A Few Minutes with Paul Loatman

It is always exciting to see something new starting from the beginning.

And now, a few minutes with Paul Loatman

James Henderson - What was your first watch?  Was it a gift, is there a story behind it?

Paul Loatman - I was only born in `88, so my first watch was an inexpensive digital wrist watch that I got for Christmas one year, I don't even remember what brand it was, it wasn't anything special. Mechanical watches weren't every day things in those times, not like a few decades before, so it was never something I came across as a child. I didn't know my grandparents very well either, so I was never given an heirloom watch or anything. I wish I had been given a mechanical watch of some sort when I was younger, I probably would have become interested in Horology much sooner.

JH - A bit about yourself please - what led you to become a watch maker?  What were you doing before this?

PL - I only had one job before I decided to go to watchmaking school, this was as a relay operator for Verizon, I relayed calls for the deaf, hard of hearing, and speech impaired. This job, although very boring, is actually what led me to horology, the job didn't allow you to do anything other than sit at your computer, if you weren't on a call, you could only read a book, talking to others was prohibited because that would usually mean taking off your head-set and you wouldn't be able to hear a call coming in. So, because it was so remarkably boring, I would get all sorts of reading materials to bring in, usually some sort of science magazines, or old books about Nihon-to ("Nihon-to" translates as "Japanese Sword") one of my favorite books was "The Sword and Sam'e", a very rare and interesting book about tsuka-maki, and tsuka-shitaji ("Tsuka" = "Hilt", "Maki" = "Wrap", "Shitaji" = "Foundation/groundwork"), this subject is a very complicated one in the world of nihon-to and it was a subject that I delved into for some 6 years or so, all through my high school years and a bit after. Anyways, eventually I came across some interesting short article about watchmaking in a Popular Science magazine, it was something about a Porsche watch that cost $100,000 or some similar posh figure, this was very interesting to me as I had never known mechanical watches could be worth so much unless they were covered with diamonds or plastered in gold, the watch itself didn't interest me much, but it got me thinking about watches. After that it was like a snowball effect and I just kept learning. This was back in early 2008 and before then I had no meaningful knowledge about horology. Most people are surprised when they see my work, but then they're completely shocked when they find out how long I've been doing this.

JH - When you were a boy - what did you want to be when you "grew up"?

PL - When i was a boy, I always (since before i can remember), wanted to be a racing driver.  In fact I still do!  

I really wish my parents had the resources to get me into one of those Junior Formula leagues, I think I would have done very well. I always played video racing games and racing simulators from the time that I was about 7 years old, those early games were very simplistic, but eventually games like "Sega Rally" and the famous "Gran Turismo" games were released and I've looked foward to every Gran Turismo game ever since I played the first edition.

JH - Where did you go to school - what did you study?

PL - After high school, I held a single job as a relay operator, after about a year, the mediocrity got to me and I just had to get out of there. It had been about 6 months since I started my horological studies while working there and one day... overnight, without much thought I just decided to go to school to become a watchmaker.  So I spent the day searching for a good school.  It was easy to find the WOSTEP approved schools, but I came across the Gem City College which is in Quincy, Illinois. So, I called them up and asked for some information. About a week later I was sending them a check to start my tuition. The history of this school is what drew me to it, the curriculum has been around since the late 1800's and it has always taught very traditional watchmaking, the most modern addition to the curriculum is the short courses on electronic and quartz watches, but there are no advanced CNC or EDM machines, they have Webster Whitcomb style lathes for everyone to use and some very interesting old tools that you just can't get anymore unless you have it made. About 90% of the school is hands-on, the rest is mostly mathematics for calculating gear trains, including the proper mathematics behind the modern lever escapement, although, if you ask one of the instructors about any other escapement they'll show you one of the schools many escapement models about that particular escapement, those are very interesting to see, and definitely one of the best ways to understand them.

JH - Who else is making watches that excite you?

PL - There are many people making watches that excite me, Anthony Randall, George Daniels, Richard Miklosch, Richard Daners, Steffen Pahlow, David Walter (he hasn't technically made a watch just yet, but he will very soon, and his clocks are far more complicated than any watch ever could be due to size constraints), as well as a couple of the greats that are no longer with us, Derek Pratt and Gene Clark. These people are the true independents, these guys inspire so many others because before them, there were only those famous people found in books from centuries ago when watches had to be made by hand. Most of the more famous independents wouldn't have gotten to where they are now without the astonishing work of these men.

JH - What would you be doing if you weren't doing what you are doing now?

PL - I honestly don't know what I would be doing,  I'm a very spontaneous person and I make decisions quicker than flipping a coin, I've never had a plan for my life, I hardly have a plan for my day. I feel lucky to have found horology.

JH - What do you like to do in your "down-time"?

PL - Most of my time, including my down-time, is spent working on my watch right now, but when i'm completely away from horology, I'm usually playing Gran Turismo or out with friends.

JH - You are working on something that most watchmakers will never realize in a lifetime - what motivated you to come up with your own tourbillon? 

PL - The tourbillon in my watch felt almost necessary, it would have felt like a relative waste of time if I hadn't done something more than just a regular watch. It's my first watch and it's simple enough that I never had to draw any of it on paper or in my computer for me to understand it, however I'm working on a design in my head of a much more complicated watch for my next project. I honestly don't understand why you would get into the watch industry as a watch repairer or technician if you never had any ambition to make a watch, usually when going through a school of horology you start to understand how a watch could be manufactured, this (in my limited understanding and opinion) is the turning point for the rest of your career as a horologist, you either burn this desire to create your own watch into your brain, or you get stuck in a rut doing repairs and restorations and forget the idea of making a watch of your very own, because repairs and restorations are not the same thing as making parts from scratch. Sure, in restorations you would probably make parts from raw materials, but the dimensions for most of these parts are set, you can't redesign the watch and make all new mechanics for it and still call it a restoration, but this is all I can think of when looking at a watch; "How can I make this my own way, or make this better, or just differently for the heck of it?", this mind-set that I have must be what motivated me to start this.

JH - What is next for Paul Loatman?

PM - Next for Paul Loatman - well, I need to finish my pallet for my watch. Oh, you mean long-term.  Well, like I said earlier, I'm a very spontaneous person and I have a lot of goals I would like to achieve before I die. I do have a plan for another watch project that I will definitely pusue, but I don't know what will happen with Paul Loatman after that, there are many factors I have to consider.  One other thing I really want to do is get my PhD in Particle Physics, this is something that I truly want.  Probably more than my love for horology I want to understand what makes the entire universe tick and tock.