History Main / TheWatchMaker

* Dr. Manhattan in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' grows up learning about watch repair from his father (who later pushes him into nuclear physics as a better career) and ends up gaining powers that make him into a rather detached and apathetic PhysicalGod who espouses a completely deterministic view of the world from his nonlinear perspective of time.

* In the WW II movie ''Film/TheEnemyBelow'' the crew of a destroyer is trying to launch their depth charges faster and faster. A crewman leaves his hand on the rail and it is run over by the charges, causing him to lose his fingers. When the captain visits him in sick bay and assures him that he'll be back at his civilian job soon enough, the crewman tells him he was a watchmaker. Becomes a Moment of Heartwarming when the kid adds "But I'll be OK", to which the Captain responds "I'd bet on that."

* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' book ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'' has Jeremy Clockson, [[spoiler: a son of the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Time]]. He was a foundling at the guild involved in clock-making and is a completely rational and utterly socially inept genius. For much of the book he aids the Auditors, who are devoted to making the world more orderly (generally in an OmnicidalManiac way).
** Although he isn't a watchmaker himself, Lord Vetinari quite often uses a watch metaphor for the city of Ankh Morpork, and the metaphor is very apt- and puts Vetinari right in the centre as the watchmaker: by careful organizing and attention to detail, he has made a ridiculously complex city run smoothly and almost automatically- the parts of the city, like the gears in a watch- are buoyed around by the force of each other. And, fitting with the trope, he's next to omniscient and is most definitely NOT unambiguously good.

* In Creator/ETAHoffmann's novella ''Literature/TheNutcrackerAndTheMouseKing'' (and any adaptations thereof), the character Drosselmeyer is a clockmaker and inventor who is a CoolOldGuy and implied to have some supernatural connection

* In ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'', Adam Jensen's apartment has a couple of tables littered with clockwork components, indicating that he has taken up watch assembly as a way to cope with his new augmentations. Also as a way to grow more comfortable with them, due to the fine motor control required.

* Whirl from ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' is a former watchmaker. He might have once been an otherwise decent individual who tried to play into SquareRaceRoundClass and avoid being pressured into doing other people's dirty work, being a big battle-copter model of Cybertronian, but things went horribly wrong and BodyHorror inflicted as ColdBloodedTorture is now the reason that he ''was'' a watchmaker, and is now an AxCrazy BloodKnight and definitely ''not'' what most would consider a "good" person.

* Part of the idea behind this trope is OlderThanTheyThink, as it's essentially related to TheBlacksmith trope. Crafts have always had a mysterious aura for the uninitiated which is why we have Ancestral Weapons, and smith-gods (like Vulcan) and [[GadgeteerGenius gadgeteer]] heroes and villains.

[[folder: Real Life]]

* Prez Rickard in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' is the perfect American president who fixes all the nation's problems and inspires everyone he meets. He also happens to be a watchmaking prodigy, and later refers to God as "the Watchmaker". In the original ''ComicBook/{{Prez|1973}}'' comics, he first became a public figure (and attracted the attention of the person who suggested a future in politics) by fixing all the clocks in his city. The metaphor was absent, however.

* Part of the idea behind this trope is OlderThanTheyThink, as it's essentially related to TheBlacksmith trope. Crafts have always had a mysterious aura for the uninitiated which is why we have Ancestral Weapons, and smith-gods (like Vulcan) and gadgeteer heroes and villains.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: ComicBooks]]

* Whirl from ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' is a former watchmaker. He might have once been an otherwise decent individual who tried to play into SquareRaceRoundClass and avoid being pressured into doing other people's dirty work, being a big battle-copter model of Cybertronian, but things went horribly wrong and BodyHorror inflicted as ColdBloodedTorture is now the reason that he ''was'' a watchmaker, and is now an AxCrazy BloodKnight and definitely ''not'' what most would consider a "good" person.

[[folder: Film]]

* In the WW II movie ''Film/TheEnemyBelow'' the crew of a destroyer is trying to launch their depth charges faster and faster. A crewman leaves his hand on the rail and it is run over by the charges, causing him to lose his fingers. When the captain visits him in sick bay and assures him that he'll be back at his civilian job soon enough, the crewman tells him he was a watchmaker. Becomes a Moment of Heartwarming when the kid adds "But I'll be OK", to which the Captain responds "I'd bet on that."

[[folder: Literature]]

* The Literature/{{Discworld}} book ''Thief of Time'' has Jeremy Clockson, [[spoiler: a son of the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Time]]. He was a foundling at the guild involved in clock-making and is a completely rational and utterly socially inept genius. For much of the book he aids the Auditors, who are devoted to making the world more orderly (generally in an OmnicidalManiac way).
** Although he isn't a watchmaker himself, Lord Vetinari quite often uses a watch metaphor for the city of Ankh Morpork, and the metaphor is very apt- and puts Vetinari right in the centre as the watchmaker: by careful organizing and attention to detail, he has made a ridiculously complex city run smoothly and almost automatically- the parts of the city, like the gears in a watch- are buoyed around by the force of each other. And, fitting with the trope, he's next to omniscient and is most definitely NOT unambiguously good.
** Nanny Ogg kind of makes a roundabout reference to this trope in ''Literature/WitchesAbroad''; as she thinks "When you know about clockwork, you know about everything. I wish I bloody well knew about clockwork."
* In John Morressy's short story ''Timekeeper'', the mysterious clockmaker who moves to town seems to have time-related powers, but mostly he uses them to have exactly the right clock ready at exactly the right time for every customer who comes into his shop.
* In ''Literature/TheWatchmakerOfFiligreeStreet'', the titular watchmaker seems to have a preternatural ability to anticipate events.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

* Monroe, the reformed werewolf, in ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' is a clock and watch repairman and explains to Nick how the Wesen world works.

[[folder: VideoGames]]

* Max Geiger from ''VideoGame/FantasyStrike'', whose title is "Precise Watchmaker". On top of making watches, he's a scientist studying time, and he's [[TimeMaster able to control it to a limited extent]].
* Julius in ''VideoGame/AliceInTheCountryOfHearts'' and its sequels, and it's barely even metaphorical. As everybody in the Country of Hearts thinks DeathIsCheap, it's up to him to repair all their broken clocks (or "hearts"). This leads him to become a {{Workaholic}} as a result. Speculation has it he's the story's stand-in for Father Time.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* The [[EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity Enigmatic Empowering Entities]] of ''Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime'' are an old man who runs a clock store and his BondCreature [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Clockmon]]. He's never actually seen doing anything with actual clocks, but still...

* Julius in ''VideoGame/HeartNoKuniNoAlice'' and its sequels, and it's barely even metaphorical. As everybody in the Country of Hearts thinks DeathIsCheap, it's up to him to repair all their broken clocks (or "hearts"). This leads him to become a {{Workaholic}} as a result. Speculation has it he's the story's stand-in for Father Time.