Dear enthusiasts,
we hadnīt another part of this; again, a short look behind the scenes at Girard-Perregaux.
Today, itīs kind of a sequel to a
recent part where we visited the After Sales team. This time, itīs about training and education of GP Service Center employees all over the world.
As a manufacture with a world-wide distribution, Girard-Perregaux works hard in order to satisfy all and every customerīs wishes. And the service of a watch is essential; be it a regular service after a few years of ownership or a little problem, the goal is to get the timepiece back to the customer as soon as possible.
In order to achieve this, there are several Service Center in various regions all over the world, which help to keep service return times as low as possible. Each Service Center is run by fully educated watchmakers, which are instructed on GPīs movements on a regular base. To qualify as a GP Service Center, it needs to take several courses in Switzerland to ensure the Service Centers are not only equipped with the latest tech info and spare parts, but do have the necessary experience in how to work on a GP manufacture movement.
And thatīs what happening here; the After Sales department is located in the old main part of the premises at Place Girardet 1:
The premises of Girard-Perregaux in January 2004
And hereīs Sylvain, master watchmaker and in charge of the Training Program at GP, who introduced the After Sales Team and the premises:
Sylvain Froidevaux
When entering the training facilities, the first thing to note is Sylvainīs work bench with a somewhat gigantic apparatus, which will become a key tool as shown later. The After Sales team including the training facility was completely new equipped and overhauled in 2002/2003, so itīs featuring the latest equipment:
Sylvainīs bench
a closer look
On the opposite side of the room the benches for the trainees are placed; you will see thereīs a likely equipment installed.
And itīs a good chance to say a friendly "hello" to Mr. Willy Schweizer, Technical Director of Girard-Perregaux and Curator of the GP Museum, who was so kind to show me around:
Back to the training equipment, the machinery is fired up and we see itīs a computer based instruction system. Actually itīs a digital camera of high resolution and fantastic macro capability:
The After Sales courses naturally include practical lessons and thatīs what this equipment is used for: Sylvain demonstrates critical points and technical issues, with a chance for all trainees to follow the steps on their own computer screens. This equipment is not only to submit real-time pictures, but to record pictures and videos as well. So thereīs a chance to record the service work of each student and unveil errors or problems at a later point and with a chance for all to learn.
Besides, iīd wish my Digicam could do close-up pictures like this...
As a side note, one should not underestimate the costs of this equipment; in order to train the students as good as possible, the investment in the training facilities was well in the 7 digits.
Which are the movements the students are trained?
Of course these are GPīs own manufacture movements and the range includes the basic GP 3000 up to the GP 3080 column-wheel chronograph
GP 3080 chronograph
and GP 33C0 of the WW.TC.
GP 33C0 WW.TC, rotor removed
That said, the students are introduced in the whole range of GP pieces apart from Haute Horlogerie movements which usually have to be serviced in Switzerland.
As you may notice, Service and After Sales is taken very seriously by Girard-Perregaux and considerable efforts are taken to ensure a GP timepiece can be serviced all over the world with sufficient knowledge and experience.
Therefore, it will receive proper service whereever you are!
Hope you enjoyed these insights!
Greetings from germany,
Peter
