By Jacquie De Almeida
Ed and Maurice Perrin are on a mission to stop the clock that’s ticking down to the closure of Canada’s remaining watchmaker training facility.
They don’t know if they’ll be successful, but sitting back and watching it happen is not an option.
“We think it’s important the industry have a school [in Canada] where people can learn,” says Ed, co-owner of H & W Perrin Co., a Toronto-based company supplying watch and clock parts and tools.
The race against the clock comes following a study commissioned by the Ministère de l’Éducation des Loisirs et du Sport earlier this year recommending the L’École nationale d’horologie in Trois-Rivières, Que., be shut down due to low enrolment. Currently, the school sees about 12 to 15 students a year sign up for its horology program. The Quebec government says that’s not enough; it requires 25 to 30 students a year for any program to be sustainable.
As the last school in Canada offering professional horology training, students come from across the country to study. One of the problems, however, is once accredited, some return to their home provinces. Robert Plourde, an instructor at the school and himself a graduate of its program, says the ministry would prefer graduates put their training to use in Quebec. Still, the need for the profession as a whole cannot be understated, he adds.
“There is work all around the country and the world in watchmaking,” says Plourde, a watchmaker with 30 years under his belt. “We tried to make the government understand our profession is exceptional—the fact we’re the only watchmaking school makes us different from other programs. For the government, it’s a matter of numbers. It doesn’t know what our trade is all about.”
Watchmakers view their work as a vocation, a craft handed down from generation to generation. Â One statistic puts the average age of a watchmaker at 63. Without new blood, the fear is local watchmaking expertise will disappear in Canada, and repairs and other work will be done overseas. It’s not unusual for some elite Swiss brands to send product to their home bases in Switzerland or service centres in the United States. Turnaround time can be up to two months, and consumers are shouldered with additional shipping charges.
Enrolment wasn’t always an issue. Following the Second World War, the school offered veterans an opportunity to learn a new skill over the course of a year, and they could continue their studies with advanced training in the repair of mechanical watches. The rise of quartz watches in the 1970s impacted the popularity of mechanical movements significantly, and the number of people entering the profession decreased. Schools in Toronto and Montreal closed, and now Quebec’s Ministry of Education is recommending doing the same in Trois-Rivières. The final decision is expected to be made in December.
Plourde says the school’s board is working to come up with a plan to increase enrolment by advertising the program in Quebec and nationally. He estimates just a few more students a year will help the school break even. Right now, the government is losing about $20,000 annually.
Judging by record-breaking results in the number of Swiss watch exports over the last few years, automatics are in high demand. So, too, should be the experts to repair them. Even when operating normally, automatics require regular maintenance.
Part of the problem, says Ed’s brother, Maurice, is the fact independent watchmakers do not have access to parts, as more and more watch brands require all repairs be done in-house by their own watchmakers. Why enter a field that presents so many challenges?
“In the past, a watchmaker would be pleased if their son or daughter wanted to take up the trade because they knew there was a future in repairing high-end watches and making a career out of it,” Maurice says. “The issue is watchmakers have been hit over and over with the idea of not being able to get parts, especially for the watches where they can stand to make a little bit more of an income, so they’ve discouraged their children from entering the trade.”
Ryan Gonçalves, director of operations at Time Central, says he can see how the thought of the school closing has hit a nerve. He adds he’s tried to hire graduates from the program to work at his Ontario-based company, but that it’s next to impossible. There are too few of them and most are French-speaking and local to the school. Instead, he posts job listings online and is able to find the people he needs to service the high-end and fashion watches Time Central repairs and distributes. Ninety-five per cent of applications he receives are from overseas.
Gonçalves says a recent radio program alerted him to the government wanting to consult Canadian companies on trades and skills it should be advertising in other countries. It’s an option he’s seriously considering.
“I think there needs to be more collaboration between the watch industry and the government and convincing them it’s an employable trade that we need to keep alive here,” he says. “We can’t employ thousands of people in this trade, but we can a few hundred.”
Gonçalves warns he expects a more severe shortage of watchmakers could be felt in the next 10 to 15 years, which would result in a tug of war among watch companies over the few remaining tradespeople. “As an owner and operator, you have to think about the future of your company and plan ahead,” he adds.
Having qualified watchmakers in Canada was a significant factor in distribution company Sothil’s decision to pick up luxury brands Davidoff, Maurice Lacroix, and U-Boat.
“There was no way we were going to bring in a brand without having the service centre in place first so that we would be able to operate when the merchandise started to arrive,” says Sean Polan, co-owner of Sothil.
“Without new blood, companies are going to have to look to the United States or Europe to get a watchmaker to come work in Canada, and they’ll have to pay for moving expenses. To me, [closing the school] is a very sad thing.”
Polan says the service centre his company deals with isn’t too far off from needing to hire additional watchmakers to keep up with the additional business Sothil is providing. Finding those qualified tradespeople will be difficult.
“What is he going to do at that point? He has no choice but to look in the United States or Europe,” he adds. “If not, he’s going to have to limit what he can do with his business.”
Kuldip Rupra, owner of watch service centre, TimeRevolution.com, says he, too, knows first-hand how difficult it is to find qualified watchmakers in Canada. He’s even trying to sponsor two from England who have some training. Once here, Rupra says he’ll teach them on-the-job.
“Watchmaking as a trade is not recognized by the immigration department like car mechanics or welders, for example,” he adds. “It is right at the bottom and doesn’t get consideration.” Part of the problem, he says, is most people don’t understand the complexity of watchmaking. Instead, they see watches as a disposable accessory, something that requires a new battery from time to time.
“Young people don’t see the trade the way I did in my younger days,” he adds. “It’s difficult to convince people that watchmaking exists as a trade.”
The Perrins point to a lack of a Canadian association for watchmakers as a factor in the trade’s decline. South of the border, the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute (AWCI) works to promote horology as a profession, offering education, certification, communications, and business services. Although a similar body once operated in Ontario, there is no nationwide association to unite Canadian watchmakers, maintain standards, or lobby on their behalf.
“The association in Ontario didn’t have a certification process, and it was more of a club, but at least it was a face to the industry,” Ed says. “Now there’s literally nothing and if the school goes, there will be absolutely nothing.”
Plourde says he still has hope the school will remain open, whether it be in the form of changes in the way it operates, or the government making an exception regarding minimum enrolment numbers.
“With all the support we’ve received and the way things are moving along at the moment, I think it will stay open. It might be because I believe so much in our craft that I don’t see it ending in the province and in Canada, but I have a gut feeling on this.”
Polan believes watch brands with in-house service centres in Canada should consider subsidizing the school in some way.
“All the brands should get involved,” he adds. “There’s no two ways about it. Not having the school will just make things much more complicated, not just for me as a distributor, but for retailers and the brands established here in Canada.”
