20-05-2025
‘I'm guilty myself of relying on my phone' – master watchmakers to showcase work as International Festival of Time hits Irish shores
Irish watchmakers exhibiting at the event in Waterford city have told of their journeys to become artisans producing timepieces worth up to €5,000 each.
Showcasing at the festival, which runs at a number of venues in the city on Friday and Saturday, is a first for Clare-based horologist Alison Moriarty, who runs Moriarty Watches.
'Straight out of secondary school, I studied for three years at the [now closed] Irish Institute of Horology, in Dublin,' she said.
'From there, I was chosen to study at the Wostep Institute in Switzerland for a six-month intensive course.'
Wostep (the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Programme) is an internationally recognised qualification for watchmaking professionals.
Ms Moriarty was the only woman on both courses, and when she returned to Ireland and sought out work, she was not offered any watchmaker positions.
The roles she worked at in Dublin and Galway were limited to the retail and service departments.
While trying to carve out space for herself in a male-dominated field, she felt 'deflated' she had not been allowed to work in a workshop.
She then began to work with her husband Mike, who is a quantity surveyor, while still engaging in small projects. However, at 35 she hit a major issue.
'I became very ill and I ended up in St Vincent's Hospital for about two months between the ICU and high dependency unit,' she said.
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'They didn't know what was wrong with me,' she added.
Since then, Ms Moriarty has had numerous diagnoses, such as degenerative bone disease, and battled blood disorders. It is now part of 'everyday life' for her, and she is supported by a team of consultants.
But she found her way back to horology, with encouragement from her husband.
'We then built the workshop on the third floor of the house. I was just doing restorations for myself and doing pieces I liked and selling them on,' she said.
Soon she started engaging in enamelling, the difficult technical process that creates the clear, smooth and glossy finish of watches.
She has since founded her own business, Moriarty Watches, selling timepieces all over the world, from the US to the United Arab Emirates, even counting a rocket scientist from Florida, working for Nasa.
She creates made-to-order watches along with bespoke commissions, and each one is unique.
Ms Moriarty also now enjoys using social media to connect with other women in the industry. 'I have noticed there are more women in horology these days – I talk to many on Instagram and try to share information. I enjoy it because you like to do a bit more for someone else than what was done for you,' she said.
Her watches start from €3,500, with her green Hibernia watch a favourite among buyers, along with her Blue Midnight and Winters Night pieces.
Bryan Leech, based in Carlow, will also be at the festival. He has been a product designer for more than 40 years, having worked with companies in Ireland and around the world. But he stepped into horology by accident.
While attending an exhibition in London in 2014, the product designer was inspired by a talk on horology focusing on Newgrange as the 'oldest timepiece in the world'. From there, he made three prototypes for a show celebrating Irish heritage and design, inspired by Newgrange.
At the time he thought nothing more of horology, but his friend encouraged him to go into production.
'A seed was sown, and four years later, I became an accidental watchmaker,' he said.
Now Mr Leech, through his company Sidereus, sells watches to the Irish, UK, American and UAE markets.
He designs each one while a team of horologists bring them to life. His most expensive watch was a piece with a gold inlay on which he collaborated with watchmaker and goldsmith Mark Wilks. It sold for €5,000.
While we might all be stuck to our phones, he still believes there is a unique appeal to watches.
'I'm guilty myself at times of not wearing a watch, and relying on my phone. But there is that fascination out there with all things mechanical.'
The International Festival of Time will be held in the Irish Museum of Time in Waterford, hosting Irish and international watchmakers. The line-up includes exhibitions, opportunities to meet watchmakers, a panel discussion including Mr Leech and Ms Moriarty, and a keynote address.
