Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of but he is heard of, has always been heard of. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star-dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one per cent of the human race. Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, wrote in 1898: The pastor answered with just two words: The Jews. King Frederick the Great once asked his Lutheran pastor to provide him with a visible proof of God’s existence. That there’s some direction to the flow of history. there is some monkey business going on with history that makes it not all just random. It doesn’t make sense historically that the Jews would come back to the Land of Israel. But he finds something real spooky about Jews eating falafel on Jaffa Street. And he found nothing spooky about Greeks eating Musika in Athens. Lederman found nothing spooky about the Eskimos eating fish at the Arctic Circle. And as the conversation went on, I said, “What about spirituality, Leon?” And he said to me, “Schroeder, I’ll talk science with you, but as far as spirituality, speak to the people across the street, the theologians.” But then he continued, and he said, “But I do find something spooky about the people of Israel coming back to the Land of Israel.” I recently met in Jerusalem with Professor Leon Lederman, Nobel Prize winning physicist. In the words of famed nuclear physicist, Dr. How do we know that God runs the world? Is there an objective, scientifically valid proof that God is orchestrating history? Or, is there perhaps legitimacy to the Clockmaker Theory. Judaism claims otherwise – God is actively involved in running the universe and shaping history. “One of the aims of the Alliance is to present the industry as an open door.Did God Stick Around? The Clockmaker TheoryĪfter conclusively proving God’s existence, it is incumbent upon us to deal with a subject in philosophy called the “Clock Maker Theory.” This theory advanced by leading philosophers asserts that God created the universe, but is not actively involved in its operation, just as a clockmaker makes a clock that then operates independently of him. “The opportunities for new talent are enormous,” he says. Of the four objectives, bringing young people into the industry is something that’s particularly close to Mike France’s heart. To provide a powerful voice for the sector.To encourage British supply-chain, jobs and technology.To promote British watch and clockmaking around the world.All with advice and support from filmmaker (and Roger Smith’s corporate affairs advisor) Alistair Audsley. Its first task was to create a ‘watchmakers map’ of the 50 horological brands currently operating in the UK.Ī group of founding members from different areas of watch and clockmaking soon came together – with Roger as chair: Bob Bray, of high-end clockmaker Sinclair Harding Nicholas Bowman-Scargill of heritage watch brand Fears and Crispin Jones of Mr Jones, the innovative, design-led watchmaker. Surely there was a need for an organisation that represented all of British watchmaking: encouraging its growth, promoting its products, maintaining standards and ensuring its long-term prosperity?Īfter Mike and Roger’s meetings, the Alliance of British Watch and Clockmakers was born. When QP announced that 2018 would be its final Salon, Mike and Roger’s discussions intensified. There seemed to be a mismatch, Mike and Roger agreed, between the creative energy of British watch brands and the industry as a whole, and a lack of awareness of the positive things happening in British horology.

The pair shared pleasantries about the state of business (growing), the things happening in British watchmaking (exciting) and the attendance of the QP event (poor). In one of the half-empty halls, Christopher Ward CEO Mike France bumped into Isle of Man watchmaker Dr Roger Smith OBE, one of the world’s most respected horologists.

By November 2018, however, the event had run out of steam. Held at London’s Saatchi Gallery every November, it attracted brands and visitors from all over the watchmaking world. The Salon QP watch fair was usually a high point of the UK watch industry’s year.

The british clockmaker