Twin Valley Graduate Pursues A Timely Profession

"I always really liked watches from a young age," said Jude Jones of Morgantown, who graduated this past summer from the Lititz Watch Technicum, where he became a Swiss American Watchmakers Training Alliance (SAWTA) certified watchmaker. "I was always very precise growing up. When I was young, I always liked to take things apart and put them back to together - and they always worked."

Jones, the son of David and Lori Jones of Morgantown, is a 2019 graduate of Twin Valley High School. He decided to pursue the field of watchmaking after a lesson on careers that he completed while a senior. "We had a class project revolving around careers and what you had to do to pursue them and what education you needed," he recalled. "I didn't know what I what I wanted to do with my life at that point. So, I decided to look up what a watchmaker does. I always had this image in mind of an older gentleman hunched over his bench and looking at tiny things. It was fascinating."

He learned about the school in Lititz and was able to tour the facility. "The first time there was no class going on. I just spoke with the (representative) at the school, and he gave me a tour and I met a few key people," said Jones. "When I told him how professional it was, and it seemed like something I want to be a part of, I came back when the students were learning to get a feel for what it is like to be in class."

He enrolled in the school in September of 2019 and immediately took part in certain hands-on activities. "On the first day we jumped right in. You don't get into (watchmaking) right away because they have to make sure that you get proficient in the basic skills you need to make a watch," Jones explained. "Basically, you have to have a machining proficiency - drilling, centering, boring and turning things on a lathe."

After graduation from the Lititz Watch Technicum on July 23, Jones was hired to work at a jewelry store in Long Island, N.Y., where his tasks include repairing watches. "It is a Rolex boutique. There are not too many of them in the country," he pointed out.

Although many people today use their phones to tell time, Jones pointed out the importance of watches that are given as gifts. They are used to mark special occasions, such as graduations or retirements or employment milestones. "It's no longer about keeping time. It's about tradition and craftsmanship," he stated. "When you celebrate something, you want to buy that person a watch and every time they look at their wrist, they remember that occasion."

Someday, Jones would like to own a solid gold Rolex. "(After working on watches) I began to admire why these watches cost so much money," he said. "(It becomes clear) when you look inside them - the finishings and the way they are put together. The true craftmanship of the timepiece itself makes it so valuable."