For those of you who don't know him, Nicholas Hacko is a third generation watchmaker based in Sydney, Australia.

He was at the forefront of the local drive to get Swiss watch brands to sell parts to qualified watchmakers, but I think he realised that it wasn't going to happen.

So in response, he decided to become Australia's only true watch maker. That is, making all of the parts locally (with the exception of the standard outsourced parts all companies procure).

He is looking for apprentice watchmakers or precision machinists to join him and his team on what I think is an exciting journey. I just wish I was 50 years younger.

Here is a recent post I received from Nick, seeking people to join him.

Hi,

It has been a few years since I had the time to post here! I don't think
that our life was any less busy nor hectic than yours - indeed, thanks to
the internet, any creative and curious person nowadays would find an
exuberant amount of 'material' to entertain and emerge themselves into,
endlessly.
However, the last 18 months have been just crazy. Our new workshop is in its
final stage of completion. The lathe and barfeeder are installed, the Kern
Pyramid Nano mill has been delivered, awaiting installation by German
engineers; the Affolter hobbing machine is here as well. On February 1 the
EDM cutting machine is to arrive from Makino Japan. And then the 'other'
small stuff: polishers, tumblers, hardening oven, perlage machine. A
Schaublin 102 (complete set with all collets and milling attachments!) is
next on our 'to acquire' list. And more...

In other words, soon we will have at our disposal the best equipped
watchmaking workshop in the Southern hemisphere!

The only thing missing: one or two watchmaker apprentices/machinists who
will join us in the quest for designing and manufacturing the first
Australian-made watch movement. Exciting times!

If such a person exists on this mailing list then, please, make us aware of
yourself! We would love to hear from you and invite you for an interview.

Alternatively, I would REALLY APPRECIATE if you can forward this message to
anyone who wants to take on the apprenticeship, or to your favourite Watch
Forum. Opportunities like this don't come along often; and certainly not in
Australia.

Thank you for you support, all the very best for 2018.

Nick Hacko
www.NicholasHacko.com.au

As I said earlier, if only......................

Anyway, if any of the younger generation are looking for a unique opportunity, here is one option.

 

Wishing him the best of luck in the bold venture.

I hope he will find some enthusiastic watchmakers to train as we do need more of them to keep our watches ticking for the next generation or two.

With a mortgage and hefty private school fees to come, I'm not planning to change career.

 

I think I should clarify.

While NH did spend a lot of his life as a "watchmaker", he is now aiming to be a "watch maker" (manufacturer).

There are many levels of "watchmaker", e.g. our own @Archer is a watchmaker because he fixes/repairs/services watches. While this may be considered as "watch technician", I'm sure he has had to "make" many items to get a watch working again if the parts are no longer available.

He also qualifies as a "watchmaker" because he produces watches with his own brand. This is done by sourcing the many parts required and assembling them into a watch. Isn't he then just a "watch assembler"?
If you think making watches this way is just putting parts together and "bingo" you have made a watch, then you are in need of serious watch education. There are countless implications to consider in the design, parts assessment, parts sourcing, configuration, assembly, testing etc etc. (BTW, NH is also a "watch assembler" with his line of REBELDE watches).

And then there is the watch maker.

Somebody like George Daniels (to use the master as an example), and many others, who take "a lump of metal and a file" and after many months (or even years) produces a watch.

So NH is is on that crazy journey, somewhere between George Daniels and Rolex S.A. as the first and only "watch maker" in Australia.

I know this may look like a fan boy post (I'm way too old to be a fan boy) or an advertisement (I wish I was paid for this) but I admire the way he is going about this. And if he pulls it off, what about the opportunities for young people to develop and continue something almost unimaginable.

An Australian made watch? "Fuck off mate, you're joking!"

Move on five or ten years.

An Australian made watch? "You're joking, that looks good, where can I get one".

 

Would seem to me that if there was a such thing as an ideal time to enter the market as a true watch manufacture since say the quartz crisis, then this feels like right about the right time..

 

Thanks for clarifying that.
Well i look forward to see his future creations as independent manufacturer if he can pull it off.