Hands of Time: Author Talk & Book Signing with watchmaker Rebecca Struthers

"A watchmaker's world is not much bigger than a thumbnail. I spend whole days working on mechanisms which contain thousands of tiny components, each of which has a specific task to perform. Every morning when I sit at my bench, it is an adventure into a new timepiece with its own history to lose myself in. And their history is the history of time itself..."

Timepieces are one of humanity's most ingenious innovations. Their invention was more significant for human culture than the printing press, or even the wheel. They have travelled the world with us, from the depths of the oceans to the summit of Everest, and even to the Moon. They regulate our daily lives and have sculpted the social and economic development of society in surprising ways.

In Hands of Time watchmaker and historian Rebecca Struthers welcomes us into the hidden world of watchmaking, offering a personal history of watches that spans centuries and continents. From her workshop bench, Rebecca explores the ways in which timekeeping has indelibly shaped our attitudes to work, leisure, trade, politics, exploration and mortality, and introduces us to some extraordinary and treasured devices, each with their own story to tell...

Hands of Time is an intricate and uniquely personal exploration of the history, science, philosophy, and craft of timekeeping.

*Radio 4 Book of the Week* - 8th May

“An absolutely GORGEOUS book about craft, time and history. Hands of Time really captures what it means to be a craftsperson and why it matters. IT BLEW MY SOCKS OFF.” Jay Blades

Rebecca Struthers is the most relevantly qualified watchmaker in British history, the first practitioner in her field to earn a PhD in horology.

A multi-award-winning watchmaker, designer, and, historian; Struthers co-founded her own workshop at the age of 26 in collaboration with her husband and fellow watchmaker Craig in 2012. In their Georgian atelier, based in the heartof Birmingham's historic Jewellery Quarter, they use heritage machines and equipment combined with traditional artisan techniques to restore antiquarian pieces and craft their own bespoke watches.