This is a system of watch production that began in the s and involves assembling parts made by different external craftsmen. Switzerland was therefore full of small workshops supplying specific components: one person might specialise in balance wheels, say, another might focus on ruby levers.
Over the 19th century, these operations merged into larger outfits that sold all the key pieces for a movement. Watchmakers would submit an order, create the timepieces, print their name on the dials and take them to market. Some of the biggest brands struck exclusivity deals with particular movement makers. In recent years, Swatch Group has lobbied against regulations that require it to sell movements to competing watch brands. This has caused a number of those competitors to invest in proprietary movement-making to hedge against the possibility that Swatch may one day turn off the tap.
It takes years of expertise, watch-making knowledge, and unparalleled craftsmanship to design, develop, manufacture and assemble in-house movements. While the end product of a watch fitted with an in-house movement can far supersede other run-in-the-mill movements, the cost of such watches makes them inaccessible for many. In-house movements take a large investment in money and time to design, develop and manufacture.
It requires certain expertise and skill, giving the brand an edge over others from a horological and research perspective.
Consequently, the overall quality of the watch is higher than watches with an outsourced movement. In doing so, brands ensure a signature style for their watches, further attracting a larger customer base. For this reason alone, brands that develop in-house movements often hold higher ranks in the watch industry.
In most cases, developing their own in-house movements may be desirable for brands but not always affordable or accessible. For instance, a Rolex or an Omega come with their own calibres. However, these brands cater only to a certain section of the populace. On the other hand, we have brands like Seiko who also produces in-house movements and at an economical cost and also sells their movements to many other brands that use them in their affordable watches.
Having mastered the art of watchmaking for many years, Seiko is able to mass-produce in-house calibres at different price ranges without increasing the overall cost of the watch itself.
Seiko differentiates its brand from the separate Grand Seiko which is known for high-end watchmaking that competes with many of the best Swiss watch brands on the market.
As an end result, the market now features a variety of watches crafted with utmost craftsmanship and mastery. Various luxury brands have their own in-house movements. When a brand claims to have in-house movements, it does not necessarily mean that all their collections come equipped with the in-house movement. Currently, this prestigious, age-old watch brand stands tall in the watch industry for its unprecedented quality and in-house movements.
Prior to developing their in-house calibre, Patek Philippe externally sourced movements from the watchmaker Lemania. With the evolution of technology and accessibility to innovative practices, the watch industry is seeing a shift in many luxury brands slowly moving towards manufacturing and assembling all their components under one roof. In , they released the Wright Flyer, powered by an in-house movement.
An impressive achievement for such a young brand. Except the movement wasn't "in-house". Let's be clear, in both of these examples, the movement was absolutely fit for purpose and appropriate for the price point, but was it worth calling them manufacture movements? Not really. In fact, for smaller, independent brands such as Bremont, precisely the opposite is true. One that provides stability, reliability and cost-effectiveness. He's also a noted collector, writing Chronographs for Collectors in The Lemania factory, where the prestigious Lemania was designed.
When we spoke to Chaulmontet, one of the first things we did was pose a hypothetical question — should a new brand today use an established movement or develop their own? In answering, he went back to the s:. Both had a huge advantage when they started — they had access to Lemania, so they had access to very good base calibres in the high-end segment.
The other very interesting thing — and it's where I think Roger Dubuis and Daniel Roth were geniuses — was that they very quickly developed modules or complications of their own that made them very recognisable and unique.
Roger Dubuis had all this stuff with double retrograde perpetuals, which I think will be highly collectable. Daniel Roth had these amazing dial layouts and complications like the papillon series. These Daniel Roth watches are also quite collectable. They put all their value on the dial side and in the design — something which made them unique and appealing to their customers.
Franck Muller made sexy watches, at a time when watches were not sexy. He had amazingly fresh, colourful designs with the Casablanca.
He revived Art Nouveau or Deco style in a very three-dimensional way. He promoted very complex models and used them to sell simpler pieces.
So you had 'Master of Complications' written on the back, and you buy a three-hand with date, but you were remembering him making a new world record in Basel with the most complicated wristwatch ever. The landscape of watchmaking that Dubuis, Roth and Muller found themselves in was very different to what exists today.
ETA had not yet restricted their movement supply. These latter two, especially, were the leading suppliers of high-end calibres. The slender FP was particularly appealing, a slender chronograph that appeared in watches from blue-chip brands like Cartier and Audemars Piguet to idiosyncratic design outfits like Alain Silberstein. According to Chaulmontet, there was one other notable difference between the up-and-coming brands of the '80s and '90s and their contemporary equivalents.
That was their approach to brand building. They offered a full collection. He started as a traditional brand with a full collection. He could supply a retailer with everything.
0コメント