5. 1988-1990 Watches of Switzerland. Oxford and London,

Watches of Switzerland, London 16 New Bond Street (1989)

The most influential Watches of Switzerland boutique was on New Bond Street in London. I would later work there but first in Oxford. The shop was situated in Cornmarket Street. It wasn’t a large store but it did sell a wide range of brands, mostly low- to mid-range, from Tissot to Rolex. 

The workshop was situated at the top of the shop.  I shared the space with an older gentleman, Don Lobb. Having been in the trade for most of his working life he was an interesting guy to work with and was open with his advice. 

There was a base salary and once you completed a certain number of repairs you would earn extra money. For a basic service on a slim-line movement, one would earn £12.50, while a Rolex Cosmograph would be £14.50. A slim line calibre could take as little as 3 hours to service and refurbish the case, the Cosmograph, a full day, I’m not sure who came up with the payment structure but nobody wanted to service Cosmograph’s.

At the other end of the watchmaking trade, there were battery changes – removing the back of the case, taking out the old battery, replacing it with a new one and reproofing for water resistance. The watch-repairer earned £5.00 for what often took just five minutes. Don loved his batteries. 

After six months at Watches of Switzerland, Oxford I’d had enough and it was back to London and I became the Piaget watchmaker. The workshop, based in the centre of London’s West End, was in the basement of the Watches of Switzerland shop at 16 New Bond Street. There were seven watchmakers in the basement.

These vintage (by today’s standards) Piagets were nice watches to work on and the cases were beautifully made. After 6 months I had learnt all I could and it was time to move on, and through a friend who had heard of a position in an antique gallery in Piccadilly I met George Somlo.