A Morning at the Bench
A Geneva watchmaking morning for a new hire
The ask
We've just hired a head of engineering who rebuilds old motorbikes on weekends and takes apart anything with screws. She starts in Geneva in January. I'd like something waiting for her on day one that isn't a bottle or a pen. Under $5k.
The gift
A half-day at a watchmaking workshop in Geneva's old town, at a bench beside a working watchmaker, taking a Swiss mechanical movement apart and building a watch of her own from it. The watch is hers to keep, and we have its caseback engraved with her start date. The invitation comes with a loupe of her own, boxed in linen and sealed in wax.
Why it's extraordinary
She learns how a watch works the way she learned engines, by taking one apart, and the watch she builds is the one she wears to work.
The moment
The invitation is on her desk the first Monday, and within the month the watch is on her wrist.
A curator replies within one business day.
