MASTER MECHANICS

30 MANUFACTURING europa star
PONT DES AMOUREUX by Van Cleef & Arpels
Clearly, it is all Wiederrecht, all Agenhor in
this tiniest yet crucial detail, which is purely
poetic because, if the two lovers separated
one before the other, the story told by this
watch would have been quite different. It
would have been a stormy separation rather
than a lover’s ballad.
Only exclusivities
Agenhor makes only exclusivities, specifically
destined to a precise watch and the story that it
wants to tell. Another example demonstrates
this very well—the Opus 9 that Agenhor realized
in conjunction with the designer Eric Giroud
for Harry Winston, and that won the Design cat-
DANDY ARTY by Chaumet
egory at the 2009 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie in
Geneva. Working with Giroud, Wiederrecht
developed an original and delicate way of indicating
the time thanks to two mobile diamond
chains. It was a perfectly suitable way of telling
time, in both the literal and figurative senses,
since the Harry Winston brand has always been
associated with diamonds.
On average,Agenhor presents three new movements
per year. The rhythm will not increase
because, as Jean-Marc Wiederrecht says, “We
do not introduce a movement or a mechanism
until it is totally reliable, totally developed. This
is even more important today than before, during
the preceding crazy period.Today, the client
OPUS 9 by Harry Winston
rightly demands quality. Everything must be
quality, the exterior as well as the interior. The
same applies to finishing.”
From this point of view, Agenhor brings to its
finishing, quite often invisible, a rare poetic
refinement. Examples are the cams hidden
inside the movement of the Pont desAmoureux,
which are engraved with the silhouettes of
the two figures. This decorative poetry also
has a practical side: the parts of each watch
are immediately identifiable, thus facilitating
the work of the watchmakers.
No prototypes
Unlike other ‘master mechanics’, Agenhor does
not possess a lot of equipment. Everything is
made outside,by a network of longstanding and
loyal sub-contractors who have been carefully
selected for the particular task. The main reason
is that, for Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, “all
validations must be made on perfect pieces”.
Therefore, he does not pass by the traditional
step of the prototype but makes the pieces
directly in series based on the plans. When it is
assembled and the movement functions, then it
immediately passes to its production in series.
“Sometimes,” he admits,“it is necessary to redo
one or two components, but everything else is
ready, waiting to be assembled.” Obviousy,
Jean-Marc Wiederrecht is as practical and efficient
as he is poetic. A winning equation.