WatchTime - August 2012

SUPPLY SIDE
Hairsprings
asked for an investigation to determine whether it could, without
violating antitrust law, stop delivering certain mechanical-movement
components to companies outside the Swatch Group. Comco
agreed to investigate, and, pending its findings, which are expected
to be announced in the second half of next year, ruled that
the Swatch Group could reduce 2012 and 2013 deliveries of escapements
by 5 percent below 2010 levels. The Swatch Group’s
request was packed with explosive power: the ensuing controversy
far exceeded the hullabaloo that the Swatch Group triggered in
2002 when it announced the phasing out of ébauches deliveries
by ETA, its movement-making subsidiary.
The complexity of the processes involved in the serial production
of hairsprings is inversely proportionate to their size.
The problems begin with the material per se. If one fails to follow
the narrow (but unfortunately not publicly known) tolerance
limits for the mixture of ingredients, then soon after smelting
one will face serious problems with fine adjustment or stability.
Of course, one can always turn to Vakuumschmelze
GmbH, a vacuum smelter in Hanau, Germany, which has specialized
for several generations in the delicate process of manufacturing
the Nivarox alloy. But – and here’s the rub – this company
only begins to manufacture the alloy after the customer
that has commissioned the production provides the formula for
the desired substance. Therefore, the customer must precisely
122 WatchTime August 2012
THE SWATCH GROUP’S REQUEST
FOR A COMCO RULING ON
WHETHER IT COULD CUT ITS
HAIRSPRING SALES ROILED THE
SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY.
define the composition of its desired Nivarox alloy. There’s another
problem, too: because of the mixing process, the minimum
amount of material that can be processed is half a ton,
from which Vakuumschmelze can produce about 350 kilograms
of Nivarox wire. The price tag totals a bit more than half a million
euros (about $650,000). Of course, that much wire is
enough to manufacture about 280 million hairsprings. If the
Swiss watchmaking industry continues to produce at its current
annual rate, this would be enough little spiral springs to meet
their needs for the next 40 years. This is not a viable alternative
for small producers.
The German company Carl Haas GmbH, Straumann’s former
partner in the development of Nivarox, owns so-called “batch
numbers” for smelting at Vakuumschmelze. These numbers authorize
the company to smelt alloy of its own in the specified qual-
Hairsprings are “baked” in this kiln at Precision Engineering.