The man who teaches watchmaking in China
More information on the imageSamuel Lloreda, here in Geneva, February 2017. © Thierry Parel Frédéric Lelièvre Published on Monday March 27, 2017 at 16:57.
"SWISS MADE" (2/4)
Each year, Samuel Lloreda, a former professor at the Geneva School of Watchmaking, will pass on his knowledge to Hong Kong. Second part of our series on the "Swiss They are a dozen around him. To follow him, or serve him as a guide, to the smallest care one might say. They are Hong Kong people who work in watchmaking. He, Samuel Lloreda, "the master," as one of them calls him. A master clockmaker invited to transmit their knowledge for the third year. Last fall, Samuel Lloreda distilled his remarks last fall in Hong Kong, in the aisles of Watch and Clock, which boasts of being the world's largest watch event. He was, in a way, prolonging the course he had just given to his pupils for two months, especially for them from Geneva. "Nothing beats Switzerland, for watches. It is the same for watchmaking professors, Gary enthuses, claiming twenty years in the branch, most of which in after-sales service. I come every year to take his course. The teacher helps me to get rid of my bad habits! " The first part of our series: In Swiss watchmaking, Swiss quality is made even from Shenzhen
Knowledge sought The initiative of this kind of masterclass, as one would say in music or in cinema, belongs to the important Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades & Industries (HK Watch). An association that brings together the biggest distributors of Swiss watches from the former British colony. It was noted in April 2015 when several of its members had written to Swiss watchmakers to complain about the fall in sales. In early 2010, the Hong Kong federation still had other concerns, including the lack of skilled manpower to maintain and repair watches sold en masse in previous years, it recalls in its annual report 'time. He also lacked a professor to match his ambitions. The latter could only come from Switzerland. HervĂŠ Munz, an anthropologist in the world of watchmaking and post-docs at the University of Geneva, was then traveling to Hong Kong. "I was put in contact with the heads of the training center," he recalls. They asked me to find a Swiss watchmaker who would be willing to come and give classes at home. "A few months later, HervĂŠ Munz met Samuel Lloreda" during the International Watchmaking Day in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He was thinking of taking early retirement but wanted to keep an activity. The Hong Kong project immediately appealed to him. "
A life for watches Sixty-five years today, and for three years at the retirement of the Ecole d'horlogerie of Geneva, Samuel Lloreda devoted his whole life to watches. Before becoming a teacher, he worked for ten years for Nouvelle Lemania, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe. Gary thanked him for "having learned to work precisely and to pay attention to every detail, to oil the coins, for example". Every detail, everything mastered In Hong Kong, Swatch Group, Rolex and Richemont each have their own training center. The Hong Kong federation does not compete with them. Samuel Lloreda also defended himself. His two two-month courses, the first for beginners, sometimes sellers who have never touched a watch, and the so-called advanced one, constitute "more a good initiation than a complete training". The course is done with Swiss calibers. "I tried to teach by working with the Chinese 6897, produced by Seagull, but it is impossible so the parts are not adjusted accurately and regularly," he regrets.
He teaches with a translator The master of Geneva returns to Hong Kong with pleasure, although "the course is not easy to give, for I do not speak English," he recalled one afternoon of summer spent in his free time, Morning and evening classes. Fortunately, I have a great translator. She is of Vietnamese origin, speaks a remarkable French and has very well documented to know technical terms. " However, the most difficult is probably not the language. "Facing the students, sometimes I get crazy. We do not have the same culture, the same approach to the trade at all. Take the spring. They know what to do, but they will not at all try to understand why. For them, only the function counts, the mechanisms behind, the theoretical aspect if you want, do not interest them. It is very troubling for us to try to detail everything, to master everything. "Then, to get out of it, he said to his pupils:" Forget all that you have learned. " At his wrist, Samuel Lloreda wears a skeleton watch that he designed the box and that works with a Swiss caliber 6497, renowned for its robustness. Success guaranteed to his students, curious and admiring his know-how. At the end of the two months, "those open to change adopt a different mindset and are interested in the detailed operation of the watch," he rejoiced. https://www.letemps.ch/economie/2017/03/27/lhomme-enseigne-lhorlogerie-chine