30 skills go into the making of a watch

2 minutes read
To maintain the greatest possible independence and the highest quality products, the Franck Muller manufactury employs 500 craftsmen.


Tribune des Arts - No 321 - May 2004

J.-C. P.

 

From creation to production, the manufacture of a watch requires more than 30 highly specialist skills. Each of the skills is embodied in the 500 employees of the Franck Muller manufactory headquartered at Genthod but with production sites also at Plan-les- Ouates, Vernier, Meyrin and in the Jura. Vartan Sirmakes, CEO of the Franck Muller Group, would love to bring these businesses together at Genthod as part of his “Watchland”, his grand expansion project which, for the time being, is still awaiting planning permission.


“Watchland” at Genthod bears all the hallmarks of a prestigious watch manufactory: ultramodern workshops set up within brand-new turn-of-the-century architectural buildings with a view over the lake and Mont Blanc. Enough to capture the imagination of all the foreigners who visit “Watchland” each day from around the world.


But above all, each workshop is bathed in the natural light needed by watchmakers to achieve perfection in their meticulous work.

 

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A free rein with the exterior

From stamping, where heavy presses weighing several dozen tonnes cut the steel for the cases of stainless steel bracelets, to the design and manufacture of dials, through the setting of precious stones or machining of sapphire glass, the watch exteriors are all produced in the workshops of the Franck Muller Group.

Nevertheless, most visitors to Watchland at Genthod stop at the haute horlogerie workshops where the craftsmen-artists construct the renowned complications underpinning the reputation of the Franck Muller brand and of the Pierre Kunz brand, named after the ingenious watchmaker and inventor of new mechanisms.

Admittedly, a visit by a novice to the watchmaking workshops is a delightful experience. Everything in it is perfect, the modern, practical, well-equipped pale wood workbenches, the spaces, the classical panelling and the wide windows looking directly out onto the natural landscape. All of which are reminiscent of the great tradition of Jurassian watchmakers whilst at the same time looking forward towards an international future symbolised by Geneva.

Optimum working conditions only dreamt of by many watchmakers, so much so that several apprentices apply each year for a place at the Franck Muller Group training centre where six apprentices are taken on. They have the opportunity of benefiting from the advice of top-level watchmakers who are equally committed to their task as trainers alongside their day-to-day work at their own workbenches.

And jewellry too

Last but not least, the Franck Muller Group has recently turned towards jewellery. Admittedly, Vartan Sirmakes comes from a family of jewellers and has an innate taste for choosing the finest precious stones. In addition, he owned a major jewel setting company in Geneva before teaming up with watchmaker Franck Muller.

The jewellery department was thus set up in 2001, with designers, gem-setters/jewellers and lapidaries. The aim always being not to depend on any one person in order to maximise flexibility and speed when filling orders, however out-of-the-ordinary such orders might be.

A freedom so cherished by Vartan Sirmakes that “Freedom” is the name he has decided to give to the new, superb and quintessentially Swiss calibre which he has developed and is in the process of producing from start to finish in association with a Swiss company. One step further towards total independence.

 

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Giuseppe Gagliardo and Stephane Greco. DR


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Research and development: Preziuso Florian and Boule Nicolas. DR

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Etampage: Maria Miranda, Laurinda Abrantes and Lurdes Moegado. DR

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Atelier Crazy Hours: Emmanuel Rampa and Franck Briet. DR

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