Young people tend to face one of their biggest challenges in life after leaving school, as, often for the very first time, they begin to plan their professional future. Although the choice is almost limitless, many have not yet been able to sharpen their horizons enough to survey the variety of careers available in much depth. Thus, they usually decide in favour of a profession that is already familiar to them from their surroundings: engineers and craftsmen, doctors, lawyers, teachers or a job in the media or in business are perhaps the most common career choices.
One profession that everyone is aware of, yet which usually doesn’t immediately spring to mind when choosing a career – and thus deserves more attention – is that of watchmaker. A skilled trade that, if you have a passion for mechanical objects, is extremely attractive in many respects. The family-owned company Wempe, a retailer and manufacturer of fine watches and jewellery, plays host to one of the most modern and best training centres in Germany in Glashütte, Saxony. Wempe also offers commercial training programmes, which are completed at various branches and at the headquarters in Hamburg. We took a closer look at what makes the profession of ‘watchmaker’, as well as the Wempe training centre in particular, so special.
The magic of mechanical watches
A mechanical watch triggers certain emotions in many of us. After all, mechanical watches are miniature marvels, made up of hundreds of tiny parts that work harmoniously together in order to display the time – and other functions – in a completely analogue way. Today, it is no longer a question of using the watch on your wrist as a tool to keep track of the time. Our smartphones or laptops have long since taken over this role; it’s more about the mechanics behind it.
A simple mechanical movement alone usually requires no fewer than 150 components, consisting of gears, springs, pinions and many more, which interact with each other in a very small space. If complications such as chronographs, calendar functions or even striking mechanisms are added, there can be up to 1,000 components. For many major luxury brands, however, this alone is not enough: the components are often literally decorated down to the last corner of the movement, i.e. prepared by hand to give the watch not only technical sophistication but also visual finesse. The enthusiasm for mechanical watches also lies in the fact that they do not require any electrical or fossil energy resources, but are wound purely by human power, either by the movement on the wrist (self-winding) or by winding the crown (manual winding).
Young watchmakers
For the watchmaker, it is a particularly wonderful moment when everything is finally in place, the balance can be inserted, and the movement begins to beat like a pulsating heart, thus bringing the watch to life. But just as we take it for granted that we can buy a mechanical watch from our trusted retailer at any time, it is just as important that there are enough watchmakers who have mastered the craft. Not only to keep these delicate timepieces ticking, but above all, to give them a long life through regular servicing.
Trainer with apprentices from the 2nd year of training (above)
In order not to become too dependent upon external factors, Wempe always trained its own watchmakers, even while training was still based in Hamburg, before offering graduates a position in the company. In 2005, Wempe acquired the observatory in Glashütte, where it opened its own training centre. The centre has grown steadily over the last 20 years – from two watchmaking apprentices per year at the beginning to eight today.
In a three-year training programme, 24 watchmakers (eight per year) are now being trained in Glashütte – eight new watchmakers join the programme every year, replacing eight graduates. The quota: 100 percent of them pass. ‘As a rule, our apprentices pass their journeyman’s examination with a result of at least 80 percent or better,’ says Elisabeth Gläser, master watchmaker and head of the training centre in Glashütte, who herself completed her watchmaking training at Wempe from 2006 to 2009, and was one of the first state winners of the German Craft Skills Championships to be trained at Wempe. In the meantime, most of the national winners have come from Wempe for eleven years in a row, which speaks for the high quality of the training centre.
The entire apprentice team with Elisabeth Gläser, Head of the Wempe Training Centre (centre)
Why Glashütte?
On the one hand, Glashütte is of course the most important watchmaking town in Germany, after Ferdinand Adolph Lange brought watchmaking apprentices to Glashütte for the first time in 1845; on the other hand, Wempe also has a long association with Glashütte. In 1939, Herbert Wempe and Otto Lange (former co-owner of A. Lange & Söhne) founded the ‘Glashütte Observatory’ working group – a research and training centre for young watchmakers as well as an Institut de Réglage.
Otto Lange with Herbert Wempe and the Glashütte ‘Urania’ observatory around 1910
However, after the outbreak of the Second World War, the observatory was declared municipal property in 1940. It was not until 24 January 2005 that the family business reacquired the 620 square metre site with the observatory, and extensively rebuilt the latter. In 2006, with the launch of the two watch lines Wempe Chronometerwerke and Wempe Zeitmeister, four watchmaking apprentices were already taken on from the start.
The new building next to the Wempe observatory was inaugurated in 2011
Wempe training centre: One of the best in Germany
In Glashütte, Wempe has created one of the most modern and best-equipped training workshops in Germany. In addition to digital whiteboards, each and every trainee has access to height-adjustable workbenches and a fully equipped workshop with tools, timing scales, stone pressing machines, lathes and various case-making tools. An important aspect of the Wempe training centre is that the focus is on individual support and the needs of each individual apprentice. ‘Each of the eight apprentices per training year works on something different. At Wempe, we try to provide very individualised training, depending on aptitude and development potential,’ says Elisabeth Gläser. Another special feature of the Wempe training centre is that the focus is not just on the movement, but in the third year of training the entire watch is examined: case, dial, hands and bracelets. This is not a matter of course, and of course has the advantage that there is no need for additional training after the apprenticeship, as repairs to these components are an important part of service.
Elisabeth Gläser, Head of the Wempe Training Centre
The training programme at Wempe also offers the special feature that the company can offer three individual paths after the training. Graduates can decide whether they would like to go on to work in production or the service workshop in Glashütte, in the service workshop in Hamburg, or in one of Wempe’s many branches in Germany or abroad. In the first year of training, apprentices can already gain practical experience in the branches, where they spend two to three weeks in order to familiarise themselves with direct customer contact. In the third year of training, priorities are then set for each apprentice, talents are further developed and together we look at where the journey should go and optimise the training accordingly. ‘If someone wants to go to a Wempe branch, we train our apprentices again as part of a communication training programme to ensure that they present themselves confidently to customers. If someone wants to go into the service workshop, we deal even more intensively with the topic of repairs, troubleshooting and functional analyses,’ says Gläser.
First and second years of training
Wempe naturally offers every journeyman and every journeywoman a job. Most graduates stay with the company. Over the last ten years, the family-owned company has recorded a retention rate of around 90 percent. From 2008, the first year of graduates after the company was founded in 2005, over 70 percent are still employed by the company, which is a remarkable rate for the industry. Those who stay with Wempe in the service workshop, for example, naturally have the great advantage of brand diversity with 17 watch brands in the portfolio – including the watches of the Wempe Glashütte I/SA brand. Each watch from each brand has its very own special features – here, the young watchmakers are challenged early on and can quickly expand their knowledge accordingly.
A growing interest in skilled trades
With such good training and working conditions, it is not surprising that Wempe receives an average of 200 applications for watchmaking apprenticeships every year – around 1,000 in total if you include the commercial apprenticeships. In 2024, according to the company, more young people applied for the watchmaking apprenticeship than for the commercial apprenticeship. ‘We are realising that young people are once again more interested in skilled trades and that we have also steered our recruiting activities in the right direction,’ explains Andrea Mehde, Chief Human Relations Officer.
First and second years of training
To ensure that Wempe also finds and trains the watchmaking talent of tomorrow, the company has been investing in proven digital and analogue measures for years, such as advertisements in traditional job portals, internal information events and participation in external trade fairs and career-related events. A chatbot will soon be added to the Wempe careers page to provide automated support for questions about the application process and training. With eight apprenticeships for watchmakers per year and around 175 applications, Wempe is naturally in the comfortable position of being selective. ‘We really want the best,’ emphasises Andrea Mehde.
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In their first year of training, the apprentices are on average between 17 to 22 years old. However, there are also occasional career changers who are a little older. In addition to the watchmaker apprenticeship, Wempe also offers two commercial apprenticeships at various locations: as a commercial clerk or as a retail clerk. In addition, there is one position per training year for visual marketing designers and one for IT specialists for system integration. You do not need a high school diploma to train as a watchmaker or retail salesperson – a high school diploma is sufficient. After the apprenticeship and during permanent employment, Wempe gives its watchmakers the opportunity to train as master craftsmen or to continuously expand their expertise through further education and training at the in-house Wempe Academy.
Two second-year apprentices inspect various watches from Wempe’s own portfolio
Generous remuneration during training and career entry
The apprenticeship at Wempe is remunerated pretty generously. Watchmaker apprentices earn 1,100 euros in their first year of training. In the second year this rises to 1,200 euros, and in the third year, this moves up to 1,400 euros. And that’s not all: 1,000 euros holiday pay and a 13th salary as a Christmas bonus are added on top. In addition, trainees can live in Wempe’s own shared flat in Glashütte free of charge in their first year. From the second year onwards, trainees organise their own accommodation, and it is not uncommon for fellow students to join forces. The rental costs in Glashütte and the surrounding area are manageable, so that the apprentices can generally live cheaply.
A third-year apprentice repairs a chronograph
If watchmaking graduates decide to stay with Wempe after completing their training, they can expect a starting salary of 2,900 euros if they join one of the more than 30 branches. If they stay in Glashütte to work in the service workshop or production, the salary is 2,600 euros, as the cost of living in Glashütte is lower than in the big city. If a watchmaker wants to go to the service workshop in Hamburg – which, by the way, is moving this year and is being extensively expanded and modernised – he will receive a starting salary of 2,700 euros. In addition to the basic salary, each watchmaker can also earn a bonus if he or she has worked on a certain number of watches in the service workshop or sold them in the boutique. Wempe also endeavours to regularly review salaries and working conditions and adapt them to changes. Over the next three years, the working week will be gradually reduced from 40 to 37.5 hours with full pay.
Around 70 watchmakers currently work at Wempe in the branches, the service workshops, and in production. With over 30 branches worldwide, watchmakers always have the opportunity to rotate if they are interested in another city or want to move for personal reasons. There is one more speciality: the service of a watch, which has a very special appeal for many, because the brand has very specific requirements when it comes to servicing its watches. And as Wempe is an official Rolex service partner, the watchmakers are trained to Rolex service level during their apprenticeship. Every watchmaker who wants to work on a Rolex has to be registered with Rolex and they then take part in certain level training courses at Rolex from time to time. Of course, other watch brands also offer training – there are currently around 17 brands, such as Patek Philippe, Cartier, IWC and Breitling, which can be repaired at Wempe.
Elisabeth Gläser converses with a third-year apprentice
The watchmaking profession has not only existed for centuries: it is also just as viable for the future. For example, the sharp rise in demand for luxury watches in recent years means that many repairs will soon be due – and the need for qualified watchmakers will increase. With its own training centre, Wempe is helping to ensure that this old and important craft continues to be cultivated and is giving it the attention it deserves by providing optimum training opportunities.
Scott Wempe, Elisabeth Gläser and Kim-Eva Wempe
Anyone who is now curious and would like to find out more about watchmaking training at Wempe can find out more on the relevant website and, if interested, apply directly to Wempe.
