Horologist watches with interest

Horologist, Alfredo Nunes certainly has time on his side.

This shrewd businessman has proved it takes more than just a steady hand and a keen eye for detail to master the intricate inner workings of clocks and watches.

“Even one speck of dust in the wrong place means I don’t get paid.”

As a watchmaker in the so-called dying trade, Mr Nunes disassembles, cleans, polishes, tweaks, repairs and replaces, working with cogs and pins so small they might be mistaken for dust motes.

Some of his tasks are delicate enough that he even prefers tackling them in the privacy of home.

“At home, I can work uninterrupted. There, I clean and disassemble things under a microscope.”

Certain parts must be washed in a special three-cleanser washing machine and correctly dried before Mr Nunes can even consider piecing the puzzle back together.

“It’s a time-consuming process,” he admitted.

Far from lamenting the technical difficulties of his career as a horologist, however, Mr Nunes moves from task to task like an enthusiastic inventor with a fresh idea in mind.

His work space resembles the haunt of a mad scientist, bits and pieces in odd piles from floor to ceiling.

Mr Nunes said the work area is arranged in a ‘organised chaos’ kind of way, where he is able to recall exactly where to find that specific size of spring or the piece of glass he needs to craft a new watch face.

“I was previously an instrument mechanic and now I’m into watches,” he said with a chuckle.

Sometimes a self-proclaimed battery changer, Mr Nunes begins each day at about 5am with a mug of coffee (and tea for the missus), before servicing the day’s first timepiece.

As his workplace states, he pays keen attention to the minor details.

Stripping down a watch at his desk, Mr Nunes pointed out the various components that literally make things tick, from gears and coils to pivots and springs.

Timepieces may have advanced over the years, yet he has grasped the principles to repair and maintain.

“Chronographs take hours to repair; old automatic watches are also difficult and complicated.”

Mr Nunes has plenty of other jobs to keep himself occupied at work, including piercings, casting resin moulds for glass watch faces, engravings and shaping clock springs.

Perhaps it is through this wide set of skills he has received business from across the globe.

“We have had customers from England and Zambia, from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.”

Tough financial times have had a major influence on business for Mr Nunes, many opting to purchase a new timepiece for almost the same cost of repairing the old one.

However, he is not yet ready to clock out just yet.