Patrick Chong is committed to pursuit excellent craftsmanship and continue the inheritance of watch making since 15 years old.

“Watch making is a pursuit of excellence in life”

In late70s, life was tough and most people in Malaysia can only hope for three meals a day. Therefore, many people dropped out of high school to work and contemporary craftsmanship were promising career then.

Due to family’s financial difficulties, Patrick dropped out of high school to learn clock making from his brother-in-law.. After 3 years of apprenticeship, Patrick moved on to Lin Brothers to further refine his craftsmanship.

In those days, watches could be a status symbol and also a necessity of life. People appreciate their watches and always bring their time pieces to watch makers for repair or maintenance. Hence, watch makers were hot commodity and watch making became enviable craftsmanship.

At that time, Lin Brothers was the best watch store in Malaysia for their employment of experienced master watch makers. Their business was excellent because many watch collectors preferred to send their watches to be serviced by the best watch makers. However, introductions of electronic watches changed the industry. Electronic watches can tell time precisely and they are inexpensive hence disposable! Traditional watch making craftsmanship was no longer valued. Lin Brothers had to close their business and Patrick’s career in watch making was essentially over.

Patrick left Malaysia to pursue various careers in Europe for 18 years. Upon returning to Malaysia in 2004, Patrick found there is a shortage of local talents in watch making! He resolutely returned to his passion for life – Traditional watch making! “

I was very fortunate to have a master watch maker, whom I worked with, recommended me to one of the top luxury watch Service Centre in Malaysia. I was already 40 years old. I was a little anxious but understood that hard work and perseverance will restart my passionate career in watch making!”, Patrick reminisced.

Although there were many new designs and components, Patrick quickly established himself as an independent master watch maker within 3 years. There are many watch makers in the industry, but highly skilled and experienced watch makers are rare. Therefore, Patrick rapidly gained a reputation as one of the best master watch maker in Malaysia. Rebuilding irreparable watch crown, pins, gears, etc requires tremendous patient, time, skills and technologies in Grinding, Filling, Connecting, Welding, etc. For Patrick, watch making is not only a life long career but also pursuit of excellence in life! “Many people with different values felt watches are not important. As for me, the craftsmanship of watch making is a priceless inheritance!

My biggest challenge and hope is to nurture and pass on the traditional craftsmanship to new generations!”