FHH and GIA Partner to Expand Watch Education and Certification Globally

# What happened Horlogerie (FHH) reached a strategic academic agreement with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and its School of Gemology and Jewelry Arts to deliver FHH Academy programs through GIA's international footprint. The partnership will use GIA's physical campuses and online infrastructure to expand watch-education access worldwide.

# Why they did it FHH wants to broaden its mandate to spread watchmaking knowledge, culture, and certification to a larger audience. GIA seeks to offer its students and alumni complementary watchmaking training that matches demand for cross-disciplinary skills between jewelry and watches. The jewelry industry is larger than the watch sector (estimated annual sales of about $400 billion vs. about $100 billion for watches), so the collaboration opens access to a broader professional community.

# What each organization brings

• GIA: Founded in 1931, with campuses, laboratories, and research centers across the U.S., U.K., Africa, and multiple Asian markets. GIA has trained more than 200,000 jewelry and gem professionals and operates well-established physical and online training networks. It created the Four Cs and the International Diamond Grading System.

# Program details and timeline The collaboration will start in early 2027. The first offering will be the FHH Academy's Watch Advisor certification — the Academy's entry-level credential — delivered to GIA students through campus classes and online sessions. These initial classes will include open sessions led by a dedicated tutor. FHH and GIA say additional programs and initiatives will follow but have not yet specified those details.

# Practical implications For watch industry staff: Retail, marketing, and communications professionals will gain broader access to recognized watchmaking certification through GIA's global reach. For jewelers and gemologists: The tie-up creates a clear path to acquire structured watch knowledge, which can be useful where jewelry and watches overlap in retail and design. For collectors and consumers: More public-facing training options should improve baseline knowledge and product confidence where courses are offered.

# Scale and reach considerations The collaboration leverages GIA's training scale and FHH's curriculum to reach audiences in markets where GIA already operates, including North America, Europe, and several Asian and African countries. Given the jewelry sector's larger market size, the partnership potentially exposes watch education to a much wider professional base.

# What to watch next

# Bottom line The agreement pairs GIA's global education infrastructure with FHH's watchmaking curriculum to widen access to watch industry training and certification, starting with the Watch Advisor level in 2027. The collaboration is positioned to connect watch and jewelry professionals through shared training resources and to increase the availability of certified watch education worldwide.