{{Short description|English watchmaker}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Use British English|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox person | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|37|2023|05|30}} | birth_place = | spouse = {{marriage|Craig Struthers|2012}} | awards = Heritage Crafts Association President's Award | website = {{URL|https://strutherswatchmakers.co.uk/}} }}
'''Rebecca Struthers''' (born {{birth based on age as of date|37|2023|05|30|noage=1}})<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Glasbey |first=Jo |date=30 May 2023 |title=Meet England's traditional watchmakers |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/luxury/article/rebecca-struthers-one-of-englands-last-watchmakers-times-luxury-3xqr82dvq |access-date=5 October 2023 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> is an English watchmaker, historian, author, engineer, and gemmologist.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Llewellyn |first=Tracey |date=22 March 2023 |title=The husband-and-wife team taking on Swiss watch giants from their Staffordshire workshop |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/brands/struthers-watchmakers-taking-swiss-watch-giants-staffordshire/ |access-date=4 October 2023 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> She works with her husband, Craig, who is a master watchmaker.<ref name=":2" /> She won the Heritage Crafts award in 2021, presented by King Charles III. She is the only practising watchmaker in the United Kingdom with a PhD in horology.<ref name=":2" />
== Career == Struthers and her now husband, Craig went to Birmingham City University. Struthers originally studied goldsmithing and then changed to watchmaking, while Craig studied horology.<ref name=":0" /> In 2017, she got a doctorate in horology.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Fowler |first=Susanne |date=8 September 2021 |title=From Working on Watches to Writing About Them |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/fashion/watches-rebecca-struthers-book-england.html |access-date=11 October 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> The watchmaking course that the two took no longer exists.<ref name=":2" /> After graduating from university, Struthers moved to London to work in auction houses, doing restoring and watch dealing. After moving to Birmingham, she and her husband started working in their workshop in 2012 which is in the Jewellery Quarter. They initially only did restoration in watches from before 1960, and their contracts initially came from the auction house until word spread.<ref name=":0" /> They restore and remake watch movements, making most of the watch parts themselves.<ref name=":2" /> They won a Design Innovation Award on a pendant they named Stella, which was based on a 1960s movement. It was housed in an orb of rock crystal suspended within a platinum gimbal. Struthers has spoken on Radio 4. In 2021 King Charles III presented Rebecca and Craig with the Heritage Crafts Association President's Award, including a {{GBP|3,000}} bursary. The two are using this to create a free educational watchmaking resource, Watchmakers' Café.<ref name=":0" />
In May 2023 she released a book about the history of time in 2023, named ''Hands of Time''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> It was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic,<ref name=":3" /> and has 288 pages and was published in June in the United States by Hodder & Stoughton.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |title=The evolution of watches reflects changing relations with time |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/05/04/the-evolution-of-watches-reflects-changing-relations-with-time |access-date=5 October 2023 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> The book talks about the history of timekeeping devices, from Egyptian water clocks to the Apple Watch,<ref name=":0" /> and John Wilter, a name found on watch forgeries.<ref name=":3" /> Her husband illustrated the book.<ref name=":3" /> She finished her PhD thesis in 2017 and wanted to turn it into a book, but had difficulty finding a publisher interested in horology.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Wai |first=Jonathan |date=24 July 2023 |title=Inspiring the Next Generation Of Makers through Watchmaking |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanwai/2023/07/24/inspiring-the-next-generation-of-makers-through-watchmaking/ |access-date=5 October 2023 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>
The Struthers made their own movement from scratch, named Project 248.<ref name=":0" /> They make around two or three tailor watches per year. One of their watches, the Kingsley Watch, sells for at least {{GBP|48,000}}.<ref name=":2" />
Struthers described her experience as a young female watchmaker as a hindrance at the start of her career. She said that later on in her career it "swung in the opposite way," saying that being a minority makes it easier to be noticed.<ref name=":3" />
== Personal life == After graduating from university, Struthers and her now husband moved to London separately. In 2012 the two moved to Birmingham to set up shop, which was their house until 2022. Struthers married Craig in 2012.<ref name=":0" /> The two have a Staffie dog.<ref name=":0" /> She has tattoos, and is a fan of Casio watches.<ref name=":3" />
==Publications== * {{Cite book |last=Struthers |first=Rebecca |title=Hands of Time: A Watchmaker's History |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=2023 |isbn=9781529339000}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Struthers, Rebecca}} Category:1980s births Category:21st-century English women writers Category:Alumni of Birmingham City University Category:English watchmakers (people) Category:Women watchmakers Category:Living people Category:21st-century English writers