WOSTEP Appoints Cédric Bassin as Director of Watchmaking Training

The WOSTEP Foundation named Cédric Bassin as director with effect from 1 June 2026, according to an official notice posted on the foundation’s site the same day. The appointment lands on a training system that still supplies customer-service watchmakers and polishers to Swiss brands and to partner schools from Manchester to Miami.

Bassin’s path, as set out by WOSTEP, began at Swatch Group’s EM Microelectronic as a development engineer. He later worked in start-ups and education, including a period in Silicon Valley, and rose to general manager of a training centre with more than 2,000 students. Academic credentials listed in the announcement include a Doctor of Science from EPFL and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Educational Management from the University of Geneva. He succeeds Johann Kunz, whom the foundation thanked for instructor support and knowledge transfer.

What the syllabus still covers

WOSTEP, founded in 1966, describes itself as a neutral training centre backed by Swiss industry members. Its public catalogue in 2026 still splits between watch repair and case-and-bracelet polishing, with short attestations stacked on longer programmes. According to the foundation, a WOSTEP certificate is treated by employers as evidence of a standardised technical education rather than a brand-only course.

Shorter modules — turning between centres, Schaublin-70 lathe work, laser-weld filling, lapping and finishing — sit around those core tracks. The mix matches a market in which service volume, not new-caliber design, absorbs most graduates. Practical movement work that hobbyists meet first, such as NH-platform first builds, still rests on the same disassembly, lubrication and timing habits the customer-service course drills at industrial length.

Partner schools that carry the same standard

According to WOSTEP’s worldwide-partnership list, competence centres teaching its programmes include:

• British School of Watchmaking, Stockport (Manchester area)
• Nicolas G. Hayek Watchmaking Schools in Grenchen, Miami, Shanghai and Pforzheim
• IOSW sites in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Fort Worth (NAIOSW)
• Faculté des Métiers, Fougères, France
• Seddiqi Watch Academy, Dubai
• IHU Urmakarskolan, Motala, Sweden

The British School of Watchmaking, a WOSTEP partner since its 2006 opening, still offers the 1,800-hour customer-service course and the 3,000-hour watchmaker course, plus polishing. According to a 2023 WatchPro interview with trustee Jon Weston, WOSTEP once estimated a global shortfall of about 60,000 watchmakers, more than half of working watchmakers were over 50, and the UK school had produced 118 graduates by that date with full industry retention. BSoW’s own site in 2025–2026 still states that every graduate has stayed in the trade.

Diver-spec service work remains a large slice of that after-sales load. The ISO 6425 rules that most mods cannot claim are the same water-resistance and marking tests that customer-service programmes treat as non-negotiable on branded pieces.

FAQ

Does a new director change the certificate?
WOSTEP has not announced a syllabus rewrite. The 1 June notice frames the appointment as continuity of “excellence in watchmaking training.”

Is WOSTEP only for Swiss residents?
No. Partner schools run the same programmes in the UK, United States, China, France, Germany, the UAE and Sweden, according to the foundation’s partnership page.

How does this differ from a brand academy?
Brand schools certify a maison’s calibres. WOSTEP’s customer-service and polishing tracks are industry-wide attestations used by multiple employers.