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Father & Son
What started out in the home garage back in 1997 to the state-of-the-art service center today located in the heart of Miami-Dade, SWISStime care is the product of relentless pursuit for perfection, passion and top customer care.
Ernesto Rolo Sr.
Ernesto Rolo Sr. initiated his first professional skills as a watchmaker in Havana, Cuba in 1960 at the young age of ten. After a three year period of practice, he started servicing jewelry stores in his local area.
In 1967 after the nationalization of the private jewelry stores, and other businesses by the regime of Fidel Castro, he became a member of a group of more than three hundred watchmakers. They were located in a building called “Taller Universal” created by the government to provide watch service to the community. He took advantage of this opportunity and trained with Master Watchmakers by staying after hours. There he learned how to re-create parts for vintage pieces and for watches for which original parts could no longer be found in the island.
From 1975 to 1982 he worked as a teacher in the Watchmaker School of Havana. He brought up more than two hundred new watchmakers.
On August 1st, 1982, he left Cuba and migrated to the United State of America. Two days later he started working at Accurate-Time Service in New York City, providing service as a subcontractor to North American Watch Company, now known as Movado Group.
From 1983 to 2003 he worked for Ebel in New York City, where he acquired more skills as a watchmaker as a result of working on fine time pieces. In 1989 the company decided to open a new service center in Miami, Florida for which he was offered the position of Service Manager. This opportunity was gratifying and a motivating experience for him. A few years later he was promoted as an After Sales Service Delegate for the company, where he was responsible for the Latin American and the Caribbean territory. He inspected workshops and trained watchmakers, reporting directly to the Switzerland Factory.
On 2003 he started working for the prestigious company Breitling USA as Service Manager, in Miami, with a total of twenty employees under his direction, and a monthly production of six hundred repairs. At this present moment he is supervising the SWISStime care operations as a consultant and continues to work for Breitling USA.
Ernesto Rolo Jr.
Ernesto Rolo Jr. learned the trade directly from his father. However, he has received training from various brands in Switzerland. He has also obtained the prestigious Certified Watchmaker 21 most commonly known as the CW21, from the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute, which most major brands are now requiring.
On February 1996 Ernesto Rolo Jr. started working as a full time watchmaker for Movado Group, in Coral Gables, Florida. In 2000 he became an office manager fully responsible for all the service operations, until November 2001, when Movado Group decided to close their service facility in order to work with independent contractors.
On November 19th, 2001 SWISStime care established its first official location in the attractive area of Coral Gables, Florida under the administration of Ernesto Rolo Jr. We started with Movado Group but soon after, thanks to our reputation and expert workmanship, other brands came knocking on our door. We now service Movado Group, which includes Movado, Ebel, Concord, and ESQ, and also service Swiss Army. Additionally, we are the only official nationwide service center for Parmigiani.