麻豆传媒映画

Friedrich 鈥淔ritz鈥� Irrgang eschews advertising, doesn鈥檛 have a website and maintains virtually no online presence.

Save for a small sandwich board on Burrard and Sixth Avenue, you鈥檇 be hard-pressed to know that Western Watch & Clock Repairs even existed.

An unorthodox business model for some, though Irrgang鈥檚 appeal is seemingly timeless.

Irrgang is one of a small handful of watchmakers and master clocksmiths left in Vancouver. He鈥檚 been at it on Burrard for 20 years, and for a decade before that downtown.

He鈥檚 weathered the cellphone storm, worked on clocks from the 1700s and has fixed thousands of timepieces since receiving his master watchmaker designation in 1963.

He even sets aside one day a week for house calls.聽

鈥淲hen a customer comes in and brings me something that they鈥檝e had in the family for a long time and it has quit working, it gives me great satisfaction to restore it to its former glory and make sure that clock or watch is working again,鈥� Irrgang said.

Irrgang鈥檚 rationale for no advertising or website is as practical as he is personable.

Timepiece repair happens on an as-needed basis that can span anywhere from 10 to 50 years. His work does all the advertising for him.

鈥淚f the customer leaves here happy and is satisfied, he will refer to me his friends and business associates and I鈥檓 getting a new client out of that. So if I do a good job, I get a new customer,鈥� Irrgang said.

Irrgang鈥檚 shop is like a collage of snapshots from different eras. There are watches from over the last century, a clock from 1820 and a long case clock 鈥� commonly referred to as a grandfather clock 鈥� from sometime in the 1700s. With no reference point for how to fix the 300-year-old timepiece, Irrgang stripped the casing from the clock and simply watches its machinations to understand it functions and faults.

That level of mindfulness demonstrates the number one rule in watchmaking: all good things come to those who wait.

鈥淚 was rather impatient when I was younger,鈥� Irrgang said. 鈥淏ut as the years passed by I realized I had to become more and more patient to do this kind of work. So it worked out. Patience is definitely the number one thing.鈥�

Vienna calling
Watchmaking found Irrgang, rather than the other way around. A native of Vienna, Austria, the 72-year-old wanted to be gardener in his teenage years. A family friend who recently retired from the city鈥檚 watchmaking school mentioned the shortage of watchmakers in the marketplace, and the plan was hatched.

Irrgang spent three years on the practical side of his studies, followed by a year-long masterclass. He had to build timepieces from scratch in each of those first three years: a wall regulator clock, which is characterized by an elongated cabinet and its placement on a wall, a pocket watch and then a wrist watch.

Outside of his formal training, Irrgang鈥檚 skillset is all over the map: he鈥檚 a metallurgist, drafter, carver and part-time public relations rep.

鈥淵ou have to be able to listen to people. Listening is very important,鈥� he said.

Time marches on
Arriving in 麻豆传媒映画in 1972, Irrgang spent his first decade in Canada selling jewelry and packaging supplies. He got back into watchmaking in 1982 at his former location in the 麻豆传媒映画Block building.

Irrgang said there was at least three dozen watchmakers in 麻豆传媒映画at that time. Now, he reckons there鈥檚 less than 10 and he knows most of them. Quartz watches were the game changer on that front: they replaced wind-up watches and previous battery types, lessening the need for repair.

Cellphone technology had a minor impact on his business when camera phones became ubiquitous a decade ago, though the trend has travelled full circle: younger people are all about wristwatches, older generations take pride in fixing and preserving antique clocks that have been in their families for generations.

鈥淎 watch is something very personal. It鈥檚 like clothing: you wear it on your body, it鈥檚 a statement of fashion, it鈥檚 something that is with you all day long,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 a lot easier to lift your arm and take a look to see what time it is rather than digging out your cellphone.鈥�

Curiously enough, Irrgang isn鈥檛 wearing a watch when visited by the Courier. He only owns two watches, because he鈥檚 鈥渟urrounded by watches and clocks.鈥澛�

Irrgang will be 73 in early December. He鈥檚 pondered retirement, but his customers are having none of it. About the only trace of Irrgang鈥檚 online existence is found in roughly a dozen Yelp reviews, all of which are overwhelmingly positive.

鈥淭he first question [customers] always ask is, 鈥楢re you still there?鈥� when my clients phone me. The second thing they say is, 鈥楶lease don鈥檛 retire,鈥� so they put a big guilt trip on me,鈥� Irrgang joked. 鈥淪o I just keep going.鈥�

[email protected]