“Turn your passion into your job and you’ll never work a day again in your life”. The majority of the population spend over 40 hours a week at work. And unofficial statistics say that the majority of watch enthusiasts spend over 40 hours a week thinking about watches. Now, imagine if you could combine the two!
For many people, finding their perfect job in the watch industry is an unobtainable dream with boring things like experience, location and salary expectations getting in the way. But if you could spend your days working with watches, what job would you choose? Need inspiration? Take a look at these…
Events & PR
This one might be the most obvious, so we’ll start there. How often do you find yourself scrolling Instagram and coming across the most glamourous watch events, highly-polished marketing campaigns or a photo of your favourite celebrity wearing the latest release. I could see myself looking after the VIPs at the Formula One on behalf of IWC, or in the Caribbean on the set of a photoshoot for the latest Oris dive watch, or personally dropping off an Omega to George Clooney ahead of his upcoming film premier.
Marketing, social media
However, if you prefer working 9-5, but still want to enjoy the glitz of the watch industry, you could consider something more marketing-focused. I’m always impressed by the new ideas that brands come up with to catch our attention – you’d have to be hiding under a rock to miss the Moser x Studio Underd0g Passion Project! And I’ve really enjoyed Time & Tide’s recent campaign to promote the opening of their London studio. I think they’ve even got some job openings too!
Photography & Design
With the rise of social media, watch brands are competing to get the best photographs of their watches. Watches and cameras seem to go hand-in-hand and there are a growing number of watch enthusiasts who really know how to work those angles. Or perhaps you’re more creative with a pencil and paper? There are some amazing artists out there, creating their own artwork or working in-house. One of my favourites is the very talented Lee Yuen-Rapati who works with brands such as Fears to design watches, has created posters and artwork for the likes of Ming, and has even given lectures on the history of fonts used on watches.
Watch Sales
Pros – working in a comfortable showroom, handling the latest watches, getting to talk about watches all day. Cons – obviously it depends on the brand, but I would not want to handle some of those waiting lists. And it can’t be easy turning down all of those bribes!
Auctions
Now, working at an auction house has always appealed to me. Imagine the huge variety of watches you’d get to handle, so many with their own interesting stories. And the opportunities to learn would be endless. And let’s not forget the thrill of the live auctions itself.
Watchmaker
If you’re more technically minded, and prefer not to speak to people for the majority of the day, then you might want to consider a job as a watchmaker. Maybe bringing vintage watches back to life, or pushing the boundaries of movement design. Personally, I’d love to sit in on some of the design meetings at MB&F!
Operations
As some of you may know, I spent over 10 years working in operations and stock control for various watch companies and I loved it! The spreadsheets, the to-do lists, the Friday afternoons spent counting screws. And I really enjoyed seeing projects go from an initial idea to being shipped out of the door.
Legal, Accountants & HR
Maybe not the most glamourous jobs in the watch industry, but I can imagine they’d still be interesting. Do you remember the Philips x Omega “Franken” Speedmaster incident last year? The watch was bought by Omega in a Philips auction for just over CHF 3million but was found to have been put together using parts from various watches by an Omega employee. That must have been a tricky situation to navigate from a legal and HR perspective!
What next?
Now, you’re probably thinking “How do I go about finding my dream job in the watch industry?”. Much like any other industry, you can send your CV to companies directly, or keep an eye out for positions on their websites. There are also some great watch-based recruitment agencies such as Jackson Maine, Jewellery Stylist and Jolyon Marshall. And you can always drop me a message too, as I often hear about roles that come up.
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