During the COVID-19 lockdown, John Cairncross thought he needed a hobby. Instead, he found a new career. In 2020 Cairncross started watching YouTube videos of people repairing watches. In December 2023, he successful defended his PhD in Economics and, in March 2024, he will complete his term as an apprentice watchmaker at Rolex.
An economic historian and applied microeconomist, Cairncross will not completely rule out returning to academia at some point in the future, but for now, he’s happy to be part of an industry experiencing a renaissance. The unorthodox career change, he says, is not completely out-of-sync with his dissertation research. Cairncross’ favourite watches to work with are the American pocket watches.
“My research was about the American mid-West and the mass production of watches started there,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “They’re not high end, but they are of a nice, consistent quality and, if they break, they can be made whole again. It might be old-fashioned, but we’re living in a disposable society, and one of the things I like about these watches is that they can be repaired and kept going.” [Read more…]