Watchmakers – The British School of Watchmakers

Apart from the general loveliness of the BBC programme “The Repair Shop”, one of the main things you cannot fail to appreciate is the talent of the craftspeople involved. The skill that goes into the tiniest details can only be described as impressive.  With a number of skills at risk of being lost, the question is where are they being taught?

Ensuring that the skill of watchmaking doesn’t disappear from the UK, the British School of Watchmaking was set up in Manchester in 2006. The aim of the school being to boost the number of qualified watchmakers able to repair fine, mechanical watches.

Having recently moved home from Manchester to Stockport, Greater Manchester, I was commissioned to photograph a series of images of the students, school and their work.

Whilst wide shots would give an idea of the school setting, a lot of the shoot involved a lot of close up work. Woking in this way meant that it was easier to highlight the minute details that the students have to work with.

By including hands and parts of the watchmakers faces, you can get an idea of the scale of the work.

Including the precision tools that are used brings a greater awareness to the stages of the watchmaking process and also adds to the beauty of the finished product.

If you would like further details of the BSoW, their website is https://www.britishschoolofwatchmaking.co.uk

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