Making time for his craft

Guo was so captivated with watches that he decided to quit college in 2000 to learn watchmaking in Hong Kong. After graduation, he set up a watchmaking workshop in Shanghai while serving as teacher at the Shanghai Industrial Technical School. To hone his skills, Guo approached several local watchmaking specialists, but he found that many weren't willing to impart their skills to a stranger.

Luo Weiping, a Shanghai watchmaking master, was one of those who rejected Guo in 2003. To him, Guo appeared to be an impulsive, idealistic individual whom he feared wasn't committed enough to the craft. Luo, however, eventually relented after witnessing the young man's passion, persistence and knowledge in operating the professional tools in his workshop.

In 2012, Guo left for Switzerland, a country renowned as the epicenter of the world's watchmaking industry, to learn more about the craft. There, he stumbled upon an opportunity to become a translator at the Baselworld fair where he met acclaimed independent master watchmaker Frank Jutzi.

"I seized every possible chance to speak to him and ask for his advice in watchmaking. At the end of the week-long fair, I mustered the courage to ask if I could become his apprentice," says Guo.

"He rejected me, saying that he didn't know me well enough, but he said that he would travel to China to visit my workshop that summer. I knew that was a great opportunity for me."