The Geneva School of Watchmaking turns 200

Collaborative training
Certifying students and preparing them for their future careers are the core missions of the Geneva School of Watchmaking. To do this, it offers courses mainly focused on micromechanics and watchmaking. Each year, it takes on 12 micromechanics students who commit to four years of training. Production watchmakers (three years of courses) are divided into three classes of 12 students each year. After two years of core training, 12 of them go on to obtain a watchmaker’s CFC, which lasts four years. This course culminates in the creation of a “school” or graduation-project watch.

The school’s principle is to get students from different professions to work together. In addition to the basic educational training, the micromechanical engineers work for the future watchmakers. They make all the parts for the micrometer that the latter assemble in their first year. They also design the components for the watchmakers’ so-called “school” watches. This approach enables them to work very early on with an “internal client” and thus meet realistic production requirements.

At the start of their training, micromechanical apprentices make their own tools and work on basic materials (brass, steel, nickel silver, etc.). In the second year, they continue to explore different metals by hand, but have to be more accurate as they start assembling components. In the final two years, they learn manufacturing and programming on numerically-controlled machines.

At the same time, the School of Watchmaking also hosts a class of ES microtechnology technicians, who are on the premises full-time for two years. The inter-company courses for quality control specialists from French-speaking Switzerland also take place there. In all, the school has 180 full-time students and 120 dual-track students.

Throughout their course, apprentices also have the opportunity to present their professions and be in contact with the general public, as the school regularly organises workshops alongside major events such as the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, Geneva Watch Days, Autour du Temps and the European Artistic Crafts Days.

Forward-looking infrastructure
In 2023, the school took possession of new ultra-modern premises at the heart of the Espace Tourbillon. The latest major project in the Plan-les-Ouates industrial and business park, this area offers 95,000sqm of space for industry, crafts, research, SMEs and services. Through this move, the school has gained in visibility and can look to the future with confidence, since many companies offering internship and employment opportunities are located in the vast surrounding industrial area.

The school is housed in a new three-storey building. The ground floor is devoted entirely to machines and rooms for micromechanics and quality control apprentices. The third and fourth floors house the classrooms, watchmaking workshops and laboratories. The wood-clad concrete structures are warmly coloured. Most of the classrooms are glazed, looking onto each other as well as onto the corridors. These new spaces have been designed to make it easier for teachers and students at different levels to work together in complete transparency.

The School of Watchmaking is not alone in this building, since its new location is part of a more global project, entirely dedicated to vocational training and named ForPro. The aim of this foundation is to encourage, support, enhance and promote vocational training for young people, their families and businesses in the canton of Geneva.

On the ground floor, ForPro offers a friendly PopUp reception area, open to anyone wishing to find out about training or organise a professional meeting. Several other areas are located in the same building: LearningLab, FactoryLab, FoodLab (a training restaurant with around 15 apprentice cooks, bakers, pastry chefs and waiters). Finally, the inauguration of an application crèche, the GrandLab and the MakerLab will follow by 2025!

Guaranteeing tradition, driving innovation
To mark its bicentenary, the School of Watchmaking has embarked on an ambitious programme to enhance its historical heritage, beginning in 2021 with the complete classification of its rich archive, which is currently housed within the school. This work has been entrusted to a professional archivist.

The second stage was completed with the publication of a richly illustrated over 200-pagebook written by historian Gérard Duc. Garantir la tradition, porter l’innovation - Les 200 premières années de l’Ecole d’horlogerie de Genève (Guaranteeing tradition, driving innovation – The first 200 years of the Geneva School of Watchmaking) is available in French at the price of CHF 40. Orders can be placed by email to cfpt.horlogerie-200e@edu.ge.ch.

At the same time, large-format exhibition panels summarise this wonderful history and are displayed in the school’s common areas, before being presented in other locations. The book and exhibition are divided into 12 chapters,
covering both the school’s locations throughout its history and the evolution of its skills and teaching methods.

Timeline

1824 Founded by the Société des arts, more specifically by its industrial class (école de Blanc, referring to watch movement-blank production). It was supplemented in the following years by classes in gear-train finishing and controls, as well as the underdial work.

1843 The municipality of Geneva took over the school.

1878 The establishment relocated to premises specifically built to house its classes, on Rue Necker.

1894 The school was opened to women. However, they were only entitled to partial training as watchmakers.

1933 Integration into the Ecole des Arts et Métiers (now the Centre de Formation Professionnelle Technique de Genève).

1966 The State of Geneva acquired premises on the Route du Pont-Butin to house the School of Watchmaking and Electricity. This new establishment also included micromechanics classes. The two schools were separated in 1987 and the premises were modernised between 1992 and 1993.

2023 Relocation to the new Espace Tourbillon building in Plan-les-Ouates.

December 05, 2024