MASTER MECHANICS

14 MANUFACTURING europa star
THE SWISS WATCH PLANET IN MOVEMENT – PART 3
The Master Mechanics
For the third and last segment of our major inquiry into the ‘boom’ of Swiss mechanical movements, we have
taken a look at the ‘watchmaking specialties’. This is a large term, but it covers a wide range of complications
where we can find everything and anything, from special displays, among them the retrograde indications, to
tourbillons and other mechanical follies.
RPierre Maillard
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Whether they are affiliated with a brand such as
Renaud & Papi, of which 78.4 per cent is owned
by Audemars Piguet, or are independent such as
Les Artisans Horlogers, whether they are a true
verticalized manufacture such as Christophe
Claret or a fiercely independent artist-constructor
such as Agenhor, or whether they also master
virtual imaging and micro-mechanics such as
Magma Concept, all these companies have
something in common. They are all part of a
new generation of ‘suppliers’ that we would do
better to call ‘partners in creation’.
Those that we have just cited—but the list is
far from being complete so for anyone that we
have not included, please forgive us—have
become indispensable for many brands that
are caught up in the necessity of having to
offer mechanical innovation (sometimes at the
risk of mechanical inflation). This mechanical
innovation allows brands to reap a lot of
media coverage even if not a lot of economic
benefits. The designers, constructors, inventors
of unusual functions, the mechanical aces and
the magicians of the cams often all play a pivotal
strategic role.
And from these highly specialized enterprises
come a great many watches with high-end
labels and brand names. The fact that these
timepieces were not made by the brands in
question is not always known to the general
public. And speaking of brands, there are
many different types that turn to the specialty
companies. There are those that don’t hesitate
to declare their collaboration, and then there
are those who will go to any lengths to hide it.
Some of the former are cited below, but be
assured that the list is much longer especially
since the latter, those brands that do not promote
transparency and those adepts at having
so-called ‘in-house’ movements, are much
greater in numbers.
A strategic yet exposed position
By occupying this central strategic position,
the ‘Master Mechanics’ are exposed to all the
air currents that agitate watchmaking’s economic
sphere. When watchmaking catches a
cold, they start to cough. Caught up in the
race for mechanical added-value that preceded
the financial crisis, they are today faced
with clients many of whom don’t really know
where to go next. Some of these ‘Master
Mechanics’ have admitted this fact to us
quite openly: the brands are equivocating;