“Here is a personal question for you. What is on your wrist? Something gaudy and plastic? A smart device that can read you the news headlines? Or an heirloom passed down through generations?” These are Olly Mann’s opening words on an edition of Radio 4’s Four Thought that aired this week.
Entitled ‘Making Time’, the episode features one-half of Birmingham-based husband-and-wife team Struthers Watchmakers, Rebecca, talking on the subject of ‘exquisitely crafted’.
The episode is available as a podcast now from BBC Sounds.
While Mann hints at wearing a Shinola watch during the interview, Rebecca – a bench watchmaker, doctor of horology and a Fellow of the British Institute of Horology – is wearing her go-to, unusual and unbranded 1920s early waterproof timepiece.
Talking about the virtues of British, hand-made craftsmanship, Rebecca told WATCHPRO that she was keen to take part in the programme as horology, and its endangered status in the UK, is something she is passionate about about.
“I want people to care about these rare skills,” she says. “Enough to consider taking them up and fighting to protect them. Within the industry, we all talk to each other and sometimes forget that we are preaching to the converted. Four Thought is very much for the mainstream and it is great to be able to share the story of traditional watchmaking and the skills associated with it with a wider audience.”
The programme describes Rebecca’s journey into watchmaking, her working relationship with husband Craig, the increasingly heavy demand on their restoration and watchmaking skills and the lack of practical training available to those wanting to enter the trade. The conversation with Mann also touches on the current habits of watch buyers.
