Watch(ing) and learning a timeless family craft

Shawn Pernik, 17, is a Ladue high senior planning to attend college next year. Nothing earth shattering about this except, perhaps, his choice of college.

“I’m hoping to attend watchmaking school,” he explains.

Shawn’s first choice is called the Lititz Watch Technicum, located in Lititz, Pa. The school, founded by Rolex in 2001, was created to help make up for the lack of skilled watchmakers in the United States. 

The Technicum offers a two-year, 3,600+ hour SAWTA (Swiss American Watchmaker’s Training Alliance) curriculum. Tuition, subsidized by Rolex, is free for the 14 students accepted each year, but they are expected to pay for their tools which, according to the school, cost around $7,000.

ADVERTISEMENT

To apply, Shawn will submit an application and be interviewed by phone. If that goes well, he will be invited to the school to take hands-on tests.

Shawn is hopeful that history and hard work will help his chances of acceptance. His family owns and operates Timekeepers, a watch repair and fine jewelry shop with locations in Clayton and Olivette (that location is moving to Creve Coeur in a few weeks). Shawn is learning watchmaking and watch repairs from his grandfather, Semyon Ilyashov.

“I go to his store (in Olivette) after school, and he teaches me how to take apart watches and put them back together,” explains Shawn, whose family belongs to Congregation Shaare Emeth. “We find the problems inside the watch. I’m learning how it works.

“I started off with pocket watches, which are easier because they are bigger, and have been moving to smaller watches as I get better.”

Ilyashov and his family immigrated to the United States in 1979 from Belarus, in the former Soviet Union. A watchmaker by trade, Ilyashov walked into an antique shop on Cherokee Street, shortly after settling in St. Louis, where he was given some broken watches to repair. He continued to fix them and squirreled away what he could to open a small watch repair shop in University City in 1981. That business grew and expanded to the two locations.

Shawn says what drew him to watches is the way they work. 

“I always liked Legos and building stuff; watches are kind of mechanical, and I like that,” he explains, noting that his focus is on mechanical watches rather than battery-powered ones that are quartz movement. Those watches are not so much repairable but replaceable.

“Although there have been improvements, mechanical watches from the 1900s and today basically have the same concepts,” he continues. “That’s not really the case with technology because it has evolved so much. There aren’t a lot of people fixing watches anymore, so I will be like only a handful of younger people who know how to do this.”

He adds that despite the popularity of smart watches such as the Apple brand, luxury mechanical watches continue to be extremely popular. 

When Shawn told his parents of his decision to become a watchmaker, they were surprised. Ella Pernik says she and her husband, Edward, were not too thrilled at first. “Why?” she says. “Because it’s a very dangerous business.”

The store she and her husband run in Clayton, which boasts an amazing array of high-end jewelry, including watches, was robbed 14 years ago, when she was pregnant with her daughter. The second Timekeepers store in Olivette, which until recently was in a different location along Olive Boulevard, was burglarized several times, including in February, when robbers entered with machine guns. Ella’s mother and three other employees had guns to their heads; while they were not physically harmed, her parents’ dog was killed. 

“It’s not an easy business — it’s 24/7,” Ella Pernik adds. “You always want something easier for your kids, but if you sit down and think about it, there is nothing easier. If you want to be good at something, you’re going to have to work at it. 

“Both of us told Shawn, ‘If you love it, you’ll be good at it. We don’t want you to do it for us, you have to do it for yourself.’”

Shawn, who is president of the BBYO chapter at the J and teaches chess to youngsters, says he decided on watchmaking last summer (2017), when he started working at his parent’s Clayton store.

“When I was a young kid, I wanted to be a watchmaker but as I got older, I kind of stopped and wanted to be a lawyer,” he says. “Then when I began working here, I realized it was really cool and I didn’t want to sit in an office, or a cubicle, all day. I wanted something different. In doing watches, I could have something different.

“I also wanted to own a business and since I work with my parents, I knew that someday I would become an owner.”

Interfaith Israel

How come these kinds of opportunities didn’t exist when I was 45 and had a 4-year-old?  I’m talking about a highly subsidized trip to Israel, from May 12 to 21, for eight interfaith Jewish St. Louis area couples. 

Supported by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and the generosity of Stuart and Susie Zimmerman, this trip is designed to engage these couples with Israel and understand the importance of the land, culture, people, and economy from the perspective of each other’s faith.

To qualify, applicants must be between the ages of 27 and 45, or over the age of 45 with children 12 and younger; married or in a committed relationship; one partner in the relationship is Jewish and the other is of a different faith; currently reside in the St. Louis metropolitan area; and willing and able to coordinate one program for the group within a year of returning from Israel. This can be a social get together, volunteer opportunity or an educational program.

A full itinerary is available at JFedSTL.org/events/interfaith-2019/. The land cost of this trip is fully subsidized; couples will need to pay for their transportation to and from Israel. Applications are due Nov. 9. For questions or more information, contact Karen Rader at 314-442-3756 or [email protected].