A Craft at Risk: How Watchmaking Is Disappearing in Morocco — and How Vingtsecondes Is Bringing It Back
Walk through any old neighborhood in Morocco and you might still find them: small watch repair shops, quiet and almost invisible. The glass displays are faded, the signs worn, the tools old. Inside, a watchmaker sits alone, working slowly under a lamp. These places once played an essential role in everyday life. Today, many are closing their doors for good.
Watchmaking in Morocco is slowly disappearing—not because it lacks value, but because the world around it has changed too fast.
Why Watchmaking Is Vanishing
For decades, Moroccan watchmakers were repairers rather than manufacturers. They kept watches running through skill, patience, and experience passed down informally. But several factors have pushed the craft toward extinction:
- Disposable culture: Quartz watches and smart devices replaced mechanical watches for most people. When something breaks, it’s cheaper to replace than repair.
- Lack of transmission: Many watchmakers never had apprentices. Younger generations were encouraged to pursue other careers, leaving no one to inherit the craft.
- Limited access to tools and training: Proper watchmaking equipment is expensive and hard to find locally, making learning difficult.
- Loss of prestige: Watchmaking stopped being seen as a future profession, becoming instead a fading trade of the past.
As a result, when a watchmaker retires, their knowledge often disappears with them.
A Growing Interest, But No Clear Path
Ironically, at the same time the craft is vanishing, interest in mechanical watches is growing again. Vintage watches, restorations, and behind-the-scenes watch content are attracting young Moroccans who want to understand what’s inside their watches.
The problem isn’t curiosity—it’s where to begin.
Many young people want to learn but don’t know how to open a watch safely, which tools to use, or how to practice without risking damage. Online content exists, but without proper tools and guidance, learning remains intimidating.
Vingtsecondes: Rebuilding the Bridge
Vingtsecondes was created with this exact gap in mind.
Rather than positioning watchmaking as an elite or inaccessible skill, the brand approaches it as something that can be learned step by step. Vingtsecondes focuses on education, practice, and confidence—especially for beginners.
Through beginner kits, educational content, and real mechanical movements to work on, Vingtsecondes gives young people the opportunity to:
- Open a watch safely
- Handle a movement for the first time
- Develop hand–eye coordination
- Understand how mechanical timekeeping works
This isn’t about replacing traditional watchmakers. It’s about continuing what they started—in a modern, accessible way.
Teaching the Next Generation
What makes Vingtsecondes different is its focus on transmission. The brand doesn’t just sell tools; it encourages learning, curiosity, and respect for the craft.
By speaking directly to younger generations—using clear language, relatable content, and realistic expectations—Vingtsecondes helps turn passive interest into active practice. Each beginner who learns to restore rather than discard keeps the craft alive.
A Comeback Built on Knowledge, Not Nostalgia
The revival of watchmaking in Morocco won’t come from factories or mass production. It will come from individuals—people who choose to learn, repair, and understand mechanical objects again.
Vingtsecondes is part of that comeback. By making watchmaking accessible to younger generations, the brand helps preserve a disappearing craft and ensures that the knowledge of timekeeping doesn’t vanish with the last generation of watchmakers.