Photos: Ashwin Prasath
CHENNAI: Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Eashwari Kovil Street, West Mambalam is Jeevarathnam Watch Works, a hole-in-the-wall watch repair shop. Its proprietor-cum-watch mechanic, Thangaraj is at his table, seated amid old clocks, newspapers, watches, straps and spare parts. The 72-year-old looks closely into the innards of a watch, through his eye glass. “I am extremely fascinated about watches. It’s like operating on a human body — watches have heart beats,” he says, suggestive of the ticking sound. “When it stops, people bring it to us, the watch surgeons,” smiles Thangaraj who has been repairing watches since 1973. “I passed SSLC (Class 12), but didn’t get any job. So, a well wisher offered to teach me the art of repairing watches,” he shares.
He picks a mainspring and balance staff, the vital parts that keep the watch ticking and sets it in the watch. He removes his eye glass and sprays water on his face. “It’s a very strenuous job. People develop eye complications. But fortunately, I am healthy. To me repairing watches is therapeutic and I love it,” he smiles momentarily. It turns into a sad frown. “It’s become tough to survive in this profession,” he says.
A look at the dingy workshop, that has just enough place for two people to sit, reveals that his business isn’t thriving. “People buy a duplicate watch for `150, come to us to repair it after they drop it down and expect us to get it repaired. Changing battery cells can be done. But, otherwise it is difficult. Everything changed after cheaper battery watches came into the market,” he sighs and asks, “Anyway, who uses the watch to check time these days? It’s all in your gadget isn’t it?” he says, glancing at the clock screensaver display on our phone.
Thangaraj earns close to `100 to `150 a day. Some days, he goes home with just `60. He smiles bleakly, turns to his desk and says, “Small shops like ours are facing a crisis. With people shifting from mechanical to digital watches, it’s hard to keep up,” he shares.
In different pockets of the city, small-time watch repairing business is becoming a near-obsolete profession. “Most of us in the trade have grown up doing this, watches are our life. We are threatened by advancements. But, I will continue this till my last breath,” he says.
Another watch mechanic in Vadapalani, T Louis has been in the trade for over three decades. He is among the few watch repairers to have pursued his passion despite the meagre salary. “It used to be exciting to work on winding watches. I used to repair four watches a day. Now, we get battery and digital models . Even service requests are sporadic,” he rues.
A customer walks into the store asking for a red colour watch strap and Louis says that they only have brown and black variants. “The kids are asking for white or red!” demands the customer. Louis shakes his head and says, “These are the requests we get now. For straps that we don’t have and to change batteries worth `30.”
Pandiarajan, a fairly new entrant in the business is oblivious of how old watches work. “I know to change batteries. That’s all the customers these days want. I am a part-time cab driver and do this on the sidelines. I can’t earn a living by just repairing watches...can I?” he asks.
From unavailability of spare parts, technological advancements to people shifting from mechanical to ‘Quartz’ model watches, umpteen reasons have lead to the downfall of the profession.
But, age-old watch service showrooms haven’t been unaffected by these changes. We take a tour of the 139-year-old P ORR and Sons. The centralised service station houses state-of-the-art machines and tools to repair watches which are both old and new. Vel Mani, head (service) shares, “We get about 10,000 service customers a month. In a day, there are about 3,000 customers. Our servicing unit hasn’t been affected...people come to us because we are a trustworthy name. We give them their watch in brand new condition,” he says and walks us into their service station. We observe 16 timekeepers in individual stations, diligently working on watches of different make and technology. “Everyone’s trained and updated with the latest models,” he says.
S Maran, a 60 year old has been working with the brand for over three decades now. “We were sent for training to Bangalore to learn how new watches work. The technicians in smaller shops don’t get such opportunities. I see a lot of them shutting down or moving to different professions,” he shares, and operates an imported ‘time machine’. “It calibrates and tests time in each position. It’s great to check the accuracy,” he explains.
The setup is a complete contrast from what we saw at Jeevarathnam watch works. Thangaraj works with rusty boxes filled with old tools and a fairly old eyepiece. “There’s no one to take over my business. But it’s okay. If I can repair a watch and bring it back to life, that’s more than enough,” adds Thangaraj.
