Manufacture d'horlogerie

Manufacture d'horlogerie (meaning "watchmaking manufacturer") is a French horological term of art that is also used in English. In horology, the term is usually encountered in its abbreviated form manufacture. This term of art is used when describing either a wrist watch movement/watchworks fabricator or its products. The term is specifically reserved for those fabricators which make all or most of the parts required for their products in their own production facilities as opposed to assembling watches using parts purchased from other firms.

Definition

The Dictionnaire professionnel illustree de l'horlogerie (The Illustrated Professional Dictionary of the Watchmaking Industry) defines manufacture as follows:

In the Swiss watch industry the term manufacture is used of a factory in which watches are manufactured almost completely, as distinct from an atelier de terminage, which is concerned only with assembling, timing, fitting the hands and casing.[1]

The concept of manufacture in the Swiss watch making industry refers to any firm that at least designs calibres, produces the movements parts thereof called ébauches, and assembles them into watches. For example, a company that does not manufacture crystals (the watch glass) or hairsprings may still be regarded as a manufacture.[2]

Examples

The following companies produce whole watches, including cases and movements:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Berner, Dictionnaire professionnel illustree de l'horlogerie
  2. ↑ Terms of art - manufacture
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