Historically, in England, watchmakers would have to undergo a seven-year apprenticeship and then join a guild, such as the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in London, before selling their first watch. In modern times, watchmakers undergo training courses such as the ones offered by the BHI, or one of the many other schools around the world following the WOSTEP style curriculum. Some US watchmaking schools of horology will teach not only the Wostep style, including the ETA range of movements, but also focus on the older watches that a modern watchmaker will encounter on a daily basis. In Denmark the apprenticeship lasts four years, with six terms at the Danish School of Watchmaking in Ringsted. The education covers both clocks and watches, as a watchmaker in Denmark is also a clockmaker. In France, there are three diplomas: the lowest is the Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle (CAP) in horology (in two years), then the "Brevet des Métiers d'Art" horology for another two-year course. And optionally, the Diplôme des métiers d'art / DMA Horlogerie (two years).
Main article: Watchmaker analogy
William Paley and others used the watchmaker in his famous analogy to imply the existence of God (the teleological argument) .
Richard Dawkins later applied this analogy in his book The Blind Watchmaker, arguing that evolution is blind in that it cannot look forward.
Alan Moore in his graphic novel Watchmen, uses the metaphor of the watchmaker as a central part of the backstory of his heroic character Dr. Manhattan.
In the NBC television series Heroes, the villain Sylar is a watchmaker by trade. His ability to know how watches work corresponds to his ability to gain new superpowers by examining the brains of people he has murdered.
In the scifi novel The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven, the Watchmakers[broken anchor] are a small technologically intelligent sub-species of the Moties that will repair/improve things left for them (accompanied by food as payment).
In the 2015 major motion picture film Survivor directed by James McTeigue, one of the world's most wanted killers is played by Pierce Brosnan, who demonstrates just how devastating the precision skill sets of a watchmaker can be as he plays the role of 'Nash,' a professional killer who excels at bomb making and long-range shooting.
In the film 12 Angry Men, Juror 11 is a watchmaker. Like most of the jurors, his job reflects how he views the case, approaching the facts very methodically and keeping everything in order. It also reflects his status as a European immigrant, a fact commented on by Juror 12.
Berthoud, Ferdinand; Auch, Jacob (2016). How to Make a Verge Watch. p. 218. Archived from the original on 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-06-04. http://www.watkinsr.id.au/berthoud.html ↩
Vigniaux (2011). Practical Watchmaking. p. 176. Archived from the original on 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-06-04. http://www.watkinsr.id.au/vigniaux.html ↩