Not one, but two anniversaries framed the festive beginning of the new school year at Glashütte Original: on August 1, 2017, 11 future female and male watchmakers and 2 future toolmakers, a young woman and a young man, began their course of studies. This year the “Alfred Helwig” School of Watchmaking celebrates the 15th anniversary of its founding in 2002. In addition, the traditional ceremonies marking the beginning of the school year saw the 13 new students welcomed as the 10th cohort to begin learning their craft in the School’s modern premises, inaugurated in 2008 in the landmark building that once housed the German Watchmaking School Glashütte, founded in 1878.
As you might be able to see in the photos, it is often very hard to determine where the short hour hand is particularly if it is hovering above parts of the dial which have been cut out. The highly decorated motion does not provide enough contrast to make the flamed-blue hour hand readily distinguishable. Fortunately, reading the moments is much simpler as the lean flamed-blue second hand goes all the way out to the minute track.The motion here is your Calibre 49-13 and it is a skeletonized movement that’s been heavily and intricately decorated and embellished by hand. Flipping the watch over, you are able to make out what’s left of the three-quarters plate that’s a tradition of German watchmaking.The remaining bridges are beveled by hand and contain lots of hand-engraving. The winding wheels have double sided sunburst decoration and also the motion stones sit in screwed gold chatons. Visible screws are either flame-blued or polished.But what I like most about the movement is considering the big screwed balance wheel. The Calibre 49-13 beats at 4Hz and so the large balance wheel swings fairly rapidly. There’s a swan-neck fine adjustment mechanism and also the balance cock is engraved in authentic Glashütte tradition. Power reserve of this Calibre 49-13 is roughly 40 hours, which isn’t too bad considering its 4Hz beat rate and that it only has a single mainspring.
The new arrivals bring the number of apprentices currently learning their trade at Glashütte Original to more than 50. They follow in the footsteps of some 200 successful graduates who began their careers in the manufactory in the years since 2001, when the current training programme began. In the opening days of their studies the members of the class of 2017 were introduced to the persons responsible for their training and to the School’s classrooms and workshops. In addition they gained inspiring insight into the past and present of their craft during tours of the German Watch Museum Glashütte and the manufactory production facilities.
In order to ensure the future of the craft, the Glashütte watchmaking industry has always placed considerable emphasis on comprehensive theoretical and practical training. Aware of its responsibilities in this regard, Glashütte Original is committed to continuing this tradition with its own “Alfred Helwig” School of Watchmaking. In bright, well-lit classrooms, experienced watchmakers make use of state-of-the-art technology to pass on their tradecraft to their students. To this end, tomorrow’s watch experts also take part in a number of handson training sessions in selected departments of the manufactory, where they learn to make practical use of the knowledge and skills they have acquired.
The special career opportunities offered by the Glashütte Original training programme are underscored by the fact that again this year, students from several different regions of Germany will begin their studies here. Thanks to the School’s partnership with WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) the young graduates can earn, in addition to their German leaving certificate, a Swiss diploma – thus opening up international career prospects.