Interview — Scott Miller, Master Watchmaker for Wempe London, UK
Credit: ROX
Having struck up a friendship many moons ago through the unique, and somewhat anonymous, world of ‘The Rolex Forum’ I managed to convince Scott to sit down and succumb to a barage of questions regarding the fascinating world he works in, allowing a rare glimpse into the mind of a luxury watchmaker today.
Find below our socially distant conversation from a lovely sunny park here in London at the beginning of June.
Scott lets kick this off with a quick intro about your watchmaking career to date.
I’ve been watchmaking for 12+ years now, including the time spent at the British school of watchmaking in Manchester, a WOSTEP school. I still remember graduating today, I felt ready to take on the world! This soon changed however when the reality of real world experiences kicked in and I realized I’d just scraped the surface of what it takes to be a full time watchmaker.
I was lucky enough to get sponsored through watchmaking school by Swatch Group which was incredibly fortunate. After my studies I worked for Swatch group including a stint at Omega before being offered the opportunity to work on Breguet and Blancpain, the luxury division. This move switched me from servicing to diagnostics and casings, allowing me to learn the product from the bottom up and further accelerating my growth as a watchmaker.
After 10 years working for Swatch I moved to Wempe as Master Watchmaker and Head of After Sales here in London where I’ve been ever since.
Credit: Wempe London
How would someone reading this today go about receiving a similar sponsorship?
I believe it’s still the same process, head over to the British School of Watchmaking website there should be a section on there relating to sponsors, pick one and submit your application!
Do you have any early memories of watches as you were growing up?
Earliest memory of watches would be family holiday to Turkey in 1998 [very precise] being inundated with, should we say, enthusiastic market salesman with their 100% ‘genuine imitations’ voodoo to my child brain. As a kid I collected swatch watches, it was the 90’s and everyone did. I remember being fascinated by the idea that the watch worked with your movement.
As a kid I collected Swatch watches, it was the 90’s and everyone did.
So did you always know you wanted to be a watchmaker?
In all honesty it was a happy accident! I didn’t have any prior exposure, no burning desire to be a watchmaker. I decided to leave my law course and the first job I got after leaving University was working for Rox in Glasgow. I sent my CV to a variety of places and they were just the first to come back with a job offer, I could have ended up doing anything. I remember when I started at Rox, seeing these watches, costing an obscene amount of money, and to be honest I just became obsessed with them. At the time I was lumped with changing batteries, which I loved, as I was the only person who showed an interest, from here I began to explore my options on how to take it further. It was a year or so before I started sending out my CV and a further year before I finally got a response, it was from The Swatch Group. They got in touch and said the Manchester school had opened and they offered to put me through. All in the space of 2 weeks I went from not even knowing the school existed to moving to Manchester.
Your partner Aimee is also a watchmaker, did you both meet there?
We didn’t actually, Aimee joined the the Swatch Group a number of years after me, I can report we didn’t see eye to eye at first, I believe I was somewhat to blame, with Aimee believing I was a bit of a know it all [laughs]. A number years later, and with overlapping friendship circles we grew close and the rest is history.
Scott & Aimee
Aimee Cowhig - Watchmaker for Omega in London
I’m intrigued what’s the conversation like in a household between two watchmakers?
[Laughs] It can range from actively avoiding talking about watches to the most lengthy and heated debates. I do like to tease a little on Omega’s constant limited editions, despite being something of a fan of them deep down!
I presume with the lockdown you’re not in the workshop, what does a watchmaker do to keep busy during lockdown?
Interestingly I’ve been filling my time with a number of Skillshare courses, learning web design and html coding. It appeals to be as its the polar opposite to my usual day to day. I work in such an analog world, I’m loving the opportunity to explore digital and tech. At work I could go a week or two without using any technology at all. Besides the learning I’ve enjoyed playing a bit of guitar and sipping my favorite whisky, single malt. However as lockdown continues I’m becoming less fussy with my drink of choice!
[Laughs] I can’t blame you. What’s on the wrist today then? Can you talks us through your watches.
I’m a Terrible watch collector! I tend to get my fix of watches vicariously through my job. My tastes however vastly outweighs the budget of a watchmaker [laughs]. Today I’m wearing my Speedmaster Apollo 11, I love this watch because of its deep history but also the aesthetics. The other watch in my collection is my Sea-Dweller 43. The Sea-Dweller works perfectly both dressed up and down and I love how it fits just perfectly on my wrist.
Scott’s Omega Apollo 11
Scott’s Rolex Sea-Dweller 126600
Money aside what would be the next piece to enter the collection?
For sure the 5270P salmon dial perpetual calendar chronograph. I just love everything about this watch. We had one in the shop earlier in the year, the dial is just mesmerizing and the movement is exquisite.
Credit: A Blog to Watch
From all the watches you’ve had the pleasure of servicing what is the favorite piece you’ve worked on?
Very difficult to answer as there are so many and for different reasons. For a period I did vintage work for Blancpain and had the opportunity to work on some really early 50 Fathoms which was awesome. As for interesting pieces, during the Arab spring we had a Breguet come in that belong to a very prominent former politician wanted by Interpol.
Did he get his watch back?
Yes he did.
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms
Talking of servicing, what’s the most common reason given to you by a customer on why their watch is broken?
[Laughs] The number one reason I hear for a watch landing on my bench is ‘it just happened’, ‘I woke and it was like that’ or ‘It just stopped working’. Often the full story can be somewhat eluded to by clear knock in the side of the case! Magnetism is also very common with the million different gizmos we have around us today, all of which have their own little magnetic field.
Besides knocks and magnetism anything else?
Water ingress. The most common reason for water ingress is not that it isn’t waterproof but people have the mentality that if it isn’t broken don’t fix it. The watch may well be mechanically sound but if you jump in the sea with 10 year old gaskets you’re asking for trouble!
Thats interesting to note! Roughly how many watches do you service a week?
In terms of full servicing I would say 1 watch per day however around a dozen also come in with smaller issues I can fix quickly, things like link removals and bracelet swaps [coughs looking in my direction].
[Laughs] I am guilty of this apologies! So what is your dream watch to work on?
I’ve been incredibly privileged to work on A. Lange & Söhne and would love to work on their chronographs. The models I do service are an absolute dream, for what is, still technically a mass produced brand, they still have a hand made feel about it. As an example you cannot just drop in a component with A. Lange & Söhne and expect it to work, you have to work with it, file it, polish it, real watchmaking.
Do you have any interesting stories you can share that have come to you via a customers watch?
There was one gentleman who was a miner and had very proudly purchased his first Rolex, the Explorer 1655. One day the mine he was working in collapsed and he took a bad fall and woke up to the news that his watch suffered a knock and the crystal had popped off amongst other things. This happened pretty soon after he had purchased it so was obviously quite frustrated so he reached out to Rolex about the issue. Stating that it failed him as a tool watch on the job they repaired it free of charge. Rolex really do stick by their products. I love that story!
Thanks for sharing that! Switching gears slightly. How do you view the state of watchmaking today and what’s your prediction for the future?
More than ever the future of watchmaking is looking bright! In little over the 10 years I’ve been in the trade the popularity and recognition has risen dramatically. It was commonplace not too long ago to have a conversation with someone where they would ask why watch making is still a thing, now it’s the opposite. Through the increased exposure, interest and conversation around watchmaking today more and more people are coming into it bringing great minds and great design. Future of watchmaking looks brighter than ever!
It was commonplace not too long ago to have a conversation with someone where they would ask why watch making is still a thing, now it’s the opposite.
Biggest frustration with the watch world today?
[Laughs] Well the huge popularity increase in watches through social media has brought a number of positives but also negatives. It has been great to see the increased interest in watches however anyone with an Instagram page and a camera can now portray themselves as a ‘watch expert’, and people are doing this. There are obviously a lot of people with amazing information and resources, backing up their work with sources etc but there’s are still a lot who aren’t. It’s pretty easy for myself to see through them however I often see people falling for misinformation. It’s not uncommon to encounter people who have read something on a forum or Instagram and then stated it as fact to others, this can be very misleading. As you know [looking at me], I do dabble from time to time in correcting wrongs as I see them on The Rolex Forum, I will not be disclosing my username today though [laughs].
For the brands however this surge in social media has been the best form of free marketing brands, however they are paying the price of hype watches that we are all to familar with that is only amplified by social media.
How about the biggest opportunity you see…
These days with the increase of rapid prototyping ideas can be brought to life extremely quickly. We’re not where we were a decade a go where it takes years to go from idea to product. This new world is leading to dramatic innovation and it’s very exciting.
Micro brands as well are thriving due to the social media. It gets their product in front of people in ways they couldn’t have done it in traditional ways. Fears Watches for example are a great example of this. Having previously been established by his great-great-great Grandfather, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill has reignited the business through his passion for watchmaking, innovation and the power of social media. I love this company you should really check them out.
[Below you can find a video of Holthinrichs Watches using the power of rapid prototyping in watchmaking]
You mentioned ‘hype watches’, I’d love to know what watch gets you excited and why?
[Laughs] That’s a thinker.... I’ll refer to my earlier grail of the Patek Philippe 5270P-001, classic design and execution.
Stepping away from the watches themselves are there any inspirations in the industry you’d like to share?
The Red Bar London group for sure. Such a great community that brings together people of every conceivable background and origin. It’s always great to be around people of similar interests both with watches and beyond. Red bar is just a community of people with shared interests, and if you live in London and have a passion for watches you should reach out to them on Instagram, they’re ever so friendly!
RedBar London Event, Credit: WatchGecko
Alright I’m pretty much out of questions. One last thing before we wrap up, I’m sure there will be a number of people looking to get in touch with watch related questions, how can they reach you?
Do feel free to message me on Instagram @scottwatchmaker I’d be more than happy to answer any questions. And who knows I might also bump into you on The Rolex Forum.
Do feel free to message me on Instagram @scottwatchmaker
Scott it’s been an absolute pleasure thank you for taking the time to share your world with us today.
Not a problem at all thank you.
