Content area
Full Text
When disposable Quartz wristwatches hit the scene in the '70s, the fine art of watchmaking nearly became a thing of the past.
Now the past appears to be making a resurgence, as finer timepieces make a comeback, bringing with them an overwhelming need for watchmakers.
Rolex Inc. hopes to make a dent in that need as it winds up to open The Lititz Watch Technicum, a school that teaches the art of caring for the world's most delicate timepieces.
"Quartz watches were introduced in the 1970s and were hailed as a fantastic breakthrough," said Charles Berthiaume, Rolex USA senior vice president and the school's director. "Many mechanical watch companies went out of business or retooled. Young people did not go into watchmaking. We have missed an entire generation of watchmakers."
Berthiaume, said the explosive growth of the luxury watch market, of which Rolex is the dominant player, coupled with a renewed interest in mechanical watches overall, prompted Rolex to open the school to work on the type of watches for which Rolex is world famous.
Priced at a whopping $2,000 and up, Rolex watches, Berthiaume said, are considered functional works of art worn on the wrist. They often are passed from generation to generation -- the antithesis of today's disposable society.
When the Technicum opens this fall, the school will begin offering a two-year course in watchmaking that can accommodate about 12 students a year. The Technicum is owned and operated by a nonprofit branch of Geneva, Switzerland-based Rolex.
In keeping with its reputation, Rolex spared no expense in creating the $9.3 million setting for the school in a distinctive building north of Lititz on Route 501. Designed by world-renowned architect Michael Graves, the...