Antonio Calce is in the process of hiring Laurent Besse and four of his co-workers from R&D specialist Les Artisans Horlogers – but not as a supplier. The company has recently filed for bankruptcy.
WORLDTEMPUS – 25 February 2011
Louis Nardin and Elizabeth Doerr
Beating out a number of strong competitors, Corum CEO Antonio Calce has successfully managed to acquire the technical know-how of Les Artisans Horlogers, a behind-the-scenes company specialized in the research and development of complicated movements with 20 employees. Les Artisans Horlogers filed for bankruptcy in January 2011.
Laurent Besse, cofounder of the company and previously head of R&D at the short-lived Progress Watch SA, and four of his employees – two engineers, one movement designer, and one technician – will soon begin work at Corum's key location in La Chaux-de-Fonds. When this is accomplished, Corum will have integrated the know-how and experience involved in making one of the industry's most celebrated calibers of late: the H-shaped movement of the HM4 Thunderbolt by MB&F. Corum has thus rapidly accelerated its verticalization and upgraded its status to that of manufacture in fell swoop.
“We needed to act quickly,” Calce explained yesterday during an exclusive interview, before going on to expound upon future plans, which include the creation of seven planned calibers in the years to come. “With the addition of Laurent Besse and some of his co-workers we will be able to more precisely forge ahead with the brand's technical identity.” To this end, Calce plans on leaving Besse a great deal of freedom corresponding to the same sort of work atmosphere he had at Les Artisans Horlogers.
Calce has in effect pulled a “Biver,” so to speak, in acquiring some of the remains of this company. The CEO of Hublot took over Matthias Buttet, about 30 of his employees, and the machinery from BNB when it went bankrupt last January. Part of Calce's surprise move originates in the fact that he no longer wants to have his company's calibers developed outside the company anymore. “Depending on external partners for this stage in our development is a risk. The best thing is to integrate resources,” he said. Calce is now able to realize his wish of mastering the creation of calibers in-house at Corum.
Featured brand
