John-Mikaël Flaux, is an independent Automaton maker, known for his mechanical art clocks, he is a candidate member of the AHCI.

1. Describe briefly your childhood.

I've got fond memories of growing up in Brittany, France, but as an only child, I spent a lot of time on my own. Early on, I started putting together a universe made of mechanical wonders and inventions. I would take apart mechanical and electric objects I found around the house, to discover and understand their secrets. Unfortunately, I was often disappointed by their mechanical entrails. Something was missing, a soul maybe.

2. As a child, did you have any driving ambition?

When I was eight, I discovered the work of the "Scrap metal Poet" of Lizio, Brittany: he's an artist who turns scrap materials into automata. His work moved me deeply; I felt that the machines he made did have a soul. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to create mechanical life - honestly, there is no other way I can put it.

3. What is your first significant memory as a child?

I have vivid memories of my parents getting me Lego or Meccano construction sets. I'd go crazy. In a few hours, I'd have finished building the model, but that wasn't what excited me most: I'd immediately take it apart again and would feel amazed by how many possibilities there were. This feeling never left me, in my head, I see the pieces on my workbench as elements of a game with infinite possibilities. You have to use your emotions to create things, otherwise, it doesn't mean anything.

4. Have you ever had another profession?

Not really, watchmaking always was my calling. I maybe could have been a musician; I used to play drums in a jazz band.

5. What made you decide to go in the direction you are currently in?

It's a matter of feelings. I felt drawn to creation as if by a magnet, I'd be miserable without it. But why pick watchmaking? I just love this extremely minute, beautiful and ancient form of mechanics. I fell in love with it. To me this was the best way to make my dreams of mechanical life come true.

6. What's the worst job you've had to do?

I've never had a truly awful job, but I've been through difficult situations. I went through a period when every single project I worked on ended up being distorted or sidelined. It killed me slowly! That's when I knew I no longer wanted to deal with the constraints of working for a brand. That's when I decided to leave and work as an independent watchmaker.

7. What's been the hardest moment in your life so far, and how did you overcome it?

The hardest moment in my life was the beginning of my adolescence. I was rejected and bullied by my schoolmates who thought I was too different, especially in my way of thinking. I never understood how you could look down on someone like that. I overcame this part of my past when I found out that what made me different then now gives me strength.

8. Who has had the strongest influence on you?

Influences: the "Scrap metal Poet" (Robert Coudray), Miki Eleta and Vincent Calabrese (my AHCI sponsors), François Junod and Dr Emmett "Doc" Brown from Back to the Future (huge influence!).

Inspiration: vintage cars, all sorts of crazy man-made machines, and especially nature!

9. What are you most proud of?

To see that my creative dream has become a reality and that people around me are touched by it. My family, my partner, my friends and my clients support me and share my approach.

10. What advice would you give to a 20 something someone thinking of taking a similar path as you?

Technically, I'm still in my twenties, being only 29 years old! So I still have a lot to learn. But I'd say that it's never too early or too late to make your dreams come true. Go for it! If you truly believe in what you're doing, then you will make it. It also takes a lot of work, of course, but that's nothing when you've got fire in your belly.

11. Name three things on your bucket list.

• Have more time to take things slowly and not have to run around all the time.

• Travel and see the world.

• I feel like I've opened a door with the Cheetah, and now I'd like to discover what sort of an artist I really am.

12. Where do you think the industry is going to be in 10 years time.

In my opinion, the crises we're currently going through are really going to reset the clock. I personally think there's been a lot of excess and that big brands have been diverted from age-old values by focusing too much on marketing and on increasing their dividends.

I think some big companies will survive this period, but so will a growing number of authentic, independent watchmakers. We're smaller, but there are so many of us! Should we unite, creativity is going to make a big comeback. It would be a new golden age for our profession, and not for a bunch of shareholders.

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