Quote:
Originally Posted by JDMDreams
I'm just curious since you are in HK, will you even make enough to survive? Given how expensive HK is and how far Chinese watch making has come. Micro brands, Ali express watches, wouldn't everyone just send them over to China for cheaper labour service? Cuz if they can build them to this quality I'm sure they can service them too.
|
HK is the second biggest watch market in the world (so per capita it is insanely high), followed by China; I don't need to worry about people in America sending watches in for repair.
The Ali Express watches are functional, but not the market I am looking at serving. Ability to keep time shouldn't be confused with actual quality and long term service. And these are generally not items people would bother maintaining unless they have sentimental value. $15-50 movements are something to practice on, not something to earn a living working on at a small scale.
This may be off topic, but I don't think HK is particularly expensive compared to Vancouver. Some things are typically more expensive (rent, gas, electricity), some are less (basically everything else). On top of that, I think rent over there has caught up with here, based on what friends and family are paying (or renting out themselves). And it looks like groceries are getting up there too. Plus you get taxed like crazy
If I go the brand service technician route, salaries start at $70K USD and go up from there if I were to continue learning. Going beyond technician would likely involve moving to another country anyway (probably somewhere more expensive than HK lol).
We'll see where this goes. Right now I want to get good enough to confidently service peoples' watches with consistency, and without even having to think about fucking up like losing shock springs
If I'm being honest, anything would be better than what I am doing now. I was able to make a pretty good living doing what I was doing from 1999-2014ish, including getting residual income from websites and selling my biggest one. But the internet and advertising isn't what it used to be, and honestly I relied on it too much for too long. I got complacent, and unmotivated for too long. Now I am highly motivated. If I can turn this focused passion into something before burning out, you won't believe what a huge deal that will be for me. It's been a long time since I've felt this way about life at all. Been coasting for too long