What will you do at the school?
Ultimately the curriculum will focus on two main skills: micromechanics and service.
Micromechanics entails learning how to make watch parts that are not available to order or have since been discontinued by their manufacturer. We will all be making a school watch to practice this on.
Service is maintaining watches through regulation of the movement. This includes assembly/disassembly, cleaning, oiling, adjusting, timing, etc. mechanical watches.
How long is the program? Will you get any breaks?
Two years of study.
I’ll get to come home for two weeks around Christmas and two weeks late August.
We get Thanksgiving and Easter off as well as a few Monday holidays as well.
Will you come back home when you’re done with school?
I have interviewed with a couple of companies that have come through the school looking for watchmakers, but anything is possible at this point. I could end up back in Tennessee but I very well could be traveling elsewhere.
Will you live on campus? Do they provide food?
Not that kind of school.
This is more of a service center with classroom space (think corporate laboratory/office) on the first floor. The building isn’t huge, but it’s big. Look at pictures here to get an idea.
Suffice to say, students have to arrange their own housing but the school was very helpful in finding a place to stay. We have a full cafeteria in the school with cookware, etc. but we must bring a lunch to eat for our 30 minute lunch breaks every day, Monday through Friday.
What is SAWTA?
It stands for Swiss American Watchmakers Training Alliance.
It is essentially the certification I need to be recognized as a well trained watchmaker in the field and not just some guy who owns tweezers and a set of screwdrivers. The curriculum covers micromechanics, movement service, case and bracelet service, and retail application.
Detailed information about it can be found at http://www.sawtacertification.org/
Did you really make the school watch?
Yes and no.
The watch is technically a pocket watch movement made by a company called ETA (eht-ah) that makes movements for a lot of watches you’ve probably seen before like Omega and Hamilton. The school purchased us brand new, fully complete movements and gave them to us to modify based on strict and challenging blueprints that the instructors and principals made/approved. We then made (by hand!) at least 2-3 bridges (the shiny top parts that hold the gears and clockwork against the mainplate) for the watch to replace the ones ETA had already made. We also modified several components on ETA’s parts, such as the crown and ratchet wheels, the screws, the balance complete, and others.
At the end of the day, we can’t say we made an entire watch from scratch. But we did make bridges that are fully functional and in many cases: beautiful.
The movement is a 6497 and can be found on ETA’s website: https://www.eta.ch/en/our-products/mechanical-movements/mecaline/eta-mecaline-6497-1-unitas
If it’s a pocket watch why do you have it on your wrist?
Because I don’t want to carry it as a pocket watch. There are many cases and dials that can accommodate a pocket watch movement and display it as a wristwatch. It just makes it look like a huge watch, which is thankfully in style in the 21st century.
A good example is a Panerai which are generally pretty huge: https://www.panerai.com/us/en/collections/watch-collection/luminor/pam00422-luminor-marina—47mm.html
Matt's Time in Lititz 