At the Geneva Watchmaking School (EHG), you should never waste time. On this Wednesday in December, on the eve of his end-of-term exam, Axel’s actions are meticulous. Tomorrow, he will have to assemble, oil and clean all the parts of a hand-wound mechanical movement in less than an hour and a half, under the eyes of his teachers. “The hardest thing is to make something clean in the allotted time. You have to get as close as possible to perfection,” breathes the young man, leaning over his microscope. The parts he handles measure only a few millimeters – there is no room for approximation here.
Hosted since 2023 in the premises of the ForPro Foundation (for professional training) in Plan-les-Ouates, in the suburbs of Geneva, the EHG has been training its students to excellence for 200 years. Born in 1824 on the initiative of the Société des arts de Genève, it defends the learning of quality craftsmanship and the preservation of traditional gestures in the face of the industrialization of the watchmaking sector. The establishment, which today depends on the Department of Public Education, Training and Youth (DIP) of the canton of Geneva, welcomes each year 36 watchmakers and 12 potential micromechanics, who divide their weeks between practical workshops and theoretical courses. At the end of their course, they will obtain a Federal Certificate of Competence (CFC), the official Swiss professional diploma. In addition to this confidential workforce, the school admits 160 work-study students and trains polishers, operators, quality specialists, technicians, etc. Most of whom will join the most prestigious watchmaking houses in the country.
“Whether in their technical skills or their behavior, students must live up to the expectations of these very renowned companies,” warns Stéphane Cruchaud, director of the school. Often oriented from the end of middle school or during high school, the young people aged 15 to 18 who had the chance to join the school – all Geneva residents or taxpayers in Geneva – were not chosen at random. Beyond their academic results, they were selected on their motivation file, their interpersonal skills and the grades obtained at the end of a one-day exam, including psychotechnical tests and an interview. “We observe their mechanical skills, their ability to concentrate, to locate themselves in space, to work in a team,” lists the director. A strict process, up to the standards that will be expected of them during their training.
Highlighting
In the school’s vast workshops, dexterity is the key word. Gaëtan, a 3rd year student in the “production watchmaker” sector, has just started adjusting a hairspring balance for the sixth time. With his eye glued to his magnifying glass, he concentrates on each gesture, and will repeat his editing until he considers it perfect. Reflexes which could prove valuable if he decides to participate in certain prizes, such as the one organized each year by the Swiss Society of Chronometry (SSC) for apprentice watchmakers, during which it will be necessary to adjust and then adjust a certain number of movements in a given time. “Their achievements then pass the tests of the Official Swiss Chronometer Control [COSC]and those ranked receive a case, dial and hands offered by Tissot”, explains their teacher, Julien Gandolfi. This competition sometimes allows a decisive spotlight. “One of our students recently finished 2nd out of 150, that propelled her. She obtained a position at Franck Muller, then at Vacheron Constantin,” rejoices the professor.
Beyond competitions, a bicentennial tradition also allows students to be spotted. During the last two years of their course, some of them worked on a pocket watch, which would become their “school watch”. “We are the only Swiss establishment to still produce a complete school watch, it is our flagship product,” insists Stéphane Cruchaud, delighted to have obtained the support of the Chopard house in this context. “They supported us in modernizing the movement, and provided us with certain components, such as the jewels in which the axes turn or the hairspring which is part of the balance wheel,” explains the director.
The work done by the students on this individual object is colossal. “The specifications are very precise, since they assemble, decorate and adjust this watch according to the criteria of the Hallmark of Geneva,” explains Stéphane Bangerter, professor at the EHG for seven years. This official certification, which notably guarantees compliance with strict conditions of origin, quality, finish and performance, gives great value to the watches created by its students – so much so that they will serve as a model for them during possible interviews with major brands. “They prove that they have know-how that goes well beyond the skills in the initial training plan,” argues the teacher.
Apprentices from Chopard and Rolex
This mastery, combined with the partnerships established between the EHG and numerous fine watchmaking houses, allows students to build up a valuable network, and sometimes to obtain the resources necessary to launch their own brand. Cédric Mulhauser, who graduated from the school in 2011, still remembers the spirit of camaraderie that reigned in the workshops: “There were apprentices from Chopard, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Franck Muller… I myself was on a work-study program at Vacheron Constantin.” A healthy emulation. In 2020, he decided to launch ID Genève, his own sustainable watchmaking brand, which now employs eight people. Cédric Mulhauser’s concept has since attracted illustrious investors, like the actor Leonardo Di Caprio, who even visited his solar oven – the first in Switzerland – in December.
“At EHG, we also learn the artistic side linked to technical requirements,” comments Samuel Gillioz, a former student of the school. The thirty-year anniversary was particularly marked by a professor from Patek Philippe, who was working at the time on the most complicated watch in the world. “Obviously, this kind of example makes you want to go further,” explains the designer, who has since launched a first brand, Kauri, then a second in his name, S. Gillioz. For several months, he has in turn been doing some replacements at the EHG, as a workshop teacher. “I talk a lot with the students, I motivate them. Many alumni’s journeys show that it is possible to found your own brand,” he says.
Some are on the right track: on the third floor of the establishment, Edouard, a second year student, has just perfectly fitted a watch with a black background – the most delicate to make, the slightest dust being immediately visible. Last year, the young man won the prize for the best student in his class, and as such won a Tudor brand watch. He was then invited to give a speech at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix, a ceremony often compared to the sector’s “Oscars”, where the best watchmakers in the world mingle. At the right time.
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