As unidades relojoeiras do universo Fundação da Família Sandoz - atokalpa, Elwin, Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, Quadrance et Habillage e Les Artisans Bôitiers acabam de anunciar a criação de uma nova unidade, VMF Private Label, que assim abre a sua capacidade de produção para servir terceiros na indústria.
O objectivo da nova empresa é fornecer a pequenos clientes no segmento de alta relojoaria soluções em calibres, mostradores, caixas e produtos acabados. (nas imagens, calibres desenvolvidos pela Vaucher, onde estivemos recentemente de visita).
A notícia da Fédération Horlogère:
Together for the first time on the stand at the EPHJ Show in Geneva, watch manufactures of the Sandoz Family Foundation (MHF) announced the creation of a new unit, VMF Private Label, which is opening its production capacity to artisans in the watch industry.
The companies atokalpa, Elwin, Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, Quadrance et Habillage and Les Artisans Boîtiers offer a wealth of expertise in luxury mechanical watchmaking and are eager for brands to benefit from this. The mission of this new pool is to allow smaller clients to source movements, dials, cases and finished products.
Together these five entities are masters of every aspect of watch production. Initially, the strategy of vertical integration followed by the manufactures focused on the complete autonomy and independence of the brand Parmigiani Fleurier. While their majority joint shareholder is the Sandoz Family Foundation, Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier (VMF) also counts among its shareholders the House of Hermès, with a 25% stake. In addition, each of the companies supplies numerous external clients in the luxury segment.
With the creation of VMF Private Label, the watchmaking group makes clear its intention to pursue and strengthen its collaboration with small brands. This new pool gives the latter the chance to develop and, through the personalisation of their movements, to benefit from an accomplished and independent production capacity.
«In our prestige segment, we accept orders upwards of twenty-five pieces. We also offer the services and products of Quadrance et Habillage and Les Artisans Boîtiers. We hope we can help to maintain a creative and diverse watchmaking sector and assist in the growth of these firms, thanks to our responsiveness and short delivery times. Our manufacture offers a wide range of calibres adapted to our own additional modules, as well as numerous modules already on the market; we propose project management and collaboration with module manufacturers. Today our annual production is twenty-five thousand pieces, a figure that with time is expected to rise to thirty-five thousand,» said Jean-Daniel Dubois, the CEO of VMF.
Atokalpa
Virtuosos of the gear-train and the oscillator, Atokalpa, based in Alle, are experiencing rapid growth. Their equipment is impressive, varied and unique. Their expertise, which is extensive and sometimes rarely available elsewhere, includes blanking, cutting, surface treatment, heat treatment, profile-turning and assembly. They can cut gear teeth for example on 2mm wheels. A meticulous finish is given to all components, with each one decorated individually using techniques such as circular graining, snailing, diamond polishing, drawing and burnishing. Since 2005, atokalpa has also produced all components comprising the escapement and regulating organ, i.e. the twenty or so parts required for this assembly: escape wheel, pallets, bottom plate, balance, balance-spring, etc.
Elwin
Based in Belprahon, the staff at Elwin are artists and magicians in the field of profile-turning. The firm’s philosophy of precision and perfection is applied to parts sometimes less than a millimetre in size. Latest-generation automatic lathes operate alongside cam machines. Throughout the day, under the careful and expert eye of operators, they sculpt thousands of studs, screws, levers and pins, each one as perfect as the one before. At Elwin, the word «profile-turning»acquires a special significance: every person receives specialised micromechanical training from experienced colleagues passionate about their work.
Quadrance et Habillage
A member since 2005 of the watchmaking division of the Sandoz Family Foundation, Quadrance et Habillage specialises in the production of prestige dials. Watch faces express the brand image; they may be neutral or smiling, Roman or Arabic, flamboyant or understated, but never anything less than perfect. In this company, the magicians are known as dial printers, varnishers, electroplaters and index fitters. Prestige dials are works of true craftsmanship. Their base, prepared on CNC machines, is sometimes engine turned. Next come surface treatment and colouring operations. The assembly is then protected by the application of a transparent or coloured varnish. Finally, the dial printer will transfer the markings and fit applied chapters. These creations are all made-to-measure.
Artisans Boîtiers
Situated in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Les Artisans Boitiers give the watch its shape and character; they create its protective envelope, the setting for unique pieces, limited editions or medium production runs (more than 2,000 cases per model). Whether the watch is unique or part of a series, manufactured from precious metal (18-carat gold, platinum 950 or palladium 950), steel or titanium, the strength of Les Artisans Boîtiers SA is that their methods are on a par with the complexity of the task. The outstanding artisan jewellers and finishers who still ply their exceptional trade within this firm are capable of producing every case component in its entirety.
Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier
The driving force behind the group, Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier (VMF) was established in 2003. From automatic and manual mechanical movements to additional modules, its product range is wide and varied, bringing to life the work of its sister companies. Accomplished in the fabrication of bottom plates, bars and other mechanisms, it confers an exceptional quality of finish on all its calibres through a variety of decorative and chamfering techniques. Its artisanal and industrial processes are the torchbearers of watchmaking tradition. From the production of movement blanks to final assembly, time works its magic, as the heart of the movement is brought to life by watchmakers skilled in the art of timing. Sustained by a culture that epitomizes prestige mechanical watchmaking, VMF produces traditional calibres with a highly personalised finish. Combining industrial processes with limited production volumes, it remains an exclusive manufacture that offers a genuine competitive advantage to its partners and clients. In a spirit of innovation, its Movement Development department designs new calibres for an ever expanding range.
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