Making Time with the Watchmakers

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One of the most creative students, Kesse Humphreys, a 2004 graduate, has spent much of the past three years building a watch made of over 300 parts—all of them hand-made—including an instantaneous minute counter "In high school, I had no idea that I wanted to be a watchmaker," he says. "It's not for everyone. You have to be a very patient person and mechanically inclined."

Skills in Demand

During the second year, students concentrate on diagnosing problems, as well as the repair of simple and complicated timepieces, including manual wind, automatic, and electronic watches, and several types of chronographs. All student examinations are sent to Switzerland for grading.

Demand is so high for skilled watchmakers that the students are almost all assured employment upon graduation. Starting salaries range from $45,000 to $55,000 a year. The 40 Lititz alumni have gone on to work for independent jewelers, as well as Breitling, Chopard, and Patek Phillipe. Rolex has hired three of the graduates. Mayer says that while the school doesn't encourage students to go out on their own immediately, preferring that they work with an experienced watchmaker first, about 10% to 20% of the students have opted to start their own shops.

One of the legacies of the past 40 years of battery-powered watches, according to Mayer, is that consumers now demand high-functioning watches. "Thirty years ago, a consumer wouldn't mind if the timing was one minute fast," he says. "But now, absolutely not. That's just not acceptable. They're used to quartz." But he adds, "If a watchmaker knows what he's doing, it's feasible to [engineer] a mechanical watch to run within a couple of seconds."

Clearly pleased with the results of the Lititz school and hoping to encourage the rest of industry to follow suit, Rolex two years ago made a $1 million grant over five year to support watchmaking at Seattle Community College and launched a similar grant at St. Paul College in Minnesota. In 2003, Rolex launched a second Technicum in Tokyo, and is planning another, in a yet to be announced third country. For the next generation of horologists, it’s about time.

To flip through a slide show on how students learn the art of mechanical watchmaking at the Lititz school, click here.

Perman is a staff writer for BusinessWeek.com in New York.