The British School of Watchmaking – a new school, a new era

The British School of Watchmaking – a new school, a new era

The British School of Watchmaking (BSoW) has announced it is moving to new, larger premises and will be offering additional training courses. At a time when negative news has become the norm, The BSoW provides some welcome cheer.

In February 2020, I toured the premises of the BSoW, the British School of Watchmaking. I was mightily impressed by the students’ work and delighted to see several young people entering an industry I love.

At the time of my visit, as I witnessed students filing components and dismantling movements, I could never have envisaged that Covid-19 was around the corner. Unfortunately, most sectors of our economy have suffered decline as a consequence of the pandemic and growing unemployment has become a fact of life.

Therefore, amid this ubiquitous pessimism, it was wonderful to hear a positive news story for a change. The British School of Watchmaking recently announced that it has relocated to new premises in Cheadle, doubling the size of its original headquarters.

The school has also declared that it will offer additional courses, including a new polishing course as well as short courses for retail staff. The British School of Watchmaking will also provide brand accreditation training for watchmakers.

Eager to learn more about this recent announcement, I contacted Jon Weston, the President of the British School of Watchmaking, and asked him a few questions.

Interview with Jon Weston, the President of the British School of Watchmaking.

Last year, I visited your premises at Sale and was incredibly impressed by your facilities and the quality of the students’ work. What were the reasons for relocating to a larger facility? For example, greater capacity to receive more students, accommodating new plant or offering more courses?

Our facility in Sale was excellent and served its intended purpose very well but we simply outgrew it. For the school to continue to grow and evolve we needed more space. we are now in a position to expand our 1800 and 3000 hour courses, should the industry demand it. Although our immediate goal is to use this space to offer a greater variety of other courses, such as those for retail staff and professional watchmakers, expanding the versatility and breadth of services we are able to offer from the school is great progress.

Although many eyes look to Switzerland for training, there are some impressive training facilities in Miami, Glashütte, Kuala Lumpur, etc. Do you work closely with other schools overseas?

Of course, this collaboration between schools is what makes the WOSTEP partnership. It is a global network of schools working together towards a common goal. Sometimes we work with other schools in the partnership directly, but we also collaborate indirectly via WOSTEP themselves. For example, last year, we were honoured to become the pilot school for a new version of WOSTEP’s 1800 Hour Programme. The work we did with WOSTEP on this pilot will now be shared with other schools in the partnership that teach this course, including some of those schools you mention.

What are the aspirations of the BSoW in the long term?

We continue to aspire to deliver the highest quality education to those working in our industry. To date, this has been limited to our full time courses, and the education level from the school in recent years is of course extremely high. It is fair to say we have definitely achieved our aspiration in that respect. We are one of the best schools in the world as far as full time courses go. Now it is time to expand our offering and increase the number of courses while maintaining these high standards across everything we do. The school supports the educational needs of the industry across all sectors and provides a very needed public service.

I read that you are planning to offer courses for retail staff. What will this entail and do you have any idea of the costs at this stage?

In 2006, the most pressing issue in our industry was the lack of qualified watchmakers entering the trade, this is still a major problem but as more and more students graduate from our full time courses each year it is a situation which is slowly improving. Our focus now is addressing other areas where training is still very much lacking.

Once qualified, watchmakers have access to training via manufacturers, but this is of course by necessity, specific to their products only. Quality support in other areas not relating to a particular brand or product is not really available in the UK. This is not just an issue for watchmakers though and it affects anyone employed in or linked to our industry, retail staff on the shop floor, polishers etc.

Now, with this new building, we find ourselves in a position where we have the capacity to begin to address this. In moving to our new premises, we have already built two additional workshops which will be dedicated to tailored courses addressing these gaps in training, one for watchmakers and retail staff and a second for polishing courses.

We now need to look to fund, furnish and equip these workspaces and also recruit staff to deliver the courses themselves. In terms of rolling these courses out, we are not quite there yet, it is possibly a little premature to discuss costs of individual training options at this point, rest assured, we will endeavour to launch these as soon as it’s possible though.

Closing remarks

Sometimes I despair when I hear of young people attending university and studying subjects where the prospects of future employment are limited. In the process, they have wasted time and accrued student debt.

There are no guarantees in life regarding potential employment, however, the British School of Watchmaking has an impressive track record nonetheless. Historically, the school has ‘a 100% retention record within the industry, for its graduates to date’.

With an increasing number of people succumbing to the charms of horology, there is a need to service, polish and repair cherished timepieces. The British School of Watchmaking helps make this possible.

I heartily approve of the school offering retail training. Over the years, I have visited numerous retailers, eager to see new watches. On occasion, I have caved in and made a purchase. Sometimes my shopping experience has been good, but conversely, it has been deplorable. These shortcomings include poor product knowledge and an apathetic approach to customer service. At this juncture, I don’t know the syllabus for the retail course, however, if it addresses the aforementioned shortcomings, then watch aficionados can look forward to a superior shopping experience in the future.

The BSoW press release (March 2021)