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Time will now be on his side
Saturday, January 19, 2013
One of Gisborne’s few remaining watch-makers has retired from what is fast becoming an antiquated trade. Mark Peters talks to Paul Rose about what makes him tick.

THE watchmaker’s trade is going the way of the farrier and the blacksmith, says Gisborne watchmaker Paul Rose.

With the advent of cheap, battery-powered and digital watches, the trade is on the brink of extinction. But this is not Mr Rose’s only motivation to bow out.

After 51 years in the watch repair and sales business, he has decided it is time to wind down. Yesterday, he closed the doors to his Grey Street business for the last time.

Mr Rose was a student at Gisborne Boys’ High School when a watchmaker’s apprenticeship was advertised. He applied and his career path was just a matter of time.

“The first day I started my apprenticeship I watched my boss Paddy Pilbrow at work and thought ‘I could never do that’ . . . but like any job, you grow into it. The biggest thing was patience and understanding the mechanics of the watch.”

He began his apprenticeship in 1963 but could not sit his trade certificate until the watch-maker’s course was introduced in New Zealand in 1971. He was the sixth person in the country to gain the qualification and is the only one in Gisborne.

“I would have been No. 1 if my name started with the letter A.”

He later bought a watchmaker’s business in Peel Street but when the building was marked for demolition to make way for Treble Court, he moved to the Grey Street premises within chiming distance of the town clock.

When Mr Rose began his career, watches were mostly factory-made. The watchmaker’s role was to sell and repair time-pieces. This included crafting replacement parts.

“There was no such thing as shock-proofing in those days. If you dropped your watch, the balance staff would break and we would have to fix it or make a new one.”

The balance staff is a finely-made disc with a tiny axle. This is the part that makes the watch tick. Mechanical watches also needed the occasional overhaul. This meant taking the watch apart and washing every one of its 120 components.

When battery-powered watches flooded the market, Mr Rose had to learn new skills.

“The battery took the place of the spring.

“It lost a lot of magic for me because it was all about replacing modules, not actually making parts.”

Time flies and the collection of clocks he has accumulated over 51 years will go home with him. Among them is a black marble piece made at a time when Britain’s Queen Victoria was in mourning and all clocks could not be made in any colour other than black.

Mr Rose has had a lot of loyal customers over the years and is grateful for their support. In his retirement, he plans to do the odd job at home.

He likes to fish. He might take up bowls. He plans to spend more time with his grand-children. He has all the time in the world to do the things that make him tick.
CLOCKING OUT: After 51 years in the watch repair and sales business, watchmaker Paul Rose has wound up his business but plans to take a few items home to work on in his retirement. Picture by Dave Thomas
Comments
bevan moore
10:45 p.m. Monday, Jan 21, 2013
Yes, I remember Paul Rose's little watch shop in Peel Street next to Barwicks in what was the old Ormond Motors garage in earlier days. You used to walk through to Bright Street O and M supermarket where McDonald's is now; late night Friday shopping until 8.30pm . . . and I'm only 42 years young.
I could write more about life in the 1970s and '80s in Gisborne, of the many things that have gone by in my short time. I would dearly love to read and see more of Gisborne from the 1900s through to 1980s. Any suggestions?

Footnote: A great place to start would be the excellent new book by Sheridan Gundry, A Splendid Isolation; Gisborne: East Coast 1950-2012. Ed
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