How to fix ‘workforce crisis’ in watchmaking? Rolex has an answer
As analogue watchmakers struggle to find craftspeople, Rolex has set up a new training school to mentor the next generation of artisans
Ever since watches began bringing order to the ephemeral passage of time, they also started doing something else: breaking.
Own one long enough and something will probably go wrong. It will run slowly. Or fast. Or stop altogether.
Decades ago, watch repair shops across the US were staffed with technicians who could service almost any mechanical timepiece when its intricate innards – tiny gears, wheels and springs – failed. But when the American watchmaking industry declined in the mid-20th century, the number of craftspeople who could fix or fabricate timepieces began to dwindle too.
Now, some in this niche industry are labelling the situation a workforce crisis. It comes amid renewed interest in mechanical timepieces despite the omnipresence of mobile phones and their effortless timekeeping.
A dearth of new watchmaking schools – where students learn about repairs, manufacture or both – is central to the problem. One watch company, California-based JN Shapiro Watches is among a handful of US-based firms struggling to hire watchmakers.
The Swiss behemoth Rolex has come up with a solution. In September, the Geneva-based company debuted a new watchmaking school at the Rolex Watch Training Centre in Dallas.