– John McGonigle, Master Watchmaker.
Wrist watches are an ancient technology but they are in full revival mode. Sales of luxury watches in Ireland increased by 26% in the first six months of 2023 and have increased by 60% overall since 2021 according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
We now rank 24th in the world, ahead of countries like Belgium and Portugal.
In our digital ephemeral world, a watch is a beating heart on your wrist – it is where engineering, history, art and craft collide (to quote watch YouTuber Britt Pearce).
Yes, a mechanical watch is not cheap, but remember it can last several lifetimes – those springs and levers can endlessly be repaired even after the apocalypse.
The wristwatch is the ultimate in sustainability as you never need to throw one away, it can always be repaired and should increase in value.
Switzerland still dominates luxury watch sales worldwide and employs thousands, but did you know that a handful of Irish watchmakers are among the most lauded in the Swiss industry?
Perhaps Ireland’s two best-known master watchmakers are Stephen and John McGonigle who are originally from Athlone and trained at the Irish/Swiss Institute of Horology in Dublin (sadly now closed).
Both worked for a number of high-horology brands such as Breguet, Audemars Piguet, Girard-Perregaux and Cristophe Claret before setting up their own brand, McGonigle Watches.
McGonigle watches have included a tourbillon watch where the escapement that powers the watch is encased in a delicate rotating cage, and a minute repeater that chimes out the exact time should you ever be in a dark place where you can’t see the dial of the watch.
John has since stepped away from McGonigle Watches and created Oileán Watches. John was at Waterford showing variations of his watch which is painstakingly hand-decorated and tuned by him.
“Beauty is as important as function”, he told me. John also spoke movingly about his profession’s place in the modern world.
“I sometimes worry that I am just making baubles for rich people, but when I see the incredible passion these collectors have for my watches, how they are sometimes moved to tears when I present them with their watch, I can’t help but have pride in my work and be pleased that these collectors allow me to continue to practice my craft,”.
“We lost something extremely valuable when the Irish Swiss Institute of Horology closed – we didn’t just lose watchmaking we lost access to a range of skills that are incredibly useful in several industries from engineering to mechanics. In the recession and emigration blighted 1980s when I graduated all my classmates got jobs,” he says.
John’s brother Stephen McGonigle meanwhile is now solely in charge of the McGonigle brand which focuses on haute-horlogerie pieces.
Next up for Stephen is the Ogma which is still in development but as already begun selling. I don’t have a picture to show you (none exists yet) but the Ogma will be a limited edition watch of just 20 pieces in Tantalum. Tantalum is rarer than gold, super difficult to decorate and work with but can retain its lustre beautifully.
There are still a few spaces left on Stephen’s waiting list but don’t delay – www.McGonigle.ch.
Stephen’s other passion is rugby and In 2021 Stephen set up his own affordable brand called Magon Watches which are considerably more affordable and have a subtle rugby theme – Irish International Robbie Henshaw is a Magon Ambassador.
At c. €10,000 they cost less than most Rolex but are not made entirely by machine in lots of 50,000 either.
Another Irish master watchmaker to know about is Belfast-based Stephen McDonnell who has worked most notably with MB&F, perhaps the most extraordinary of modern watch companies.
McDonnell created a revolutionary new movement for their Legacy Machine perpetual calendar which takes a brand new approach to the impossibly difficult task of creating a movement that can take account of leap years but is also robust.
Most perpetual calendars are highly fragile, McDonnell’s is as sturdy as it is beautiful.
Sidereus Watches was created by Carlow-based Bryan Leech who trained as a Product Designer and has worked all over the world creating everything from ceramics and silverware to telephones and Apple Keyboards.
“As part of the Product Design Course I teach at South East Technical University in Carlow I began setting a 4th year project to have my students design watches as I had always been interested in Horology”, says Leech.
‘Sidereus’ references Galileo’s treatise on astronomy ‘Sidereus Nuncius’ (starry messenger), and the watches draw on what some have called the world’s first clocks – Newgrange and Dowth.
The Special Edition Sidereus Newgrange Moon Phase has a hand-engraved bezel featuring symbols from Neolithic rock art found in Cairn T at Loughcrew in County Meath and is limited to 50 pieces.
Each watch features a branded crown and buckle with leather straps from Irish Dexter cattle or a Magee Tweed strap. Prices begin at €3000.
Cormac Hanley moved from Dublin to France with his wife and 3 kids in 2007 and was working as a successful advertising photographer.
Then in 2017 at age 47 he had a stroke – “I literally went back to zero and had to learn it all again – speech, movement, walking – hence the name of my watch company – 47Zero.
Speaking about his designs Hanley said: “there’s plenty of rugged tool watches out there, but I’m drawn to designing a watch with a quirk or a story. Hanley’s watches feature references to the brain and to everyday life from his ‘Dinner at 8’ series which have the date at the 8 o’clock position or ‘Le Cognative’ which has a hand-created image of Einstein’s asymmetric brain – a reference to his own brain’s recovery.
The Waterford International Festival of Time ran from the 22nd-24th September last, and Irish and International watchmakers were there with their beautiful hand-crafted pieces.
What sets independent watchmaking apart is their handcrafted nature with hand-decorated dials and movements, decorations often achieved with little more than what is effectively a chisel. Many of the best-known Swiss watch brands are almost entirely machine-made in large quantities and with little personality. Independent watchmakers on the other hand offer something much more personal and bespoke and in very limited quantities.
The Festival of Time attracted watch enthusiasts from all over Ireland and abroad and was organised by Waterford Treasures which includes several museums including the Irish Museum of Time which displays Irish-made watches and clocks from past centuries as well as contemporary pieces. The Museum of Time is one of the most popular museums in their collective and is open all year round.
Names like Kari Voutilainen, Paul Gerber, Andreas Strellher and John McGonigle may not be household names here but in the watch world, these are legends.
Cyril Brivet-Naudot from Brittany makes just one watch a year, and when I say makes a watch I mean he makes everything from screws and springs to the case to the hands.
At a more affordable and accessible level, the funky and cool designs of Schofield watches created by designer Giles Ellis cost half the amount of an entry-level Rolex. The hand-etched Buddhist prayers on the cogs of Sherpa watches work like a Buddhist prayer wheel and don’t cost much more.
Master watchmaker Paul Gerber was in attendance with his protegé Anny Weber. Gerber is sometimes described as the father of Independent Watchmaking and between himself and his apprentice Anny, they created a one-of-a-kind watch which will be auctioned for charity with the proceeds going to the Our Boys charity, towards Anny’s watchmaking career, and to the Festival of Time itself to help ensure its continued existence.
The Waterford Festival of Time is expected to return in 2024 – the watchmakers have demanded it – likely in early summer.
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