Thursday, 7 July 2016, 21 young men and women, students at the firm's own “Alfred Helwig” School of Watchmaking, received their diplomas in the atrium of the Glashütte Original’s manufacture and celebrated the completion of their studies.
The following day saw the majority of the graduates already on the job in the various departments at Glashütte Original, where they will put their hard-earned knowledge to work immediately in the watchmaker's watch assembly, production and customer service areas.
Every year since 2001 the Saxon manufactory has begun training new watchmakers and toolmakers in the firm's own training institute. The modern and well-equipped “Alfred Helwig” watchmaking school offers students a first-class education as a craft specialist in watchmaking or toolmaking. The course of studies covers required theoretical knowledge and offers students useful insights into the day-to-day practice of watchmaking. During their studies they gain practical experience in selected areas of assembly and services at Glashütte Original.
The watchmaker goes to great lengths to ensure that the training meets international standards; this is highlighted in particular by a cooperative agreement, unique in Germany, between the “Alfred Helwig” School of Watchmaking and Switzerland's “WOSTEP” (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program). As a result of this partnership, students who pass the WOSTEP final examination receive, in addition to their German Specialist Worker certificate, the WOSTEP diploma. In the context of the program the students are also given an opportunity to construct a so-called “training watch” – a project, as exciting as it is instructive, that allows the students to make realistic, practical use of theoretical knowledge.
