His father learned the trade at a watchmaking company, which there were quite a few in Croatia and all of them were successful. His father started his own shop in the 1990s. Given that his father needed help due to an increasing workload, Siniša worked alongside his father every day and learned the trade. Finally, he took over the business in 2017 when he opened the craft at a new location.
Watchmaking craft Eret is the only one in Velika Gorica that services watches and this takes up most of Siniša’s day. He loves repairing and restoring antique watches, wall clocks, lantern clocks, wrist watches and alarm clocks. When it comes to older clocks, Siniša restores the wooden cases containing the clocks as well.
Photo: Igor Kralj/PIXSELL
He notices an upward trend of mechanical watches and recommends that they be serviced within five years, which includes greasing and testing the watch’s basic functions.
Siniša believes that watchmakers will be increasingly in demand, but he also thinks that the watchmaking profession will disappear almost completely in about ten years because of insufficient attention dedicated to this unique trade. The old watchmakers’ school doesn’t exist anymore. Siniša believes that the future lies in investing in technology coupled with indispensible handicraft tools that are timeless.
He notes that modern watches are made from different materials, which makes them more robust and durable. Still, most of his work consists of small repairs and a lot of people come to Gorica from Zagreb in order to have their antique clocks repaired as they consider them to be family heritage.
