WOSTEP

WOSTEP, the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program, is an internationally recognized professional qualification in the maintenance and care of fine-quality watches. It was devised by the Centre Suisse de Formation et de Perfectionnement Horloger and is sponsored by manufacturers and retailers within the horological industry in Switzerland. Origin During the 1960s, and at the request of the U.S. government, the Swiss government created what would eventually evolve into WOSTEP- Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH. Its original purpose was to train American watchmakers in techniques of watchmaking that developed in Geneva and the Jura mountains from the 16th century. There had always been a small number of imports of ultra-fine Swiss watches, but after WWII, the number of watches imported as partial or complete watches increased exponentially. These "modern" watch movements were markedly different from the products of American companies, which grew out of 100 years of production (starting mass production of quality watches). American manufacturers were unable to develop new products or methods of competing, and they were destroyed in record time. Worldwide t