Ricky’s path started with a question. At 13, he encountered a Lemania movement and asked where the battery was. That moment of confusion became a spark. He began by modifying G-Shocks for paying clients, then taught himself to assemble watches from factory parts. Soon after, he designed components, specified custom dials and hands, and moved into polishing and finishing his own movements.

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Each project raised the bar:

• A first daily-wear concept: dressy yet durable, inspired by H. Moser & Cie Vantablack designs. Ricky sourced cases in bulk from Taobao, learning tolerances and assembly the hard way.

• A tourbillon in a gold case: closer to the Venturer Concept Vantablack aesthetic, pushing complexity and finishing.

• A Sellita SW200 build: with a custom case and crown guard, plus factory-custom dials and hands—Ricky’s first comprehensive design brief from case to handset.

• An openworked tourbillon: a statement of brand intent, featuring calligraphy of his Chinese surname at 3 o’clock. He reworked the stock movement plate with a jewelry saw, fabricating a barrel bridge at 10 o’clock. Fractions of a millimeter mattered; early attempts snapped. He persevered.

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Along the way, he grappled with the meaning of “watchmaker.” Some reserve the title for those who build a watch entirely from scratch, like members of the AHCI. Others use it for experts in assembly, polishing, finishing, or servicing—skills taught at schools such as WOSTEP. Ricky’s peers encouraged him to claim the work he was doing; he settled on “part-time watchmaker,” reflecting humility and ambition in equal measure.

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Resourcefulness became a hallmark. Where Swiss tradition might use wooden laps for black polishing, Ricky experimented with an electric nail buffer spotted at a salon—an unorthodox route to a comparable sheen. He’s candid about missteps—“trying to run before I could walk”—and about the need to deepen restoration and maintenance fundamentals. With IB exams approaching in 2026, he now works in focused bursts during term breaks, repolishing components of his original movement design and refining processes with each iteration.