Business

Recession woes meant time for a change for apprentice watchmaker Daniel

Daniel Adair started an apprenticeship with Lunn's in 2010
Daniel Adair started an apprenticeship with Lunn's in 2010 Daniel Adair started an apprenticeship with Lunn's in 2010

ASK any child what they want to be when they grow up, and you'll get a variety of answers from postman to racing driver or astronaut.

Watchmaker is perhaps less likely to be among young people's ambitions - and it wasn't for Daniel Adair until a change of work circumstances saw him take up an apprenticeship with the north's leading jeweller Lunn's.

A rarity in Northern Ireland these days, Daniel, at age 31, is an even greater rarity as among the youngest of a cohort of fewer than a dozen watchmakers across the region.

Reflecting on how he got into the industry, Mr Adair said it was "completely be accident".

"I worked in the manufacuturing industry for about 10 years but was paid off from a number of companies," he said.

"It was not a good industry to be in because of the recession.

"If you want to buy anything, buy a house, you don't know how long your job is going to last."

Following that, Mr Adair said he got stuck in a "really bad minimum wage job" when the Lunn's opportunity came up.

"There was a bit of curiosity about it," he said.

"It is engineering related but just very small.

"The skills do transfer over but it's just a matter of scaling it down."

The company - which had previously recruited a watchmaker from Dubai - had searched for an apprentice from outside the industry and picked Daniel from hundreds of applicants.

He is now one of three watchmakers working on site at Lunn's in Belfast.

The company looks after some of the world's best known watch brands.

Much like a car, high-class watches require an annual service while the watchmakers also carry out repairs to devices.

Lunn's is the only Rolex agency in the north and was the first jeweller in Ireland to stock Patek Phillippe.

Mr Adair joined Lunn's in 2010 following what had been a period of significant growth of its watch servicing business.

Following extensive training at the British School of Watchmaking in Manchester, he returned to Lunn's to work under head watchmaker Nevin Beckett.

Before joining the firm, Daniel said he was "always interested in watches and had several myself - but they were all just cheap ones".

As for telling the time now though, he is now the proud owner of a Rolex (which of course he services himself).