BAHAMIANS willl be offered the chance to learn watchmaking skills at the highest level later this year with the launch of a Rolex Technical Institute in Nassau.

Rolex, the leading Swiss brand, and John Bull, the official Rolex retailer for the Bahamas, have partnered to announce the opening in September of the institute and the launch of the first Rolex technician training session. Mauricio Cash has been selected as the first Bahamian candidate by John Bull and will work under the tutelage of a Swiss trainer.

The companies are seeking to promote this exacting profession to local candidates, contributing to the training of men and women who can ensure the same quality of service that has built the reputation of Rolex around the world.

Candidates for the one-year training course will be selected for their dexterity and aptitude to learn the necessary skills. On completion of the course, the technicians must be able to service a Rolex watch in conformity with the strict criteria uniformly required of its certified personnel throughout the world.

A service consists of entirely disassembling a Rolex mechanical movement watch, cleaning all the components, replacing those that need to be changed, then reassembling, lubricating, regulating and checking the movement before casing. To do this, an apprentice must know how to use the brand-specific equipment and tools, and master the nomenclature of the exclusive components.

“Rolex is very proud to be able to bring its know-how to this part of the world and thus give Bahamians the opportunity to learn watchmaking professions according to the brand’s criteria,” Alexandre Tabary-Devisme, General Manager of Rolex Caribbean, said.

During their training, future Rolex technicians will spend an internship of several weeks in the John Bull after-sales service centre. Once trained, they will be eligible to join one of the 20 Rolex after-sales service locations in the Caribbean or Central America.

“This is the beginning of a magnificent undertaking and we can only thank Rolex for having so elegantly embodied one of its cardinal values: the spirit of enterprise,” said Fred A Hazlewood, President of the John Bull Group of Companies. “We are particularly happy to jointly contribute to the vitality of Bahamian society.”

While the centre will be inaugurated by a Bahamian candidate the training programme will be extended to candidates from other Caribbean and Central American countries, selected by one of the local Rolex distributors according to the same criteria.

“We are looking forward to welcoming future candidates and promoting watchmaking culture not only in the Bahamas themselves, but also in the entire region,” added Mr Tabary-Devisme.

Two Rolex boutiques have opened recently in the Bahamas, in Atlantis, Paradise Island, in November and at Baha Mar.