Inside the workshop
What the training actually looks like
Every course runs at a real bench, on real movements, with an instructor beside you.
Three beginner-friendly courses, all taught at the bench with live interpretation. Prices are per student and include every tool, movement and consumable you will use. Accommodation is included from the four-week course onwards.
2 weeks · 60 teaching hours · Monday to Saturday
Theory first, then tools, then hands. You learn what every tool in the tray does and how to keep it true, then strap and case work, quartz fault finding, jewel and battery replacement, and the polishing and brushing that make a watch look new again.
4 weeks · 130 teaching hours · Monday to Saturday
Everything in the intermediate course, plus three of the hardest movements in the trade.
6 weeks · 190 teaching hours · Monday to Saturday
Everything in the advanced course, plus the lathe — the tool that lets you make the part instead of hunting for it.
This is not a list of subjects we talk about. Each line is something you do at the bench, and the two-week course covers all twenty-one of them.
The two-week course covers every skill on this list at the bench. The four-week course adds the hardest movements, which are listed with the calibres below. The six-week course adds making the parts yourself on the watchmaker's lathe - the reason we teach it is that on a rare watch, or a vintage one, there is often no piece to buy.
You start on the simplest movement there is and work up to chronographs, a coaxial escapement and a tourbillon.
| Course | Duration | Teaching hours | Tuition | Accommodation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watch Repair — Intermediate | 2 weeks | 60 | $1,590 | Around $12 a night |
| Watch Repair — Advanced | 4 weeks | 130 | $2,890 | Included |
| Advanced + Watchmaker's Lathe | 6 weeks | 190 | $3,980 | Included |
Prices are per student in US dollars. Accommodation is included free of charge on the four-week and six-week courses; students on the two-week course can book a room from around $12 per night, depending on the room. Payment plans are available on request.
Not finished when the course ends? The bench stays yours.
If you reach the end of your course and something we taught still will not come out under your hands, keep training at no extra charge. There is no second fee, no re-enrolment, and for that extra time we arrange your room and charge nothing for it either. What we cannot control is how long the immigration authorities let you stay in China - that is set by your visa, not by us. So tell us at the start how much time you have, and we will plan the course around it.
Every course runs at a real bench, on real movements, with an instructor beside you.
One floor, benches down both sides, and the instruments the work needs. This is the room you will spend your weeks in.
Part of the six-week course: the motor-driven bench lathe.
Peak months are March, April, September and October. Book six to eight weeks ahead if you plan to travel then, so that your visa has time to be processed.
Courses begin most Mondays throughout the year. Tell us your preferred month in the enquiry form and we will confirm availability the same working day.
Tell us your dates and we will hold a place for you. No payment is needed to reserve a bench for fourteen days.
We reply to every enquiry within 24 hours.