Watchmaking group renews support for PJC program
Published or Revised June 13, 2025
At top, left to right are PJC Horology Program Coordinator Garrin Fraze, scholarship recipients Matthew Smith, Jenna Mattson, Henry Hornbrook, and Brian Furi, and Horology Faculty member Michah Minjarez; below left: at the gala, PJC student Brian Furi (3rd from left) was joined on stage by (l-r) HSNY Director of Education Steve Eagle, student Justin Delano from the Veterans Watchmaker Institute, and HSNY Treasurer Brett Walsdorf; bottom right: an essay by PJC student Brian Furi brought him an all-expense-paid trip to the HSNY Gala at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
A $26,250 vote of confidence came to Paris Junior College recently from an important member of the national watchmaking profession. The Horological Society of New York (HSNY), one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world, gave a grant to the PJC watchmaking program and scholarships to students Brian Furi, Jenna Mattson, Henry Hornbrook, and Matthew Smith.
The awards were formally announced during HSNY's annual gala in New York City's Plaza Hotel. A symbolic giant check for $160,000 was awarded and Furi was one of two scholarship recipients on stage receiving it. In total, HSNY awarded scholarships to 28 students and four watchmaking schools in the United States. Furi's essay won him an all-expense-paid trip to New York City to attend the gala, which left a big impression.
"It was inspiring," Furi said. "It wasn't just watchmakers, it was everyone involved with HSNY: watch collectors, big brands, celebrities, sales people; the mix of people was vast and it was cool to be in that atmosphere."
After a 20-year career in another industry ended due to injury, Furi was casting around for what to do next. He reconnected with his father, who works in the watch industry and suggested he attend watchmaking school. Furi chose PJC and moved his wife, daughter and mother to Reno. The scholarship is welcome assistance to the one-income family.
"This has helped immensely," Furi said. After his final semester at PJC, he says he plans to work with a larger commercial company, get brand training in the corporate world, and possibly take over his father's business later in his career.
HSNY supports watchmaking schools and helps them acquire a wide range of tools, movements, raw materials and spare parts. Budgeting for these supplies can be difficult, especially for schools such as PJC that do not have a sponsoring brand. The HSNY Howard Robbins Award for $6,250 will help expand the program, said PJC horology program coordinator Garrin Fraze.
"We have a second instructor now and this fall we'll be taking a total of 12 students, the largest incoming class we've had in quite some time," said Fraze. "Support for American watchmaking education continues to be strong, and the HSNY gift means that we're doing something right. So we're going to maintain our momentum to make the program better and better."
The HSNY scholarships are making a big difference for the individual students at PJC.
"I was excited and called my parents to tell them about the scholarship," said Mattson. "It will help pay for living here and the classes."
Mattson received the HSNY Grace Fryer Scholarship for $5,000. The scholarship is dedicated to Fryer, one of the 1920s women who worked as dial painters in Illinois and New Jersey and succumbed to the often-deadly side effects of radium, which made watch dials glow. Mattson is enjoying her third semester at PJC.
"At the beginning we focused on taking care of your tools and getting the basics down," Mattson said. "Now we're problem-solving, figuring out what's wrong with the watches and fixing them ourselves."
Furi and Hornbrook each received the Henry B. Fried Scholarship for $5,000 to assist with tool costs and living expenses. Fried (1907-1996) was president of HSNY and the New York State Watchmakers Association, and vice-president of the Horological Institute of America (a precursor to the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute.
Hornbrook was very happy to get the scholarship. Never having lived alone, he says the scholarship is a big help with purchasing a lot of items he never needed before, plus paying for his tuition. Like Mattson, he is enjoying his third semester.
"Every single project we start seems kind of daunting, but then everything you've learned previously applies and it just clicks in your mind," Hornbrook said. "It really helps you understand how watches work."
The HSNY Charles London Scholarship for Watchmaking Students for $5,000 to cover tool and living expenses went to Smith. London was a young, self-taught clock maker emigrated alone from Europe to Glen Cove, New York in 1923 and used his entrepreneurial spirit to create London Jewelers.
Smith says he and his wife rent locally, and the scholarship helps with living expenses and tuition. He has jewelry industry experience and a bachelor's degree.
"I already graduated college with a bachelor's degree," Smith said, "and a four-year degree is just ridiculous money, but the tuition here is not terrible. This is an investment for the future and the next two semesters are basically free."
For more information about the watchmaking program at PJC, contact Fraze at gfraze@parisjc.edu. Learn more about HSNY at https://hs-ny.org/.