Little-Known Independent Watchmaker Produces Handmade Minute Repeaters And More
/This week, a story about a little-known independent watchmaker from Chongqing spread like wildfire among watch enthusiasts in China after being posted on the official Wechat account for Watchlead, China’s largest watch forum. Qin Gan (秦干) hand-produces enamel dial repeater watches with startlingly interesting features. This original story in Chinese, found here, was a tough one to make my way through, but I think the short version goes like this…
The article states that “like many of the world’s finest watchmakers,” Qin Gan began by repairing antique clocks and watches. According to the article, he came to be known as one of the finest antique clock repairmen in China. After years of perfecting his craft and becoming intricately familiar with the workings of timepieces, he decided to begin creating his own by hand in his “small workshop, dense with handmade watchmaking tools.” In order to make the watches, he first had to make his own tools. The author writes that “on his workbench stood many bizarre homemade gadgets.”
According to the article, one of his “masterpieces,” completed in 2014, was a minute repeater with 257 parts, 33 jewels, an independent governor, and a retrograde 12-hour indicator. The original movement was apparently a Swiss F465N, but extremely modified with mostly handmade parts.
I can’t verify the functionality of the watches or the accuracy of the story, but nevertheless, I really enjoyed the photos of his creations! I’m in the process of reaching out to Qin Gan, and hopefully, I’ll be able to provide a lot more information soon!
