A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand. Modern watchmakers, when required to repair older watches, for which replacement parts may not be available, must have fabrication skills, and can typically manufacture replacements for many of the parts found in a watch. The term clockmaker refers to an equivalent occupation specializing in clocks.
A modern watchmaker at his workstation; he wears a magnifying loupe to more easily see the small parts of a watch
A watchmaker's lathe in use to prepare a decorative watch component cut from copper
A watchmaker working on a Railroad watch
A client and the watchmaker at work. Havana, Cuba, 2017
An artisan is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, sculpture, clothing, food items, household items, and tools and mechanisms such as the handmade clockwork movement of a watchmaker. Artisans practice a craft and may through experience and aptitude reach the expressive levels of an artist.
American sculptor Bessie Potter Vonnoh in her studio
Traditional hand block print artisan in India
An artist blacksmith and a striker working as one
Wood carver in Bali