Time is an illusion to Albert Einstein but for 50 long years, a Turkish watchmaker Ökkeş Altunbaş has maintained it as an order with all kinds of watches and clocks.Altunbaş, 61, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that he has been repairing watches, especially antique ones, since he was just 10 years old on Karagöz Street in southeastern Gaziantep province.Despite doing the same job for decades, he said he still happy and would like to continue his "old-fashioned" profession.
In fact, he has even passed on the trade to his three sons, Mehmet, 41, Vedat, 34, and Sahin, 31. Each of his sons have similar watch repair shops like their father.
"My entire family has been engaged in this profession for a long time. I have been in it since I was 10. I used to go to school and work in a repair shop at the same time when I was a kid. Now my three children all have their own shops. They all do their job perfectly," Altunbaş said.
However, he lamented the fact that several people have left the profession over the decades."There is now almost no one who does this job anymore. People mostly buy new watches instead of repairing their old ones. Also, it's hard to find professionals to do this job," he said. "That's why I'm happy that my sons are continuing this old-fashioned family job."
One of his sons, Mehmet, heaped praise on his father.
"My father taught us every detail about the antique watch repair business. He still gives us advice... If we ever find it hard to fix a problem we know we can always go and ask our father," he said.
