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In Fine Watchmaking, technique is an art
Economy

In Fine Watchmaking, technique is an art

Tuesday, 08 April 2008
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

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6 min read

Whether ostentatious or elegantly understated, in recent years technique has reached a level rarely equalled in the past. And for a very simple reason: aficionados are clamouring for more. Ulysse Nardin and H. Moser & Cie would be first to agree.

Growth of 50% in 2007 to the point where the word “stock” no longer really applies; an official launch at Baselworld 2006 immediately crowned by two prestigious prizes the same year: over and over again, Ulysse Nardin and H. Moser & Cie show how cutting-edge technique applied to Fine Watchmaking is a winning combination, even when this means taking a radically different aesthetic stance. All roads lead to Rome, the saying goes, provided that no concessions are made along the way to offer an informed audience the calibre they expect. And in this arena, both companies have a lot to say.

A philosophy we sum up in two words: passionately different.
Eric Moser
Passionately different

“When in 2005 we set up the company that would relaunch the H. Moser & Cie brand, with our partners, we were determined to respect our founder’s spirit to the letter,” explains Eric Moser, chairman of the brand and a descendent of the watchmaker. “From the very beginning, we have looked to work with the best suppliers in the Arc Jurassien; we have given an international dimension to our sales network, remembering that our illustrious predecessor set up his first company in St Petersburg, and we have set out to produce technically irreproachable calibres. A philosophy we sum up in two words: passionately different.” Inspired by this leitmotiv, H. Moser & Cie has forged privileged links with companies that have also been in the sector for generations, whether for components manufacture or assembly.

To start off on a high note, the company’s engineers under Jürgen Lange, operations director and former head of research at IWC, have developed an original double hairspring escapement, ingeniously devised so that it can be extracted from the movement simply by removing two screws. This concept is unique to all the brand’s movements, instantly identifiable through sapphire crystal case backs. Because H. Moser & Cie is anything but bling bling. “We propose simple, elegant watches,” notes Jürgen Lange. “Their complexity is revealed only on closer inspection, when all the care afforded to the many exclusive details becomes apparent. Because we aim to be the best, we intend to achieve everything that could never be achieved in large series.”

Not a Manufacture

And so since 2005, H. Moser & Cie has imagined its timepieces without ever sacrificing these founding principles. A fidelity that has paid off: this year, the company expects production to sail through the 1,000-units mark and has its sights set on 5,000 units in three to four years’ time. This progression is reflected in the company’s structure, which now employs 60 staff shared between three separate entities under a single holding. H. Moser & Cie can thus draw on its associate company Precision Engineering, which bought Straumann’s expertise in the manufacture of balance springs and now produces and sells complete high-end escapements, and on an industrial structure that will manufacture prototypes and pre-series. This subsidiary can also be called on to machine parts should a shortage arise due to increasingly familiar bottlenecks in the supply chain.

“We don’t claim to be a Manufacture and we don’t intend to become one because we can’t be perfect in every segment of our profession,” Jürgen Lange continues. “We do however intend to keep a certain degree of control over production, as with our escapements which are entirely manufactured in-house.” To launch a successful brand is, he believes, an exploit not everyone can hope to achieve: “You must begin with the perfect story, that of a watchmaking family. Better still if you can count on one of its descendents. The second factor is the exclusive work that goes into the movements. You then need a lot of money and a lot of luck.” No doubt about it, H. Moser & Cie has all the right credentials.

In this market segment, we're all in the same boat: we can't keep pace with demand.
Rolf Schnyder
Aesthetics and innovation

H. Moser & Cie’s remarkable breakthrough in a supercharged market is far from being a one-off. “There’s no crisis at the high end of the market,” observes Rolf Schnyder, president of Ulysse Nardin, “not even in the US. Not for the moment anyway. Take the Royal Blue for example. We have the capacity to make five and we’ve already taken eight orders just two days into Baselworld. In this market segment, we’re all in the same boat: we can’t keep pace with demand. The Genghis Khan is another case in point. It is the work of veritable artists and will be produced as a limited edition of two times 30 pieces. Collectors are already outbidding each other for the chance to own one. A similar phenomenon can be observed at companies such as Audemars Piguet. This isn’t without danger, when you consider that 25 new brands have appeared in the space of a year. The Opus watches by Harry Winston gave the impression everything was possible. But this isn’t true. It takes more than one or two models to build a brand, not to mention after-sales service.”

For Rolf Schnyder, this trend is clearly fuelled by the race for innovation, something of great importance at Ulysse Nardin. “With Freak, we put our money on a new form of expression at a time when others were accumulating complications. We put a lot of work into the time display and the aesthetics of this watch, not forgetting of course the technical aspects as everything about this watch is new and all the parts are functional. And then there is the silicon, for which we were unquestionably first. This combination of innovation and aesthetics is what Ulysse Nardin’s customers expect. The InnoVision respects this same philosophy, but in the field of lubricant-free watches we were pipped at the post by Jaeger-LeCoultre. This proves the importance of research in our profession. One thing is for certain: we can’t continue to grow at this speed. Ultimately, it’s not healthy…”

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