Alice Girscher

How long have you been working at Rolex? Seven years now, or just over. And if you had to describe to someone what you do here, what would you say? In essence, I’m a watchmaker but my job title is an after-sale service watchmaker. I work in the traditional department, which looks after both modern and classic watch movements. How often do Rolex watches need servicing then? They recommend every ten years but some people will just wear them until they stop working. And what happens then? If someone has got a watch that’s sitting in a drawer at home, can they also bring that to you? Absolutely, that’s quite common, a lot of the time we get watches in that someone hasn’t worn for a long time, has inherited or it’s a prized possession in the family – that’s really nice. You hear lovely stories of people that have inherited some great pieces but they no longer work. Some of them may have had moisture ingress or they’re just generally worn, the dials and hands might need replacing and they’re tarnished. Sometimes they’ll also have old lumes, which are the parts that glow on a watch dial.

So, if I was fortunate enough to bring in a watch here to be serviced, what is the process it would go through? It starts off in estimating where it will be booked in and they’ll assess it. They are very experienced there, so they will understand which service path the watch needs to take. They’ll look over the hands, the dial and the back of the movement. This is an initial inspection, just to check what the status of it is and see what needs to be done. The serial number is cross referenced with a Geneva database and the repair assigned a unique service number to make sure that nothing gets mixed up. Depending on the age of the watch, it will either then go through a sequential process, where each part of the watch is managed by specialist watch technicians, or by a traditional watchmaker, which is where I work. As a watchmaker, we service the movement, the dial, the hands, the timing… I don’t know what I was expecting but I hadn’t envisaged there would be so much work involved – it’s an extensive process. Definitely, it’s similar to a car service, well a miniature car anyway! I was thinking exactly the same thing. If anything, it’s probably more of a restoration than a service. When your car goes in for a service, they’ll check everything over and then replace any bits that are worn, whereas we literally take everything apart, every single piece. Everything is cleaned ultrasonically and then reassembled. Ultrasonically, that’s using sound and vibration? That’s right, that process cleans the previous lubrication, ready for the service.

And you refer to the word traditional a lot – can you clarify what that means in this context. It basically means the older and slightly more complex mechanics of a watch. Did you choose to be there or were you assigned to that department? I have progressed into the role – when I first started here, I knew nothing about watches at all. I used to sometimes wear a basic quartz watch, if I remembered to put it on, but that was it. You may have spotted that I haven’t put a watch on today because I thought it could be a bit embarrassing if you caught sight of my old digital Casio! Did you attend an interview for this job? Yes, and it was terrifying! And did you wear a watch for that? Well, I didn’t actually know I was applying for a job at Rolex at the time. I just applied for a job that said you would be working with small parts. Oh, so it was secretive. Pretty much so, I applied and then went for a first interview at the recruiter and it was only then that I was told it was for Rolex. I immediately said I think I’m in the wrong place, I don’t know anything about watches. I don’t know how to do anything with a watch apart from tell the time. They said that they actually prefer that because then they can teach you in their specific way. So, I went up to London for my first interview which actually consisted of a dexterity test. It was a really cool experience, if it wasn’t under pressure, I think everyone would enjoy having a go at it because it’s just a fun activity. They set you a challenge, which sounds easier than it actually is and some people didn’t manage to complete it within the allotted hour. My hands were shaking as I was doing it but I managed to finish in time – I think it was luck more than anything else but I found out that I had passed and was then invited here for a face-to-face interview.

There were two roles when I applied and I was successful for Final Quality Control. It’s the department right at the end of the servicing process, where you check everything that has been worked on – that the movement and the case have been reassembled correctly, the timing is within tolerance, the waterproofing, before finally fitting the bracelet and making sure it is set to the right size for the customer. Because I knew nothing about watches when I started, it was the ideal department for me because everything goes through there and I got to see every model Rolex has produced and built up a lot of experience. I learnt how to set and time every single watch and got to know them all inside out. Rolex run an internal training programme, it’s an 18-month course which is based internally but run internationally and you go to Geneva to take your final exams. It’s the same qualification that they do within the Swiss universities and watch making schools. Does anything like that exist in this country? Yes, there is the British School of Watchmaking, near Manchester, and Birmingham university offer a degree in horology, but not many people know about them. You are given career options when you’re at school but no one ever talks about watchmaking as a career.

What did your course consist of? It was a five day a week course, which was all classroom based. It starts with a micromechanics module, which was two months of metal work where you are set a series of small projects using brass and steel – they would give you a technical drawing and you are then taught the specialist techniques of drilling, filing and making slopes in order to complete them. We also did some acid etching and were pretty much given a free reign in terms of experimenting with what we wanted to do – it was really fun actually. That was probably my favourite part of the course. That sounds great, a bit like a foundation course at a creative college. Yes, I did a foundation course when I was younger and it was similar. That module is 8 weeks and when that has finished, you are set an eight hour exam which basically consists of being given a technical drawing from which you have to produce a three dimensional piece. So, it’s a completely practical exam? That’s right, and it’s all about precision – everything is down to hundredths of a millimetre, which gets you thinking about those small tolerances, ready for when you’re starting on the movement work. Most of the people on my course had never worked on a movement before, so it is hard to get your head around what a hundredth of a millimetre looks like, and the fact that you can literally feel that. I didn’t believe it when they first said that would be possible, but I can now tell the difference between two hundredths and five hundredths of a millimetre, just from that feeling. Wow, and is what you learnt for Rolex common for all watches – is there a common standard as to how many mechanical parts there are in a watch, for example? I don’t think so because each company will have their own design and the more functions that a watch has, the more parts there will be. Watches that have perpetual calendars or a chronograph, for example, all of those additional functions add an extra layer of parts. It can be challenging when you’re just starting, you do question if you’ll ever be able to tell one part from another, especially the screws – there will be a minimum of six or seven different screws in every watch. When you’re new to the job, you do sometimes wonder how you’re going to get everything back together, but that feeling goes when you’ve done it a few times. Don’t ask me why but when I was younger, I really enjoyed taking old things apart, cleaning them up and re-assembling them. I never wrote anything down or drew how it looked when I started, but perhaps that was part of the challenge. That’s absolutely right, when people ask me what my job is, I sometimes say that I do tiny jigsaw puzzles.

When did you finish the 18-month course? That was about a year and a half ago. So quite recent. Yes, I’m relatively new in the traditional workshop. For some of the men that work there, this has been their one and only job throughout their lives. They did traditional apprenticeships and then worked their way up. They’re incredible, they know everything so I go to them when I need help. You talk about the men in your department – is it rare to find females doing your job? Traditionally it has been more male dominated, but that is changing.

I immediately said I think I'm in the wrong place, I don't know anything about watches.

So, from this point on, it’s a case of amassing more and more experience and knowledge. That’s right, I am on the first stage of development. It’s continuous learning – once you get to grips with one caliber, you will get taught another one and then that gets added to your repertoire, until you eventually know all of them, but that will probably take five to ten years to complete. I’m assuming you have to have very steady hands for this job – it looks and sounds a bit like doing surgery? You sort of get used to dealing with it. At the beginning, it seems as though you have to have really, really steady hands, but I think the less you worry about it, the less you notice. Looking back, you applied for this job without even knowing what it was for, but you have achieved so much, you must be really happy with how it has all worked out. I had no idea that my career would go down this path, but yeah, I’m really pleased that it did.

And what did you do prior to this? All sorts of things really. I did quite well in my GCSEs and A levels, but I couldn’t make my mind up whether I wanted to go down an academic route or a creative one, but I think in my heart, I knew that I needed to be doing something manual. From what you have been saying, it sounds as though you initially started along the creative route. That’s right, I did a Foundation in Art and Design at Rochester, UCA, which I loved but because I’m so indecisive, I just wanted to try everything. I ended up studying fashion at university, but it wasn’t really what I wanted to do. I was actually more interested in photography and that sort of thing but because I enjoyed fashion so much in the little bit of time that I spent at UCA, I chose to take that route. It was fun and I enjoyed it, but I’m just not thick skinned enough to work in that industry and I quickly realised that it wasn’t right for me, so I ended up doing an apprenticeship in a small photographic studio in Brighton, where they did a lot of studio photography for online retailers. I did that for some time but the business had some difficulties and now sadly no longer exists, so again that felt as if I had wasted another year and I was starting to get frustrated, because I couldn’t think of a path to take – nothing seemed to be working out. I got a job at Topshop in Bluewater and became the back of house team leader. I enjoyed that but after a few years I decided that I didn’t want to work in retail anymore because of the long hours and having to work the weekends. I was exhausted and that was when I applied for this job.

So, quite a mixed bag of work before you arrived at Rolex. Yes, and not forgetting my university job which was at a doggy daycare centre! I looked after something like 60 dogs a day there and really loved it. So, yes, I’ve done a bit of everything. Your experience when at school sounds quite similar to mine. You enjoyed it and did reasonably well, but weren’t sure what the next stage of your life would be. If your parents were anything like mine, they trusted that you would find the right route eventually, you just needed to take a little time to work things out. I think they’ve always been really proud of me, whatever I’ve been doing – my mum even came to work with me at Topshop! My brother worked there at the same time as well, which made it quite fun. I enjoyed that time and met my husband then, so it was a good period of my life but the job I have here now is more of a career path. I knew that as soon as I started, it felt different to anything I had done before. There was career potential and it was the first thing that I had done for a long time that I felt really interested in. Something just clicked, and I started running with it and have taken every opportunity that they have offered me.

That’s lovely to hear and your mum and dad must be even more proud of you now. What do they do? My dad is a book binder, he’s very hands-on and can turn his hand to anything. When I was a kid, I was the one crawling around the floorboards with him while he was fixing something or decorating. Now that we have our own house, he comes and helps me with that. My mum didn’t work whilst we were growing up, so I had a lot of good parenting time with her. She used to bake and paint with us and we did loads of little activities, so I think having that input is probably why I am the way I am. It’s interesting because my brother is more of an introvert. He is computer minded, he builds computers from scratch and he’s being doing that since he was about 13. He just has a natural ability for it, so he shuts himself in his room and works on things that I don’t even understand, whereas I used to do everything that my parents were doing. I would just join in with everything, so I got quite a good understanding of everything that they did. You obviously have a curious mind. Does that mean that you may eventually move away from the traditional department to explore something new? Well, I recently applied for a new course that Rolex has just announced, which is more to do with training. It would mean that I keep my core role, but as I really like helping people as well, I am hoping that I can also get involved with training the next generation of watchmakers. I’m in the middle of that application process now, so I will have to wait and see if I am successful.

And outside of work, you mentioned that you used to work at a doggy daycare centre when you were at university – I’m presuming that you now have a dog? How did you guess! I actually have two. Ha, ha – what have you got? Two French Bulldogs – Gary and Donny. Great names, where did they come from? Gary is named after the darts player, Gary Anderson. Are you into darts? My husband is. He’s liked it since he was young, so we go up to the darts at Alexandra Palace most years at Christmas. From what I’ve seen on TV, the crowds at dart games look incredible! They are, it’s a lot of fun. There’s usually a group of ten of us and we dress up each year – we’ve done superheroes, Oktoberfest… Whoa, which superhero were you? I was Catwoman. Last year I was Princess Fiona and my husband was Shrek, so we painted him green. We get a lot of looks there, but I like it. So that explains Gary’s name and where did Donny come from? I don’t really know. We re-homed him and found it hard to choose a name, but Donny suits him – he’s a bit nuts. And apart from the annual darts extravaganza, what else do you get up to in your spare time? I went to Everest Base Camp this year. So, you’re also the adventurous type – do you regularly set yourself challenges? I do, not always physical stuff but I do like to take a lot on. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone a little this year as me and my husband were planning to start a family, so I just wanted to make sure that I had done it. The only trouble was that I don’t like flying, I don’t like being cold and I really don’t like heights! Well, that all makes perfect sense then! I know, but I really love the mountains and I follow a lot of mountaineers on Instagram. I enjoy physical activity, hiking and that sort of thing – so, I said to my mum one day, I’m going to go to Everest Base Camp. She was too nervous for me to go on my own, so she said, oh, I’ll go with you then. That’s brilliant! Base Camp is obviously the start of the big push if you’re going to climb Everest, but it sounds as though it’s quite an achievement just to get there? Yes, it took us 12 days to walk there and back. You start off having to take a small flight, which sounds ok, but it’s to the World’s most dangerous airport! It’s on the side of a mountain and it’s high up. I’m just imagining you clenching the armrests with white knuckles. It was hard. I found it difficult to get on the plane, but I did it and was really glad because I’ve never seen anything like that before. Flying over mountain tops and seeing Everest at the same level was mad. Then you start your hike, you walk for around six to eight hours a day and stay in little tea houses along the route. We went in April so that I could see some people that were going to be climbing, the kit being taken up and all the hustle and bustle that involves. How long do you get to stay at Base Camp then? Just an hour. Oh, and then you turn around and come all the way back again? Yes, it’s a bit dangerous there and it’s very cold, it was minus 20. So, you only stay a short time, take a few pictures, have a little look around and then head back.

It was a really long day because you walk for around six hours to get to the camp, spend an hour there, and then walk four hours back. By the time you get back, you are absolutely exhausted but I was just elated because I’d done it. To be honest, before I went, I’d convinced myself that I was going to die during the trip. I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I just thought there are so many things that I’m doing that are dangerous. I said to my husband, what if I don’t make it back, what if something happens. People die doing that trek every year from things like altitude sickness – you just don’t know how your body’s going to react. And despite all that, you still took your mum with you! How did she get on with it? Really well and she’s now obsessed with it. It’s strange because she was never really interested in it before, but as soon as I said to her that I was going, she had tunnel vision. I think it’s because she was always at home whilst we were growing up – her whole life revolved around me and my brother. He moved to Manchester at the beginning of this year and I’m now married and living in my own house, so that part of her life has ended. When she was given the opportunity of going on an adventure that she would never have seen herself doing, she took it on straight away. She’s quite a nervous person usually, but she wasn’t with this at all and just did it – it was great. How did it feel when you got back home and took stock of the fact that you were still alive?! Was it the high that you were hoping to achieve? Massively, and I think it’s definitely changed me as a person. I used to be much more stressed about life. If something went wrong, it was like oh my god, what am I gonna do, but it’s different now – it’s made me see the world very differently. And where does the fascination for climbing come from? I don’t really don’t know, I would love to climb myself but I’m just not brave enough. The trip did confirm that to me. I would definitely go back, I like the walking and the views, I enjoy being in nature and seeing the world, but I don’t want to die! I just like to see things that you don’t normally get to see.

So, what else is on your bucket list? Well, I’m having a baby now, so that’s my next adventure. Oh wow – congratulations, that’s amazing news. One of the biggest adventures and the next chapter of your life. Do you know what you are going to have. No, I want a surprise. Good call. Well, whatever it is, let’s hope it’s fit and healthy and grows up to be a fearless mountaineer…who wears a Rolex of course.