The Swiss Watch Schools.

Lake County Press, Issue 905, 5 April 1900, Page 2

The Swiss Watch Schools.

The famous Swiss watch schools are said to be the most exacting industrial institutions in the world. Their methods, which are doubtless the secret of their success, will be found very curious and interesting. In one of the- most celebrated of these institutions in Geneva, for example, a boy must first of all be at least 14 years of ago in order to enter. After being admitted the student is first introduced to a wood-turning lathe, and put to work at turning tool handles. This exercise lasts for several weeks, according to the beginner's aptitude. This is followed by exercises in filing and shaping screwdrivers and small tools. In this way he learns to make for himself a fairly complete set of tools. He next undertakes to make a large wooden pattern of a watch frame, perhaps a foot in diameter, and after learning how, tliis frame is to be shaped he is given a ready-cut one of brass of the ordinary size, in which he is taught to drill holes for the wheels and screws. Throughout this instruction the master stands over the pupil, directing him with the greatest care. The pupil is next taught to finish the frame, so that it will be ready to receive the wheels. ITe is then instructed to make fine tools, and to become expert in handling them. Tliis completes the instruction in the. first room, and the young watchmaker next, passes to the department where lie is taught to fit the stem-winding, parks and to do fine cutting and tiling by band. Later on lie learns to make the more complex watches, which will strike: file hour, minute. and (lie other delicate mechanisms for which the Swiss are famous—“ Health.”