Briana Le: Journey of a Vietnamese Watchmaker

Briana Le at the the F.P.Journe Boutique in Los Angeles. Credit: Art Confidential Magazine.

I met Briana at a watch event in Palo Alto. At that time, I was wearing a BVLGARI ladies watch. After exchanging pleasantries, the first thing she said was, “Can you show me the back of the watch you’re wearing?”

Briana has a fascination for display case back watches, as high-end designs often have a sapphire display case back to reveal the inner workings. As a watchmaker, she finds beauty in the gears, balance wheels, and ruby jewels that allow the mechanism to operate in accuracy. But above all, it was a display case back watch that led her into watchmaking. “In 2005, I saw a watch with a sapphire case back for the first time. It was probably a model in the IWC Portofino collection”, she recalled. “Before that, I knew nothing about watches”.

The writer with Briana Le at the watch event in Palo Alto, California. Credit: Quỳnh Anh

From a young lady to a determined woman

Briana Le was born and raised in Dalat, Vietnam. Her mother was a famous hair stylist there since 1965. “Back then, people from Saigon would brave an eight-hour journey to Dalat just to get a consultation from Mom,” she recalled.

Her mother’s hair salon, located behind the public library on Tran Phu street, was so successful for two decades, from the 1970s to the 1990s, that Briana grew up in luxury. “I wore custom-made silk dresses all the time. Mom did, too. She got a new ao dai made every day,” she said. “When I was young, I was so mischievous. My past time was spent climbing trees and hanging out at local eateries.”

However, when Briana was 10 years old, her mother decided to uproot and move the whole family to the United States. They poured all their savings into the move, thus arrived in the US with almost nothing left. Suddenly, the young lady had to learn how to cook, clean, and swapped her handmade clothing for goods on sale racks and thrift stores.

This move completely changed Briana. She promised herself that she would build a small business for herself in the US, similar to her family’s hair salon back in Dalat. Her step-by-step goal was to study hard, get good grades, work for a corporation while saving up money to open her own shop. She didn’t know what kind of shop it would be but she was determined to become a business owner.

“My mother still wonders if she made the right decision,” she said. “But I reassured her. I said that if we had stayed in Vietnam, I would probably have turned out very spoiled!”

Becoming a watchmaker

Briana met Tam, a skilled watch repairman, at the Buddhist temple when she first moved to the US. He became like a big brother to her. It was Tam who introduced her to the world of luxury watches after 2005 when she first discovered that IWC Portofino.

Around that time, Briana visited Tam’s watch repair workshop that he opened with his wife, Huyen. She was fascinated to see the stress-free work life of the couple. Meanwhile, Briana was working in the Marketing department of a furniture company and always found herself overly stressed. “They went to work like they were going for a walk, or do meditation. I dreamed to have their lifestyle,” she said.

Tam commented that Briana had the potential for the watch trade. But she would need formal training, meaning starting from scratch and throwing away the 10-year stability of a desk job.

In the end, she took a leap of faith. With the belief that she needed to understand the trade to open a professional shop for herself, Briana saved up every penny to study watchmaking in-depth. From California, she moved to Florida – home to the Nicolas G. Hayek Watchmaking School supported by the Swatch Group. “And within just two weeks of school, I fell in love with the art and science of horology,” she said.

Above all, watchmaking requires dexterity, keen eyes, and meticulousness. She remembered her first time making a balance staff when she was a student, “it takes one week worth of work to cut and burnish a balance staff. Yet, all of this can be ruined in a split second, if one applies too much pressure. In one such instance this 0.08-millimeter part with a 3 micron tolerance disintegrated before my eyes”.

Throughout her two years of studying watchmaking, Briana faced challenges every day. Every three to four months, all students must take a exam, and failing even just once meant immediate expulsion. Yet, she persevered, finally obtaining her watchmaking certificate accredited by the Swiss organization, WOSTEP.

Briana Le’s day to day as a watchmaker

A class for watch collectors organized by the Horological Society of New York, hosted by F.P.Journe. Credit: Art Confidential Magazine.

Many of Briana’s classmates went on to work for big watch brands. However, she remained steadfast in her dream of owning her own workshop. “I prefer to be an independent watchmaker, which allow me to be able to fix watches from A to Z,” she explained.

So, what’s a day in the life of an independent watchmaker like? In short, it’s constantly busy and no two days are alike.

After graduation, Briana became one of 12 trustees and instructor of the Horological Society of New York. The association is hosted by brands to teach clients the art and science of horology. Each session lasts 4 hours, and sometimes she will teach for several consecutive days in a week. The classes are held all over the world, from the US, Canada, England to Singapore and Australia.

Sneak peak into a class held by the Horological Society of New York. Credit: Quỳnh Anh

When not teaching, she works on restoring and servicing watches. Though she set up shop during the pandemic, she reports that: “Luckily, my customers are very supportive. Within a short time frame of working very hard, I was able to buy most machinery for my workshop”, she said. She is so grateful to her clients, friends, collectors and brands for their support; currently, her workshop is fully furnished with a variety of machinery.

As an independent artisan, she also wants to complete projects that would showcase her skills and build her reputation. Currently, she is working on a watchmaker regulator with Graham deadbeat escapement. “This clock will only deviate by about 1 second per month,” she affirmed. “I will use it as a guide for time-setting wristwatches.” At the same time, she is completing her first wristwatch for herself, with the name Briana Le.

The mahogany wood and glass case have been finished under the tutelage of her woodworking teacher, Larry Truhe at the Santa Clara Adult Education: Woodworking Workshop. Credit: Quỳnh Anh

Work in progress. Parts inside the clock, all hand cut and hand polished. Credit: Quỳnh Anh

She also assisted her mentor, David E. Walter, in designing and creating limited edition watches. Their latest project was a series of seven handmade watches, priced at $28,000 and sold out.

Trang 97: The first two prototypes in the series of seven limited edition watches that Briana assisted David E. Walter in designing. Credit: Quỳnh Anh

Future plans

Now that she has achieved her childhood dream of owning her own business, what’s next for Briana Le?

“I want to open a non-profit school in Dalat, my hometown, to teach watchmaking to orphans and children from poor families. I will buy Swiss made and certified machinery. The children can work for me after graduation, or they would be encouraged to go open their own workshop. I would not mind if they go independent, because my goal is to help them find a livelihood,” Briana explained. She is firm in her belief that the Vietnamese people, just like her, are suitable for high-end watchmaking, and she would be glad to help someone else the way she herself was helped.

Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam