While some of his colleagues may bemoan the fact business is slow, Kuldip Rupra is so busy there aren’t enough hours in the day to satisfy the demand for his services, which is kind of ironic given his job is all about keeping track of time.
Rupra is a watchmaker; a profession many thought went the way of the dinosaur when quartz watches exploded on the market and watch repair meant changing a battery.
Despite the challenges, he persevered, and today, his company, TimeRevolution.com is busy with warranty and restoration work; in fact it’s not unusual for the shop to repair about 800 watches a week.
“I passed through the mechanical age into the electronic age, which for a true watchmaker, were the darkest days of the trade,” Rupra says of his earlier struggles.
What I like about this story is it’s a classic example of someone overcoming a hurdle; sticking with what he believes in, and in the end reaping the fruits of his labour.
There are many Rupras in this business, and I am encouraged when I hear their story. I think these individuals offer a message that all of us in the industry should hear, and more importantly, learn from. For more on our interview with him, see page 34.
Until next time, enjoy.
Ellen
While some of his colleagues may bemoan the fact business is slow, Kuldip Rupra is so busy there aren’t enough hours in the day to satisfy the demand for his services, which is kind of ironic given his job is all about keeping track of time.
Rupra is a watchmaker; a profession many thought went the way of the dinosaur when quartz watches exploded on the market and watch repair meant changing a battery.
Despite the challenges, he persevered, and today, his company, TimeRevolution.com is busy with warranty and restoration work; in fact it’s not unusual for the shop to repair about 800 watches a week.
“I passed through the mechanical age into the electronic age, which for a true watchmaker, were the darkest days of the trade,” Rupra says of his earlier struggles.
What I like about this story is it’s a classic example of someone overcoming a hurdle; sticking with what he believes in, and in the end reaping the fruits of his labour.
There are many Rupras in this business, and I am encouraged when I hear their story. I think these individuals offer a message that all of us in the industry should hear, and more importantly, learn from. For more on our interview with him, see page 34.
Until next time, enjoy.
Ellen
---------
Kuldip Rupra slips a loupe over the edge of his eyeglasses. Sitting down at his bench, the third-generation watchmaker clears away dials, movements, and other small parts, tidying up from the night before. “I was here until 11 p.m.,” he says, piercing a ball of Play-Doh with his tools to keep them upright. “I still work after hours. Everyone goes home and I stay.”
In a year when many in the jewellery trade complain business is slow and overseas competition is frustrating, the watch repair business is flourishing due to extended warranty work, restorations, pressure testing, and the return of mechanical watches. You can buy a watch over the Internet, but repairing it is still done the
old-fashioned way.
Dark days
The explosion of quartz watches in the 1970s and 80s brought with it less dependency on these skilled craftspeople – watchmaking became a dying art, since most jewellery retailers were able to change a simple battery. When Rupra started out in 1982, Ontario watchmakers used to be certified, but the simplicity of the quartz movement meant there was less need for watchmakers. The decrease in demand even forced Toronto’s George Brown College to shut down its watchmaking course.
Most in the trade gave it up; fearful the shift away from mechanical watches would see them out of a job. “They moved on and never got into it. And there weren’t many people after that who learned how to do it,” says Rupra. “I passed through the mechanical age into the electronic age, which for a true watchmaker, were the darkest days of the trade.”
Today, the 51 year-old immigrant finds himself in a somewhat enviable position. On the one hand, TimeRevolution.com – the company he bought from his previous boss – is one of a handful across the country repairing and servicing mechanical watches, which keeps him in demand. On the other, there is a shortage of trained watchmakers with the technical expertise to repair these highly specialized items, which can have up to 300 working parts. Rupra has gone so far as to offer to hire students from École Nationale d’Horlogerie in Trois-Riviéres, Que, and train them on-site. In the meantime, one of his brothers helps him out in the evenings and on weekends, while the other is in the process of emigrating from India.
“This trade is still alive in other countries,” he explains. “But when watchmakers come here, they need to be retrained to work with higher end watches… Back home, when you don’t have the parts, you make them.”
Rupra was born and raised in Punjab, India. The roots of his expertise go back two generations when his grandfather opened his first watch repair shop in 1929. Rupra’s father and uncle were also watchmakers (as are his two aforementioned brothers). Though not a watchmaker, a third brother makes tools used in watch repair. The family business is also strong in the next generation. With a bachelor of art in economics and certificate in human resources, Rupras 26-year-old daughter, Mano, is the company’s administrative manager.
Though it operates under the name TimeRevolution.com, Lynkar Watch Company Ltd, is still the official company name. Rupra bought the company in 2001 from Alfred Sherriff, who gave him his first job after he moved to Canada in 1981. (Rupra left India for England in 1974.) In 1985, he left Lynkar and worked for Seiko for the next 12 years, followed by a stint at Citizen. In 1999, he set out on his own, working out of his basement and building a reputation for fast, competent service. He soon bought Lynkar, which was named after the original owner’s daughters, Lyne and Karen.
The name change and a new state-of-the-art watch repair facility came earlier this year. Located in Mississauga, Ont., the 2,5000-sf space has an in-house crystal grinder, vacuum – and pressure-testing machines, a dust-free refinishing machine, computerized engraving equipment, a fine finishing machine, and an ultrasonic watch cleaner for finer watches. Digital security cameras capture every inch of the office and work area, and unfinished repairs are stored in a steel-encase vault.
Moving over to a wall of sophisticated equipment, Rupra demonstrates a computerized water-resistant tester using his personal Jean Marcel ‘Grand Complication,’ a Swiss-made limited edition watch he received from his wife for their 25th wedding anniversary. The machine spits out a printed ticket with the test’s results – one half goes to the customer and the other is for his records.
Rupra credits high-tech record keeping for part of his success- custom-designed software tracks repair status for stores. His customers can call in with a repair number and know the exact status of their order, a fact Rupra takes particular pride in as it allows him to feel like he’s part of the process.
“I’m not just a watch repair company,” he says. “I feel like I’m a part of my customers when they send me work. I’m my customer’ behind-the-scenes support. They’re counting on me and I support them with all the information they need.”
Rupra’s passion for his trade is almost tangible. He pulls out watch after watch, pointing out their features and describing their inner workings with an eagerness most people reserve for recounting their child’s winning goal or straight-A report card.
This bustling operation repairs about 800 watches a week for stores without watchmakers on staff. Watches are shipped in from major international and national watch companies, and independent retailers. TimeRevoltuion.com repairs new, mechanical, and quartz pieces, as well as restores antique watches. It also boasts a large-scale, on-the-spot battery changing and water testing with a 24-hour turnaround.
“With more complicated and mechanical watches coming to market, a degree of professional handling is needed,” Rupra comments. “With certain makes like Cartier, Omega, and TAG Heuer, you must change the gasket and the battery. Regular jewellery stores and kiosks do not keep the parts of equipment to complete gasket repair. It is not economically feasible to carry parts for so many makes. That is where TimeRevolution.com fits in,” he says, pointing out hundred of tiny drawers stuffed with hard-to-get parts for new and older watches, some dating back to the 1920s.
Rupra feels many retailers miss an opportunity to make extra money by turning away repairs and not learning to estimate properly. Some repairs can cost more then the watch itself, but with sentimental value attached to it, Rupra says most people are willing to pay the price. That price doesn’t simply include Rupra’s charge for the repair.
“This repair costs $265,” he explains, picking up a piece ready to be shipped back to the customer. “This store will double the price and some larger retailers will triple it.” Last year, one store paid Rupra $100,000 for servicing watches and collected two and a half times that amount at the store level. Does he ever get a complaint that a watch doesn’t work properly after he has fixed it? “Im not perfect,” he chuckles. “Ninety-five per cent of the time I am.”
While repairing and overseeing the watchmaking side of the business is a full-time job in itself, Rupra is also the eastern Canada sales manager for TechnoMarine, a U.S line of high-end watches that can retail up to $90,000. In addition to being the authorized service centre for the brand, TimeRevolution.com also ships product to Canadian retailers, allowing for better pricing and quicker order turnaround.
Rupra says his current success is not to be taken for granted. He continues to develop new ideas about how to grow the business, including importing and branding his own line of watches under the name ‘Onam’, which is his daughter’s name spelled backwards. The line is in the design stages and about a year away from production.
