Watch suppliers

Watch suppliers

THE WATCH FILES

Watch suppliers

In this selection of Europa Star articles we set out to meet the women and men who, while they may not be in the limelight, are the industry’s best hope if watchmaking is to rebound. These suppliers are innovating more than ever, despite the crisis and the fog of uncertainty in which they find themselves.

Special report: Dialmaking in the Arc Jurassien

Special report: Dialmaking in the Arc Jurassien

Dialmaking is a complex profession. One that requires the mechanical engineer’s precision as much as the artistic sensitivity of the artisan. Europa Star (...)

Spotlight on luminous dials

Spotlight on luminous dials

More than a century after the first applications of radioluminescent paint, a book and a film – The Radium Girls – commemorates the tragic fate of these (...)

Jérôme Boutteçon, the first master craftsman in marquetry on dials

Jérôme Boutteçon, the first master craftsman in marquetry on dials

PORTRAIT

As a young man, he dreamed of becoming a sculptor. Alarmed at the idea of having an artist son, his father forced him to train as a cabinetmaker. An (...)

Behind the scenes of a decorative art: Guilloché

Behind the scenes of a decorative art: Guilloché

Disenchanted professionals sometimes choose radically different work orientations, often worlds away from the career for which they studied. Such is the (...)

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“The Dial”: a bestselling blockbuster

“The Dial”: a bestselling blockbuster

In the small world of auctioneers, Dr Helmut Crott is a legend. A watch auction expert for more than half a century, his expertise has been at the service (...)

Agenhor: poetry in motion

Agenhor: poetry in motion

Established by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, who passed the mantle to his two sons, Agenhor is a family affair that specialises in custom-designed modules and (...)

Le Cercle des Horlogers: by appointment only

Le Cercle des Horlogers: by appointment only

Le Cercle des Horlogers doesn’t do off-the-peg. Only “extensively personalised” movements whose inventiveness and prestige have earned the company an (...)

Schwarz Etienne's grand ambitions

Schwarz Etienne’s grand ambitions

Schwarz Etienne movements are built on a fully modular concept, enabling evolution of both manual-winding and micro-rotor equipped automatic movements (...)

Chronode: made-to-measure

Chronode: made-to-measure

Chronode is not your run-of-the-mill mechanical movement-maker. The company, based in Le Locle, offers contemporary, innovative solutions and provides (...)

LTM: good things come in small packages

LTM: good things come in small packages

From its base in Fleurier in Val-de-Travers – a region whose reputation for excellence could soon rival that of Vallée de Joux – Le Temps Manufactures (...)

Dubois Dépraz: more than additional modules

Dubois Dépraz: more than additional modules

A renowned specialist manufacturer with an impressive line-up of additional modules, including numerous options for chronographs, and a long list of (...)

La Joux-Perret: a vigorous turnaround

La Joux-Perret: a vigorous turnaround

Owned by Citizen Group since 2012, La Joux-Perret has been helmed by CEO Jean-Claude Eggen since 2020. Under his stewardship, the Manufacture has increased (...)

Kenissi: the whizz kid

Kenissi: the whizz kid

Inaugurated earlier this year but operational since 2022, the Kenissi Manufacture is the latest in the lineup of movement manufacturers and is already (...)

Soprod: integration, independence and Newton®

Soprod: integration, independence and Newton®

Small (compared to some), fully (96-97%) integrated and fiercely independent, Soprod’s ambition is to offer not only calibres that are interchangeable with (...)

Sellita: strength in numbers

Sellita: strength in numbers

From a high-volume assembler of ETA movements to an “indispensable component of Swiss industry”, to quote its discreet but charismatic CEO Miguel Garcia, (...)

Oil, metal and noise

Oil, metal and noise

EDITORIAL

You will indulge me in my use of the first person, for once. For two months, my sole occupation has been visiting the factories that make watch movements – (...)

The guardians of watchmaking diversity

The guardians of watchmaking diversity

EDITORIAL

Our new issue contains probably one of the most comprehensive dossiers on watch movements that you’re likely to find in a publication of this size. While (...)

Salin: 70 years and counting

Salin: 70 years and counting

A specialist manufacturer of cases and bracelets in precious metal, the Italian firm is ideally placed to serve the watch sector as it continues its move (...)

Leather straps: when competitors agree to partner

Leather straps: when competitors agree to partner

While watch brands sometimes find it difficult to unite for causes that go beyond their individual interests, some suppliers are setting an example. (...)

H-Development, portrait of a horological laboratory

H-Development, portrait of a horological laboratory

INDUSTRY

The Biel-based company specialises in delivering components, but also in solving technical challenges. Its customers are mainly independent brands and (...)

Aeronautical principles applied to watch cases

Aeronautical principles applied to watch cases

INTERVIEW

Canadian brand Charles Simon is a luxury luggage manufacturer that started designing cases for watches after the outbreak of the pandemic. Founded by two (...)

Watch straps: a new generation takes over at Hirsch

Watch straps: a new generation takes over at Hirsch

INDUSTRY

Austrian company Hirsch, one of the leading suppliers of straps to the watch industry, is undergoing a generational transition. From digital innovation to (...)

Should watch suppliers go into direct sales?

Should watch suppliers go into direct sales?

EDITORIAL

This somewhat provocative and paradoxical question is prompted by the birth of watch incubator Watch Angels, backed by subcontracting group FM Swiss (...)

Fogged up

Fogged up

EDITORIAL

We’re all of us, all fogged up. Literally, because wearing a mask makes your glasses steam up, and metaphorically because the horizon is looking very murky (...)