If you are a regular reader of Time+Tide you might be familiar with Australian watchmaker Reuben Schoots. Reuben and I are the same age at 27 years old, but whereas I have yet to finish my copy of Watchmaking by George Daniels, Reuben is on the precipice of finishing his very own watch – built using the Daniels method. It takes a mountain of perseverance and technical skill to build a watch, especially when its components are all built by hand. But it is that much more impressive that Reuben is able to do so in the wake of battling a life-threatening illness that he caught while travelling through South America. In this interview with ABC News Australia Reuben explains, “I went to the doctor and they found I had glandular fever, but the glandular fever was actually the result of my immune system being so suppressed as I had contracted three tropical viruses, as well as a parasite I had in my gut. I became really unwell, I lost 16 kilos, I couldn’t leave the bed, I had this huge mental depression as well.” Reuben’s condition rendered him bed-ridden at the time, and as a result he lost his…
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