more interesting things to work on, so stick around for updates.
