Learn to be a Watchmaker in the USA - American Watchmaking Schools
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- Cameron Weiss, master watchmaker and founder of family-owned Weiss Watch Company, dives into watchmaking in this new series.
"How did you become a watchmaker?" is probably the question Cameron is asked the most. In this episode, he answers how he found his path to becoming a watchmaker and how others can learn to become watchmakers in the USA. He talks about different American watchmaking schools and programs.
Directed, shot, edited by Andrew Reed at the Weiss Watch Company workshop in Nashville, TN. weisswatchcompany.com #watchmaker #watch #watchrepair #watchmaking #craftsman
Its great that there are all these options out there for passionate people! Its crazy that even Apple would try to hire you! It sounds similar to my degree in culinary arts and food science. They also shortened the course and removed some of the content to reduce the cost and the duration. When I did it I had all the courses with full accreditation and people who do it today pay nearly as much for half the qualification. Watchmaking really is an amazing craft and science!
Great feed back on the education for the watch world. Wish I had done watch schooling during my 20’s. Currently doing online classes and reading books. Goal is to be a watchmaker as a hobby.
Hi Cameron we are a brasilian based company and we are startinh our journey down here. You really inspire us to keep going
Thank you
Absolutely fantastic
Thank you Cameron, I applied to the Patek Philippe school in NYC and they found me passionate however I am a bit extroverted for them. They passed on me. Your channel rocks and I appreciate all you do.
Hey Zack, would you kindly elaborate on the application/interview process you experienced with the Patek school? I’m interested in pursuing an opportunity and was only given an email to reach out to for information when I called.
@@e.nichols5380 They are very friendly there and looking for new talent in the ever shrinking supply of watchmakers. I feel it is good to keep emailing them. They currently have a class running and it is a two year class. It started in Sept of 2023. So keep that in mind and stay on top of it. Learn which model you like, they will ask you which one you like an why. Also they want passionate people. However too passionate and those that are too extroverted might not go over well. They have a great school lead by Laurent Junod. He is a wonderful and intelligent gentleman. I have nothing negative to say. They get about 240 or more inquires to fill 6 seats. Keep trying.
👍
Excellent video.
this is so Cool! thank you for the insider info! definitely makes me interested in watchmaking school
I’m going to go for it!
Thanks for posting this video. It helps explain the schooling part of watchmaking. I have been learning on my own mostly from some of the better CZcams channels and books. I am 66 and too old to consider it a career but I do love working on my watches.
One of the reasons I love watchmaking is that it's relatively easy to give it a try and to learn at home with the help of books and videos of course. Watches don't take up a lot of space and neither does a decent watchmaking bench or a set of tools. Enjoy your journey learning watchmaking!
Me too. I am 52 years old, but I am tired of being a machinist and laborer all my life. I want to be working on something I love in the last years of my life.
Hot damn! Thank you Cameron! I remember when y'all were moving the the Nashville area. Hope you're happy there. Very nice people and scenery. Especially for the kidlets.
The kiddos love it!
Thank you.
Thank you so much for this video. I've been passionate about watches since being fascinated with by dad's Bulova Accutron Spaceview from 1970. I've owned many "fine timepieces" in my life simply because of my appreciation of craftsmanship and detail and. as a 49 year old, have decided to take the plunge and go a whole new direction with my life and do something I truly love. Finding the right path can be confusing for someone who is looking to maintain taking care of their responsibilities as well as chasing the proper education and certificates. This video has been very valuable to me on what I need to do to pursue this dream of mine for many years. I'm in TN so I just need to figure out what will be my best options. Probably sitting for the AWCI after some distance learning? Thank you, again!
Glad to hear it! There is also NAWCC with local chapters around the USA. It is a great way to meet others and learn from them.
Have you made the jump yet?
Hey Cameron! Long time follower of you since the watch and listen podcast! I was so excited to see this video up and wanted to see just what you had to say about LWT, unfortunately they have not updated their website since the cancellation of the Dual Apprenticeship program. I was starting to get confused when you were explaining it and then remembered to check their website and this has not been around since approx. 2018 but has since been replaced with possibly a better form of teaching real world repairs.
What we have now is an extremely short 18 month program for learning about how watches work including theory and practical understanding of all aspects of how a watch works including some escapement theory and we even learn to make oscillators! What they did for the last 6 months of the program is condense the learning curriculum of only Rolex product into what they call the Compact 6. In this program you will learn about the current and older models of all watches made by Rolex, they will teach you about the more simple movements such as 3000 series 2000 series and I believe a few others but it also includes a very strict and important polishing theory and practice. To get into the Compact 6 you will need to have a job at a Rolex affiliated service center or Retail Jeweler known to us as ORJs. All of this is to help condense the amount of knowledge gained and increase the amount of work you can perform for a location even if you are the only watchmaker at that location it will still put you much further ahead than if you were just fresh out of school.
All of this will also help you to climb the Rolex levels as well because when you graduate and do not participate in the Compact 6 it will leave you at the Rolex level of 30 and with completing and graduating having participated in the Compact 6 you will start out of school at level 40 which will allow you to work on many different models and in the end being more valuable to you store or service center.
I hope this information helps and I would hope to encourage many people to get in contact with the school as they have more info and of course plenty of knowledge to guide a new prospective watchmaker.
I would also like to point out that the school is going to be moving in about a month or two just down the street a bit but it will be in the city of Lancaster, PA.
Again I really love all your content and hope to one day be able to sit down for a chat with you as you were a big inspiration to me personally.
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing that info. So they are shifting to 1 year program and then 6 months of Rolex specific training? If you just do the 12 months and not the 6 month Rolex training what kind of certificate does one get? or are they still doing 2 year for the SAWTA certificate?
I think they should update their website. I liked the Dual Apprenticeship option because the candidate could be working and making money while getting further training to get their SAWTA certificate. It is hard for many people to take years off of work to make that career shift into watchmaking, so anything that helps in that aspect I really think is beneficial.
@@thewatchmakersworkshop They are still doing a 2 year program, however they have condensed the first 18 months into the core aspects of the curriculum so it is quite jampacked for that first year and a half. This also includes the 4 important SAWTA certificate exams in order to receive the SAWTA certificate. During the last 6 months of the 2 year program is the extremely detailed portion called the Compact 6 and during this time you have to have a job in an Official Rolex Jeweler and after about the first 3 months the jeweler will be able to send you real life repairs and also depending on the Jeweler and the situation they can pay you while you are doing work for them since you are repairing real life customer pieces under strict guidance to help you understand what is possible and what is not as far as polishing, and restoring movements that may have excessive wear.
I absolutely agree that they should change their website and I believe they want to but right now there is a lot of changes happening so within the next year maybe they will update some things. It is nice to be able to get paid towards the end of the school and it can be very difficult to afford to live somewhere for even 18 months without a full time job, I worked 12 hour days for months to save up before moving and have been saving every penny possible.
If you do not participate in the compact 6 you will still get a SAWTA certificate as long as you pass the exams and you will also be at Rolex level 30 within their internal system, however you will miss out on possibly years of experience and training because they fit so much into those 6 months it really is more beneficial. You can still continue to learn and work with the machines and having some unique projects, our teachers have so many extra projects you would be able to fill in the time with a lot of valuable experience like with micro mechanics or practice and get better at polishing or just asking for any different movements they may have to service depending on the brand and value of the watch.
Also there is a thesis project which needs to be completed before graduating and that is required in order to receive your LWT diploma which is just as if not more important then the SAWTA certificate due to the schools reputation.
So basically the entire program is still 2 years but they have broken it up and condensed the older curriculum of a full 2 years and eliminated the apprentice program replacing with this compact 6 and making the base program 18 months so regardless of when you start it will take approximately 2 years going through this program and receive SAWTA as well as higher internal Rolex levels.
If you would like I can message you on IG if you needed any more clarification.
Hi, I love the channel and all your videos. It’s very inspiring and informative as I’m very interested to start in the journey. However, it is not easy for me because I’m in Singapore and has a family now so I’m looking for distance learning if possible. Do you know of any good options that offers distance learning? Thank you in advance, and please continue making these awesome videos!
How are you becoming a Master Watchmaker with a wostep w/m certificate? Did you go on to take the CMW21 exam/?
Great vid! I would like to have known more about the differences (and opportunities) between a watchmaker and a watch tech
A watch tech will likely be doing work like batteries, bracelet swaps and sizing, basic QC testing, movement swaps, dial and hands on less expensive watches, possibly some estimating of jobs. A certified watchmaker will be taking movements apart, diagnosing, repairing, cleaning, assembly and more complex QC or estimating. Certified Watchmaker is expected to be able to do a full service on a mechanical watch from start to finish including case work and sometimes polishing work.
Hi sir there is any online training for watch making
So this is something over been interested in. In two years I will be looking to leave my tech profession at 46 years of age and would really like to take 2 to 3 years and learn more about watchmaking which I'm already invested in, have decent tools as a hobbiest. I'd like to know what you think about someone of my age doing this.
It's a great idea! One of my classmates at watchmaking school had a full career as a chef prior to attending watchmaking school in his late 40's. Watchmaking is not physically demanding so it is a great 2nd or even 3rd career. It also is beneficial that the bigger watchmaking repair centers offer great benefits packages with employment.
I got the 4 year Wostep training from europe, sad thing is i'm not using it.
What's the story? Surely the work is availble or is it something else?
Hey there! Love your videos. Really great passionate content focusing on the stuff that matters (to me, at least) the small stuff, real servicing advice, you are truly a master of your craft and it shows!
I am a Canadian (living in Montreal, Quebec, bonjour) and I am very much considering a career in watchmaking! I have a background in commercial photography. As it turns out, there is the only watchmaking school left in Canada a few hours up the road from me in a small town called Trois Rivieres. I have been doing a lot of research and the school does not appear to be a WOSTEP certified program, it is a 2 year long full time program that seems to be more or less the same training I'd receive at school in the US/ Switzerland. Have you heard of it ? I just want to make sure if I go I will be certified enough to be employable ( I also speak french and am wiling to relocate) any insights would mean the world to me
Sounds like a plan. I live two hours from the Lititz, Pa. school, but the sad thing is I am clipping 60, and it's too late.
So, if you're young enough, do it!
@@wildernessofzinn17 I say it's never too late🙂
@@wildernessofzinn17Same as me (although I’m not near a school). Went a different career path, and too late to do that for me.
est-ce qu'il y a des Ecoles d"horlogerie au Quebec?
@@Qwerty-cb1ti oui, dans trois rivieres
What about self thought? For those people who don't want to go to school for it, and it has the same opportunity as the person who has the degree, certification.
There is a part of this episode that explains your options in the USA for getting a certification from AWCI after learning on your own. It’s not easy, but it is possible.
But what about someone giving you the opportunity to learn the trade of watchmaking. For me, it's so easy to work with hands
whats the difference between SAWTA and WOSTEP curriculum?
Hello? I enjoyed the video. Do you know if foreign students can participate in programs in Miami, Dallas, or Pennsylvania? I live in South Korea, and I really want to take watchmaking education in the United States.
There are schools all over the work. Check out WOSTEP.CH
Do you know how difficult/easy it is to get a job outside of the states post Miami certification? I live here, but like the idea of living outside of the US for a little while
I'm not convinced that the 1 year technician program will be of much value when looking for a job outside the USA. I think the 3000 hour, 2 year WOSTEP certificate would be better for that purpose because it more closely reflects the Watchmaking CFC in Europe.
@@thewatchmakersworkshop thanks for advice!
Is watchmaking an option for a 65-year old retiree that wants to keep busy?
i like to study there to become a legit watchmaker. i hope so
8:25, NOT TRUE. If you don’t work for them, you have to payback the tuition. It’s only free IF you work for them. Please update this.
I have a great watch company going so far. Im self taught. Doing well. But the degree would be nice
Man, 5k in tools. I wish I was able to spend that much on my tools for my day job. I've spent close to 50k in tools
$5k is just for the personal tools needed to be a student. That will not include things like work benches, cleaning machines, polishing machines, timing machines, winders, lathes or any of the other things that fall into the machines and equipment category. Another $20k will definitely be needed to have your own small/basic workshop with a good setup.
@thewatchmakersworkshop that definitely seems about right but it really does pale in comparison to tools required to be a heavy diesel technician for CAT. Working with the large machines that I do requires a lot of tooling, and I only have a moderate amount of tooling when looking at some of my coworkers. 50k invested already, but I'm not done buying more still. 😅
@@Watch_Mechanicone of the reasons I love watchmaking is that a whole workshop could fit inside of a guest bedroom in a house and for the most part the tools don’t wear out or become obsolete(since mechanical watches are old tech to begin with). It is also not physically strenuous. So it is a great second career or a 1st career that can be done well into older age without needing help for heavy lifting. Tools being relatively inexpensive also allow for an easier setup of a home workshop than something like automotive work.
@thewatchmakersworkshop it's definitely intriguing and a wonderful line of work, I agree. I've been watches for 3 years in my spare time now. It's been fun learning how to repair them. I think my next journey will be learning how to manufacture them.
I would like to do a job like this. But noooo. Software engineering it is.
I’m in the same boat lol
Вітаю,я б повчився з задоволенням 😊❤