Turning a childhood fascination with watches into a lifelong craft, Arif Kocaman has continued to hone the skill he began teaching himself at 14, meticulously restoring antique timepieces at 72.
Born in 1954 in Çankırı, central Türkiye, Kocaman moved to Istanbul to live with his uncle and, at just 14, began selling watches at the Eminönü Pier.
Not content with merely selling watches as a child, he also taught himself repair skills. Because he spent many years working at the pier, he earned the nickname “Iskele Arif Usta” (Pier Master Arif).
Over more than half a century, Kocaman has mastered watch repair, carefully assembling disassembled parts. Today, he continues this work in his Fatih shop, adhering strictly to his principle of “the right part and honesty,” restoring antique watches with meticulous attention.
Kocaman said that as a child, he tried to repair watches that broke while selling them at the pier. To sell watches there, he would also repair them without charging money.
He recalled repairing his first Zenith watch: “I’ll never forget it. You disassemble it, lay the parts side by side, and it’s obvious which piece is broken. You use the exact same part, nothing else will do. You can’t substitute gold or a diamond for that part. In watchmaking, you can’t improvise. Cheating doesn’t work.”
Kocaman also trained apprentices during his career, some of whom even surpassed his skills.
He emphasized that watch repair is a precise craft, not something that can be done by just opening a cover and replacing a battery, and that he can repair all kinds of watches, from antiques to modern models.
Expressing his love for antique watches, he said: “I’ve repaired a 200-year-old watch. Sometimes I repair very valuable watches without charging anything. I enjoy it, it feels like, ‘I was able to do this.’”
At 72, despite dealing with multiple health issues, Kocaman continues to search for antique watches every Sunday at flea markets.
He criticized the modern practice of melting down gold from old, expensive watches for other purposes, stressing that antique watches should not be destroyed or altered in this way.
