Discussion summary
Canada's only watchmaking school has been operating for 80 years, maintaining a strong tradition despite AI advancements. Discussions include the impact of AI on skilled trades and the school's historical significance.
What the discussion says
- AI is replacing some skilled jobs but not watchmaking.
- The school has a long-standing reputation and history.
- AI has shifted focus from manual tasks to programming and art.
- Some commenters are surprised about the school's existence and location.
“This school's still going strong after 80 years.”
“AI replaced me writing emails, but not watchmaking.”
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- Hacker News
- kid me thought AI would replace people doing insanely precise hand work. turns out it replaced me writing emails, and this school's still going strong after 80 years. lmao we got played
- Give the Chinese some time.
They are doing incredible things with world models, and have an economy that really could do incredible things with robots wired to effective world models.
It won't surprise me at all if in 10 years LLMs are less of a big deal than world models
by dghlsakjg - AI was supposed to do my laundry so that I could make art and code for fun but now the AI is coding and making art while I do laundry.
- fascinating!
- Maybe I will take up watchmaking when I get sick of AI slop programming and offshore morons going wild with a Claude subscription.
- If you read about Harrison's Chronometers you read of Rupert T. Gould who suffered a Nervous Breakdown, and it is said fell into watch repair as therapy, bringing them back to life.by ggm
- Yes, but has it taken a licking?
- I believe this is exactly the kind of high-paying job that is difficult for AI to replace.by LzeYing
- I don't know how high paying it is, although I can see how it can be, especially given there is a shortage of watchmakers in the developed world, even in Switzerland.by ricardobayes
- I am literally wearing a watch right now that was produced without any of these artisans’ specialized labor and which boasts among its features access to AI.
In a very real sense I have replaced use of the skills of watchmakers with AI.
Sorry about that. To be fair most watchmakers were already put out of work by quartz oscillators and integrated circuits in the 1980s.
by jameshart - Correct, AI will not replathe 3 high-paying watch maker jobs that exist. You are the best kind of correct, technically. But you are distracting from the fact that most people aren't doing anything even remotely physical related in the space that some people posit will be decimated by AI: white-collar jobs where you are a keyboard jockey all day.by gleenn
- Sure but it’s also a microscopically small component of the country’s overall economy.by stouset
- Why?
Many modern watch parts are CNC machined, often the finishing is done by hand such as zaratsu polishing - but even that is a repetitive motion that can be mechanised.
I would not be surprised if given enough time even what we have today - a decent VLA model + some other specialised models, 6-axis CNC machine, an SMD pick and place etc would be capable of designing, manufacturing and assembling a mechanical watch.
by fennecfoxy - Yes, and it's a great example of an industry that was completely decimated by automation - you can get a functional watch for a fiver, whereas back when every watch was handmade and a de-facto inheritance piece.
But bespoke, handmade, high value, low volume stuff is still around.
by Cthulhu_ - I have a friend who got an English and Creative Writing degree from a liberal arts college, and then immediately went back to trade school for band instrument repair. It's not particularly lucrative, as trades go, but it does seem a lot more future proof than most careers.by annzabelle
- Mechanical timepieces are a luxury item, and these students are essentially artists in training. Wrist time was solved in the late 1970's with the commoditization of quartz movements. These 'jobs' will get replaced by AI at approximately the same pace as your local sculptor.by seemaze
- This is definitely something I've always thought about doing once I retire (if my generation gets to retire).
Just seems like the ideal way to spend the last period of your life; quietly making the small mechanical pieces and hopefully finally assembling something to be left behind.
Though I don't imagine I'd ever be able to produce something as small, accurate or intricate as these students are able to.
by fennecfoxy - It's surprisingly easy to learn. I had a coworker who did this as a hobby while working in tech. Rolex hires people right off the street and trains them into professionals within weeks. Even as an amateur I've opened a few of the cheaper watches in my collection for some basic maintenance. When I retire it's one of the hobbies I hope to dive deeper into, it would be nice to be able to do my own oiling on most of my collection.
The main barrier to entry is that you need a lot of tools and supplies, I priced it out and to do a full service on an automatic I probably need $1000+ of tools and supplies.
by throw2ih020 - It's promising and I'm glad to hear such a depth-oriented study of making things, taking time is still a thing in a fast world. People are paying to study this, niceby legends2k
- Yes, but notice the scale - 20 students, in a nation of 40+ million people.
We might call that a moral or poetic victory - but practically speaking, it's like an endangered human language which "still has over 100 native speakers". The future ain't looking good.
by bell-cot - There is something pleasantly backwards about a school teaching people to repair objects that were designed to last, while so much of the rest of the economy is optimized around replacementby MarceliusK
- One could argue that it’s everyone else who is backwards.by al_borland
- There's something interesting in maintaining items built to last when the objects themselves are maintained and kept for entertainment reasons. (Entertainment in the broad sense for enjoyment first and foremost over utility or practicality). I guess it strikes me like a master of maintaining toy trains or something along those lines, both evoking a sense of respect and sense of humanity for the craft and art of the thing, while paradoxically feeling that this is not "actually important" (whatever that means). Like someone being a great soccer player or michelin star chef -- the seriousness of this kind of endeavor is both inspiring and comical at the same time?
Maybe it should be viewed like the sign of a healthy ecosystem; if it can support "exotic birds" like these, it's stable and healthy.
by yulker - As a Canadian cool! Never heard of this school before but on the west coast so probably why.
I've watched many watch repair videos online and the knowledge base required is huge. Also there are many tools needed which are not cheap. There is just so much to know that takes years to learn. Very cool that the knowledge is being shared and the skill passed on. In my small town there was only one guy who worked on clocks and watches. He passed a while back and his kids continue with his jewelry store but they now send out watches and clocks to another business as none of his kids learned how to do it.
by 14 - I live in Quebec and this is the first time I hear about it.by xutopia
- I discovered this school right after discovering the Richard Mille clock in Quebec City [1] because the school is responsible for maintaining the clock.
1. https://www.ville.quebec.qc.ca/en/apropos/portrait/attraits/...
by whynotmaybe - Antrax lead guitarist Dan Spitz went on to become a watch maker:by kazinator
- I would have expected guitar repair. One of my recent youtube channel finds was a young woman who repairs old guitars, rewinding pickups and such. Fascinating. I didn't realize one of the uses for Formvar (aside from films for use in electron microscopes) was insulation on electric guitar pickup wires.by pfdietz
- The 8th highest voted HN submission is on mechanical watches. I imagine that's the type the watchmaking school involves themself with because afaik all high end watches are mechanical.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533 4 years ago 413 comments
They have a certain beauty in their intricate details working together for function. I do really like looking at the glass back which shows some details and you can see the piece that move to gain power.
Although it seems youd have to pay a lot to get an accurate one because I have a $250 mechanical Seiko and its time keeping is junk. It was mediocre when I got it and has gotten worse. It was $150 when I bought it so I suppose it would have been a good investment if it hadn't got beat up.
by Cider9986 - What kind of timekeeping do you consider "junk"? I'm currently wearing a $50 Chinese watch with a knock-off Seiko automatic movement in it, and I just now timed it out of curiosity at -5s/day.