Do I need to know anything about watchmaking already?
No. We start with how to hold the tools and how to sit, and go all the way to rebuilding a movement. I use the 6497 because it's large, easy to read, and sturdy enough for a first strip-down.
What exactly do I receive?
Access to the student area with the videos chapter by chapter and the guide, one hour of video lesson with me, included, and, depending on the formula you choose, the 6497 movement and the tool kit sent to your home. The tools are yours to keep.
How long do I have access to the course?
Access does not expire. Your code opens the course on a few devices, your computer and your tablet for instance. If you change machine, write to me and I'll free the slot.
Can I ask questions along the way?
Yes. In the student area you ask your question at the exact point in the video. It reaches me with the chapter and the second, and I answer it myself.
Can I take a course with you in person?
Yes. At my workshop in the Netherlands; at your home if you are on my way between Lille, Méru and Caen, within a 50 km detour; or as a group at your company or club, in France and Belgium. Write to me with your project and I will suggest a programme and a price.
Is the online course the same as the one on the USB key?
Yes, the same one. Until October I sent it on a USB key; it now lives in your student space, with nothing to install, on your computer and your tablet. And you can ask me a question at the exact moment of the video.
What if I lose or break a part?
It happens, especially the first time: a screw that jumps, a spring that flies off. I send you the first replacement part, free.
Do I need a workshop or expensive tools?
A table, good light and a little space are enough. The kit holds what the course needs; nothing else is required to finish it.
Where do you ship, and how fast?
Anywhere in Europe, and to Canada (Québec included), as a tracked parcel from the Netherlands, with the invoice. The tracking number is sent to you the day it leaves. For Canada, allow one to two weeks; any Canadian taxes are paid on delivery.
How can I pay?
By card on a secure page, or by bank transfer: the IBAN and the reference are on the invoice, with a code to scan from your banking app.
And if the course is not for me?
Write to me. The terms of sale set out the right of withdrawal and what happens to a kit already opened; in practice, it always starts with a message.
Are the lessons pre-recorded, or at fixed times?
Pre-recorded. You follow the course whenever you like, at your own pace, even with irregular working hours. If you have a question during a video, you ask it right there and I answer you directly; the answer appears in your space. Only the free hour by video with me is live, at a time you choose.
I live in Québec or elsewhere in Canada: is that possible?
Yes. The course is online and filmed in French; you follow it from wherever you are. The kit and the movement leave the Netherlands as a tracked parcel, with Canadian shipping; any Canadian taxes are paid on delivery. For the hour by video, my slots are shown in Paris time, six hours ahead of Montréal: my evenings are your afternoons.
By Tristan Ledard, qualified watchmaker, Young Talent prize of the AHCI and François-Paul Journe
