Tommy wilkinson

Loomes welcomes back work-experience teenager to full time watchmaking

Loomes of Stamford has appointed Tommy Wilkinson as a full-fledged watchmaker.

Mr Wilkinson first came into contact with the British watch company when he spent time in the business as a 14-year-old work experience student.

He caught the horology bug and went on to earn a first class honours degree in watchmaking from Birmingham City University. “From that moment I knew what I wanted to do,” Mr Wilkinson says.

The Birmingham course allowed him to work in modern service centres for well-known Swiss brands, but on graduating he was happy to move to Loomes full-time.

“The variety there is so great,” he explains. “One day it’s modern watch manufacture, the next it is obscure antique restoration work. Every single day is a challenge.”

Mr Wilkinson has started work alongside two senior watchmakers at Loomes, each with over twenty years at the bench. Following an intensive in-house training course in April, he is also CNC machining modern movement components, something watchmaking students rarely have an opportunity to learn.

Loomes managing director Robina Hill says: “Tommy had already proved his worth to us, long before he went to university. He had hand finished, polished and blued hundreds, possibly thousands of steel watch hands as a teenager here and done them to a world-class standard. We knew he would excel at watchmaking school. Now three years on we have a highly skilled and educated team member who already understands the ethos here.”

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *