In 1840 the school was transferred to the granary building belonging to
the city. In 1842, when it contained about fifty pupils, it was made over
to the administrative council of the city by the committee of the Society
of Arts. From 1824 to 1842 the school had given instruction to about two
hundred pupils. From 1843 to 1879 it was frequented by nearly eight
hundred pupils, two-thirds of whom were Genevans, and the other third
Swiss of other cantons and foreigners.

The school, then, has furnished the watch-making industry with the
respectable number of a thousand workmen, among whom large numbers have
been, or are yet, distinguished artists.

The rooms of the granary, where the school remained for nearly forty
years, became inadequate, despite the successive additions that had been
made to them, and it became necessary to completely transform them. The
magnificent legacy that the city owes to the munificence of the Duke of
Brunswick was partly employed in the reorganization, and the school is now
located in a vast building designed to answer the requirements of
instruction. This structure, which is located in Necker Street, presents
an imposing and severe aspect. The main building embraces most of the
workshops, the office, the library, and the classroom for instruction in
mechanics, all of which receive a direct light. At right angles with the
main building are two wings. The one to the north contains in its three
upper stories workshops occupied by classes in escapements, bezil setting,
compensating balances, and ruby working. On the ground floor are installed
juvenile schools.

The south wing contains halls for lectures on theory, and two workshops
looking toward the north. The ground floor is used for the same purpose as