Cover IHT Swiss Watch Atelier’s founder Michael Dubs inspecting a movement
IHT Swiss Watch Atelier’s founder Michael Dubs inspecting a movement
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Independent watchmaker Michael Dubs on three decades in the craft, the atelier he built with his family, and why the best thing you can do with knowledge is pass it on
Michael Dubs was about 14 when he cracked open his sister’s faulty Swatch Pop in his father’s handyman vise. He had no particular plan, just curiosity—the kind that growing up in the Swiss countryside tends to cultivate in children who spend their weekends fixing bicycles and watching farmers repair machinery. When the case gave way, little gears and components flew in every direction. “I was amazed that something so small could contain such a precise miniature world,” recalls Dubs, who remembers going straight to his mother to tell her he wanted to become a watchmaker.
That curiosity eventually led him to a coveted apprenticeship at IWC Schaffhausen, where he began formal training the year he turned 16. “From that moment on, watchmaking became my life’s path,” says Dubs. After completing the four‑year programme—by the end of which he found himself drawn to the world of complications—he launched his professional career by relocating to Singapore in 2000 to serve as an after-sales manager with SA Desco. There, he met his wife, Phyllis, with whom he returned to Switzerland in 2002 to build a life together, later welcoming two sons.
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Above IHT Swiss Watch Atelier’s founder Michael Dubs (pictured standing) conducting a watchmaking workshop
IHT Swiss Watch Atelier’s founder Michael Dubs (pictured standing) conducting a watchmaking workshop
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It was during this time back in Switzerland that Dubs’s career truly accelerated. A recommendation from his mentor, the renowned watchmaker Paul Gerber, under whom he studied, connected him with Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi (APRP)—the specialised high‑complication manufacture evolved from the independent atelier Renaud & Papi and owned by Audemars Piguet—and ultimately set the course of his career. Unlike larger houses, where production is divided among siloed departments, APRP integrates its processes, exposing him to a far broader range of skills involved in the making of complications: assembling movements, finishing components, polishing steel parts and participating closely in development. “It was really a great place to learn and to work,” says Dubs, who rose to manage APRP’s prototyping and training departments.
Yet, Singapore never quite lost its pull. During a Christmas visit years later, as his flight approached Changi Airport, Dubs experienced what he describes as an immediate certainty. “I just knew that we had to move back,” he says. “I think it was a calling.” And so the family relocated permanently to the country in 2014. For nearly a decade after, Dubs served first as Audemars Piguet’s regional customer service training manager and then as regional technical manager, applying his prestigious Swiss Federal Master Watchmaker diploma to the region’s highest complications.
Above Michael Dubs inspecting a watch movement
Michael Dubs inspecting a watch movement
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In 2023, Dubs stepped away from corporate watchmaking to found IHT Swiss Watch Atelier—or IHT for short—incorporated, with patriotism, on Swiss National Day. Envisioned as a space where collectors and craftspeople can genuinely meet, where clients can discover not just the mechanics of a watch, but also how and why it was made—something he had long believed was missing in Singapore—IHT is, at its core, a family endeavour. Dubs focuses on the technical side—specifically watchmaking, servicing, teaching and events—while Phyllis handles business development, finance, administration and client hospitality. Elder son Nicholas manages information technology for the atelier as well as its website, and younger son Benjamin is involved with its photography and social media presence.
When IHT launched, its efforts were split between servicing and independent brand representation, with education playing a secondary role. That changed in late 2024 when Dubs became an official Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie Academy trainer. Brand representation gradually wound down as education and hands‑on experiences moved to the fore. “As we gave up one direction, interest in our watchmaking masterclasses began to grow—almost as if letting go opened the way for something more aligned with IHT’s purpose,” says Dubs, who is likely the only Swiss‑trained and Swiss‑qualified independent watchmaker actively teaching the craft in Singapore today.
Above Watchmaking tools used at IHT Swiss Watch Atelier
Watchmaking tools used at IHT Swiss Watch Atelier
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Vintage restoration, meanwhile, has quietly come to dominate the servicing side, now making up roughly 80 per cent of workshop operations. As Dubs shares, this unexpected development feels, in many ways, “like a dream come true”, since he would have joined the restoration team had he stayed on at Audemars Piguet. For him, servicing a timepiece is an act of preserving memory as much as material—a responsibility that transcends the technical work. “Many watches carry emotional value far beyond their financial worth,” he notes. “When someone entrusts a watch to us, I feel responsible […] for preserving its integrity and character.” This philosophy is guided by a deceptively simple analogy: “When you go to the beach and have a barbecue, or go camping, you should leave the place cleaner than when you arrived,” he says. “A good watchmaker should approach after‑sales service the same way. Once he has worked on the piece, you shouldn’t see that he has worked on it.”
What Dubs hopes IHT ultimately leaves behind is a culture of openness, curiosity and shared knowledge. “If in the future people remember IHT as a place where they genuinely connected with watchmaking, learnt something meaningful and felt welcomed into the world of horology, I’d be very happy,” he says.
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Images: IHT Swiss Watch Atelier
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Annabel Tan is the Editor of Watches and Jewellery at Tatler Singapore, where she covers all things luxury timepieces and fine jewellery across both print and digital platforms. She is also the Editor of Tatler GMT Singapore, a role that deepens her fascination with the ever-evolving world of watchmaking. Outside of work, she’s usually on the hunt for her next favourite watch that she can’t afford, planning her next beach getaway, or catching up on the latest Formula 1 race.
