Tim Work

WatchBox’s media specialist and horological YouTube sensation ruminates on editorial freedom and honest reviews in the world of pre-owned watches

- Alvin Wong

When Tim Mosso popped by Singapore late-2019 to join WatchBox Singapore’s opening ceremony, the walking horological encyclopaedia was bestowed the rockstar treatment. Fanboys and watch geeks who knew Mosso from WatchBox’s hugely popular YouTube channel, WatchBox Studios, were literally stopping him in his tracks, eager to engage and bask in his enthusiasm about watches and watch collecting.

Just as one would expect from watching Mosso’s watch reviews and ruminations on YouTube, the man is disarmingly genial, forthright and blessed with a seemingly endless capacity for watch-related information. More importantly, Mosso reveals himself to be a man who is always learning and more than happy to share his passion and knowledge.

You recently started on a watchmaking apprenticeship at WatchBox’s in-house watchmaking department. What’s up with that?

I want to increase my knowledge and mastery of watches. Understanding the product, knowing the history, being able to spot counterfeits, appraising, and so on, are great. But that’s just on the outside of the watch. I want to be able to go inside of the watch and understand it. It is almost like a lawyer who wants to do patent law. In the US, lawyers who want to do that need to have an engineering degree and a law degree. I want to work up to a watchmaker’s certification and a PhD in horological history, engineering and innovation.

Have you always been into watches?

It started as a general interest in mechanical stuff. My granddad used to repair electric shavers for a living. He would fix other appliances around the house, too, and he had a couple of interesting watches. I remember vividly he had the Bulova Accutron and an Omega DeVille Seamaster. Grandpa got me into machines and gadgets.