Independent watchmaker John McGonigle, is the founder of Oileán an Ireland based watch brand. He is a contemporary of Saparneva, Bart & Tim Grönefeld, Stephen Forsey, having worked for Christophe Claret.

1. Describe briefly your childhood.

My father was a compositor or typesetter, with the newspaper. He used to repair clocks in his spare time, which is where I had my first encounter with clocks and watches. My mother arguably had the busier job of raising all eight of us.

2. As a child did you have any driving ambition?

I was a very dreamy child. Teachers used to always complain that, though I was in class, I was always a million miles away. My driving ambition at that time was to be not in school. I wanted to see the world. I didn’t have a firm idea of what I wanted to do for a profession, but I was always taking things apart and was passionately interested in cars and boats. Our house was filled with clocks, so the ingredients for my future lay all around me.

3. What is your first significant memory as a child?

When I was about two years old I left home with my tricycle. A surprised neighbour came across me going down the main street of the town and cut my odyssey short.

4. Have you ever had another profession?

I went straight from secondary school (high school) to the watchmaking school in Dublin, and I’ve worked as a watchmaker ever since.

5. What made you choose to become a watchmaker?

What made you decide to go in the direction you have chosen. I was thinking of getting into some branch of engineering when my father suggested watchmaking. His plan was that I would learn watchmaking skills in order to become an aircraft instrumentation technician. The 1980s were very grim in Ireland. Unemployment was at 20%. Dad’s plan was a very shrewd one, so you can imagine his dismay when I declared that I was hooked on watches and always wanted to be a watchmaker.

6. What’s the worst job you’ve had to do?

I worked at various jobs throughout my college years. Construction worker, barman, factory worker, fireman. The worst job however wasn’t hard. It was boring. Working in a supermarket was so mind numbingly boring. If I had to do that for the rest of my life, I think I’d turn to crime.

7. What’s been the hardest moment in your life so far, and how did you over-come it?

The loss of our father. Stephen and I had been away on a business trip when he fell ill. It didn’t seem serious. On arrival at the airport we discovered he was dying. Loss of loved ones is a passage of life that everyone has to go through, but it doesn’t make it any easier. He was a huge loss to us all. I was very lucky to have spent a lot of time with him in latter years. I had set up a bench in my workshop for him so that he could work on clocks. We had come full circle, except this time I was teaching him.

8. Who has had the strongest influence on you?

My parents (a bit obvious perhaps) were my first and very powerful influences. They instilled in us a belief that we could do anything. They also passed on their twisted sense of humor. How good a thing that is though, I really can’t say. In the world of watchmaking, Derek Pratt was a huge inspiration. His watches were exquisite and the engineering ideas and execution were pushed to the very limits. He managed this while being the most considerate gentleman.

9. What are you most proud of?

Our two children. They’re smart, witty, wonderful people and they keep me on my toes.

10. What advice would you give to a 20 something someone thinking of taking a similar path as you?

I’d recommend living in Switzerland for a few years. Apart from putting yourself in the best position to learn as a watchmaker, in one fell swoop you’ll experience a lot of cool new things; a new language, a different culture, learn to ski, live at the crossroads of Europe. A 24 hour drive from virtually anywhere on the continental mainland. Learning doesn’t necessarily have to be an unpleasant experience.

11. Name three things on your bucket list.

One of the reasons I’m being asked these questions is due to the fact that I’m fortunate to have ticked something off on of my bucket list. I made my own watch. Here are three more: Sailing is a huge passion of mine. I’d love to make an ocean sailing voyage. This one feels foolish, because I’m very far from ever starting one, but I’d love to write something, if not a book, then at least something very substantial. Learn to wolf whistle as well as my wife.

12. Where do you think the industry is going to be in 10 years’ time.

I’ve always believed that the one of most important goals of making watches is the preservation of the crafts and skills needed to make them. There is a large cohort of collectors out there who I feel share this belief. For this reason I believe that the craft led area of horology will remain strong. I find the more technology led area of watchmaking more difficult to predict, probably because it’s not my area. I refer to the highly advanced concept watches that employ silicon and other exotic materials in their escapements and oscillators. Many of the materials and techniques used have more in common with the production of microchips than watches. They are however new and exciting and are likely to continue to appeal as long as the rate of innovation is maintained. As regards the midrange sector (really not my area!). It would be foolish for me to even try to make a prediction.

To learn more about John McGonigle Oileán