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Every person carries a unique code, written into their genes, that determines the color of their eyes and hair, the shape of their nose and ears, and everything else that makes them so individual and distinct. Luxury watches have a code like this too: at Chopard, Chanel and TAG Heuer, many outstanding master watchmakers are responsible for the distinctive code that defines the charm of each of these watches. With luxury watches, as with people, what makes them special is the uniqueness of the creation.
What Makes Haute Horlogerie Special?
Among the luxury brands of haute horlogerie, movements are often still developed in-house. They differ in their design principles and stand out for their precision and provenance, but also for the small and grand complications that turn them into true masterpieces. Each watch also has its own code when it comes to dials, hands, crowns and straps or bracelets. The term haute horlogerie became established in the early 1980s for traditionally crafted, exceptionally high-quality mechanical luxury watches, and it is applied above all to watches that impress with sophisticated complications. These include, for example, the tourbillon, the moon phase, the perpetual calendar, the minute repeater and the acoustic alarm. The more of these grand and small complications a watch combines, the more valuable it becomes.
The Founding of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie
To preserve the centuries-old traditions of haute horlogerie, renowned watch companies founded the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie in the fall of 2005. Audemars Piguet, the Richemont Group and Girard-Perregaux were among the founding members. Over time, brands such as TAG Heuer and Chopard joined. The foundation works to ensure that the high art of watchmaking is preserved. Today, 28 prestigious members are gathered under its umbrella; through their public outreach, they keep the skill of master watchmakers in the spotlight while also fighting counterfeiting and the shortage of young watchmakers. Many other well-known brands with the same views and interests, such as Rolex, Hublot, Omega, Breitling and Zenith, are counted among the Perimeter Brands. They, too, have dedicated themselves to protecting the rich heritage of horology and have firmly anchored the continuation and further development of artful watchmaking in their philosophy.
Emotions and Myths Captivate Watch Lovers
No brand, not even in luxury watches, can do without values, myths, emotions, stories and, of course, the people who wear these watches. And without the combination of watchmaking mastery with emotion and passion, the manufactures, where many individual components of these high-end watches are still made by hand, might no longer exist. By consistently and successfully bridging marketing, which conveyed the emotional values, and the watchmakers' ever-innovative, high-tech achievements, the Swiss watch industry managed to shine in all its glory once again. This is the case in the small town of Le Brassus, in the Vallée de Joux, a secluded high valley in the Swiss Jura. From Geneva, it's a good hour's drive through lush meadows and dark forests until the valley opens up and Lac de Joux comes glittering into view.
Watchmaking in Swiss Valleys
Since time immemorial, farmers here lived with and off their animals and the land; the winters have always been long and cold, the summers short. They were simply called "Combiers," after the word combes, meaning gorges, and in winter they carried ice from the mountains and the lake all the way to Paris. And they built watches. Today, the Vallée de Joux is home to the great names of haute horlogerie: Vacheron Constantin, Breguet and Jaeger-LeCoultre. This mountain valley has lived from watchmaking for centuries now, as have other remote and secluded places, whether in the Black Forest, the Ore Mountains, the Thuringian Forest or the Swiss Jura. Global brands such as Chopard, whose origins lie in Sonvilier, an equally small village there, also have their roots in the region. The luxury watches of Chanel and TAG Heuer are made in La Chaux-de-Fonds, which, with just under 38,000 inhabitants, is the largest town in the High Jura and likewise a center of haute horlogerie.
Manufacture: Made by Hand
Haute horlogerie luxury watches, including those from Chopard, Chanel and TAG Heuer, are made in manufactures. The word manufacture derives from the Latin words for hand, "manus," and to make, "facere." For haute horlogerie, the word has become almost a credo. Anyone who wants to own a genuine manufacture-made watch from Chopard, Chanel or TAG Heuer is happy to pay a little more; after all, it's not unusual for several hundred hours of an experienced master watchmaker's work to go into such masterpieces. A small tourism trade has even grown up around the places where luxury watches are made. A number of manufactures can be visited, offering a glimpse, so to speak, into the secrets of their production and opening the doors to their treasure chambers.
Almost Like a Lost World
When quartz watches emerged in the 1970s and seemed to make mechanical movements obsolete, a new boom in luxury watches was nowhere in sight for a long time. The new technology came from the Far East, from Japan, and caused a collapse in the European watch industry that is still referred to today as the "quartz crisis." Originally, a good 90,000 people were employed in the Swiss watch industry alone. After the quartz crisis, 60,000 of them were initially out of work. A first renaissance of mechanical watches then began in the 1980s. Manufacturers who consider themselves part of haute horlogerie do feel the usual downturns that come with the economic cycle, and they suffered slumps after September 11, 2001, and after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, but their existence was never as threatened as it was during the quartz crisis.
One Record After Another
Anyone strolling through the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva or the Baselworld watch fair in Basel can admire the manufacturers' booths, built like small palaces or temples, in which they present their high-caliber luxury watches. When a manufacturer claims, and advertises, that its watches are made in-house, it can rely on the definition of the Swiss watch industry. Under this definition, it is sufficient if almost the entire watch is produced in the manufacture. But what exactly does that mean? To define it more precisely, it is stipulated that a watch company may rightly call itself a manufacture if both the movement inside the watch and other essential parts of the watch are developed and produced in-house. What matters is how many parts a watch consists of and how many functions it offers beyond simply telling the time.
Luxury Watches Are Made in Manufactures
It often takes several years for an idea to become a new watch. Any company that wants to call itself a manufacture must be able to demonstrate a certain depth of production. Yet for most manufacture-made haute horlogerie watches, including those from Chopard, Chanel and TAG Heuer, knowledge of provenance and history plays just as important a role. If such a watch ever actually needs repair, the manufacture has all the necessary information and can make the spare parts.
