A watch enthusiast's life Wattan: "The more you know, the more you can appreciate the true fun of watches."

Wattan collects old clocks, mainly pendulum clocks made in the Meiji and Taisho periods. When we interviewed him to trace the origins of this hobby, which he developed at the tender age of 20, we were overwhelmed by the seeds of curiosity that were born at an astonishingly early age, and the vast amount of knowledge he has acquired as a result of fully nurturing that curiosity. He is a promising individual who possesses knowledge, skills, passion, and the ability to communicate these things well. We spoke to him, who is one of the must-sees for antique clock enthusiasts today, about the beginnings of his relationship with clocks and what the future holds.

"Old clocks are like letters from people long ago. That's why they're so fascinating to study."

I met Wattan after being introduced to him as "an interesting young man who loves antique clocks." He showed me around his studio, a tall, slender man in an oversized white shirt, clearly a fine young man. He wore a blue Orient Star bracelet on his wrist. Entering his studio, set up in an apartment, I noticed a small shelf by the entrance, displaying Chopin sheet music, which he plays as a hobby. Antique clocks hung from top to bottom on every wall in sight. The diverse clocks of different sizes and shapes, arranged like a puzzle, ticking away and swinging pendulums, are a sight to behold. I learned that the studio houses a collection of approximately 140 pieces, primarily antique wall clocks, as well as table clocks and pocket watches. "My grandmother used to own this apartment. As she grew older, she stopped renting out the rooms, so no one lives there anymore. So I set up my mother's studio, a glass artist, and my own studio in the room next door."

　Wattan opened this workshop in May 2022, coinciding with his enrollment in a watchmaking school in Tokyo. With the availability of a large space, his watch collecting accelerated around this time. There is also a workbench for repairs at the back of the workshop. Speaking of Wattan, his information sharing on X (formerly Twitter) has also become a secret topic of conversation among watch enthusiasts in recent years. These posts and distribution are also made in this workshop.

　A calendar hangs above his workbench. It says January 10th, his birthday. As our interview took place shortly after that, when I congratulated him, he replied with a happy expression, "Actually, my birthday is the same as Abraham-Louis Breguet's." Two days before that, he had also written "Coming of Age Ceremony."

　Aren't most of his classmates at watchmaking school more interested in watches? When it comes to watches, he says, "Right now, this Orient Star is enough for me." I immediately asked him the question I wanted to know most about this interview: "Why did you become interested in old watches?" He prefaced his answer by saying, "It's not really clear." It all started back in his childhood.

"My mother says that I've been interested in clocks since the time other kids my age were interested in cars and trains. She says that when I was two years old, I would make a 'bong bong' sound whenever I saw an old pendulum clock in a local coffee shop. My first memory is when I was five years old. My parents bought me a kit with hands and movements for making my own clocks, like the ones you find in general stores. Instead of making a clock from scratch, I started taking apart the mechanisms and trying to understand how they worked." As an aside, this reminded me of something Philippe Dufour said in an interview: "The key to becoming a watchmaker is having a strong sense of curiosity. Many great watchmakers have experience taking apart toys as children."

　This is how Wattan began his quest for gear mechanisms. Before he started elementary school, he had even tried assembling his own gears made from cardboard, hanging a string from the shaft and attaching a weight to the end of it, in an attempt to make it move. "Of course it didn't work," he says, but it's amazing that he had even a vague understanding of the principles of machinery. For his summer research project in the second year of elementary school, with the help of his father in woodworking, he drew his own blueprints and made a clock by hand, complete with an escapement with a pallet and escape wheel, a pendulum, hands, and a dial.

　His parents' understanding and support were a major factor in fostering his interest in watches. Whenever they found a place where he could assemble a mechanical watch, they would take him there, even if it was far away. To further his knowledge, they also began purchasing advanced reference books, such as "Mechanical Watches [Dissection]: Unraveling History and Understanding Mechanisms" (Oizumi Shoten, 2001), supervised by Seiji Homma. These books are often marked with dog-ears, revealing Wattan's early reading. By the time he was in the fourth grade of elementary school, his future path after high school was decided. The catalyst was a TV program featuring Masahiro Kikuno. He developed an admiration for Kikuno, and upon learning of the watchmaking school he attended, he decided to enroll.

　Of all the old clocks, Wattan is most interested in pendulum wall clocks, based on their origins. He particularly prefers those made up until around 1930. He explains the reason for this: "Many of the clocks from that era show signs of being handmade, such as traces of bending the bridge with pliers. After this, industrial production progressed rapidly, so the precision of the workmanship and design changed and they became bland. Also, this was a time when various manufacturers were trying to compete with Seiko (then known as Seikosha), and were creating highly original clocks through trial and error. That's why there are so many unique and interesting clocks."

　When asked which of his many collections is his favorite clock, he hesitates before pointing to a digital pendulum clock made in the late Taisho period. "I really wanted it, so I kept looking for it, and then I found out that there was a kimono shop in Kyoto, so I called and begged them to give it to me. It wasn't for sale, so I came all the way to Kyoto to pick it up so as not to bother them," he explains of how he got it. This clock was apparently made by New Clock Factory, which used to be located in the Okachimachi area of ​​Tokyo. The square dial has three windows, which, from left to right, display the hours, the minutes to the tens digits, and the minutes to the ones digits. The font, which matches the shape of the bell-shaped windows, is also unique.

　His next favorite was a digital octagonal clock, likely made around the mid-Taisho period. Made by Yamada Clock, it features a jumping hour system, unusual for a wall clock. "This clock has the drawback that the minute hand and the time window overlap at the top of the hour, making it difficult to see the moment of change. But this 'spontaneity' is also endearing," he explains. It offers a unique charm that differs from the practicality and rationality of modern clocks. Other items on display included a German-made pendulum clock from the 1870s with a beautifully engraved pendulum ball, a clock with a detent escapement from Binkosha, and a clock with a duplex escapement from Chuo Clock Factory. In addition to wall clocks, the workshop also boasts table clocks that rotate by gravity and table clocks that use the rotation of a conical pendulum as their speed regulator. The workshop is a fascinating space, like a mini-museum.

　At the end of the interview, when asked about his future goals, Wattan, while stating that he is also interested in making watches, answered, "My first goal is to repair and restore watches and preserve them in as good a condition as possible. And to convey the joy of watches to as many people as possible." He continued, "When you think of watch enthusiasts, many of them own several luxury watches from brands like Patek Philippe and Breguet, and I think those people are amazing. On the other hand, there are plenty of old clocks for under 1 yen, so anyone can become a collector. But when it comes to antiques, unlike current products, you need sufficient knowledge and technical skills such as parts replacement to preserve them. That's why it's worth researching, and the more you learn, the more you can appreciate the true joy of watches. I want to spread this feeling."

　Wattan says he doesn't care about the number of watches in his collection. "I was once interviewed on TV, and at the time I only owned around 10 watches, and the person who interviewed me scoffed, 'Is that all you have?' I felt frustrated at the time that the number of watches in your collection was the only thing they looked at to measure your passion. But I also learned that it's true that the number is simply important as an indicator of how much of a watch lover you are. So, as I focus on spreading my message from now on, I first need to increase my persuasiveness, and that's why I'm currently trying to gather a large collection."

　The fun of collecting watches doesn't just depend on the number of watches you own or the brand name. Having discovered the intrinsic appeal of watches, Wattan is pursuing his own path in timepieces. Influenced by him, more and more young people will become interested in clocks. With knowledge, technical ability, and unrelenting enthusiasm, Wattan's activities will be fascinating to watch.