3. Clerkenwell and Shoots

A rite of passage for the student watchmaker is the purchase of her or his first set of tools. In those days there was only one place to go – Shoots in Clerkenwell. This type of shop no longer exists, with its distinctive smell of tools, metal and history as you walked through the door. The walls were filled from floor to ceiling with slim drawers and cabinets contained obscure-looking tools and components that were a mystery to most of us. The windows contained a menagerie of curious items to anybody from outside the horological world and sometimes, to those who were a part of it. It was a shop from another moment in time.