Manufacture

Discover Gerald Charles: the designer-born Maison from Gérald Genta—history, Maestro & Masterlink, 25th-anniversary novelties, and Swiss craftsmanship.

Montblanc, Hermès, Louis Vuitton – many luxury brands have now recognised the lucrative business of mechanical watches. Whether as a diversification strategy, a means of generating revenue, or simply a way to create lasting status symbols, each brand has its own reasons for producing luxury timepieces – and each has found its own path. The…

What defines a dial from Glashütte Original? How much manual craftsmanship, how much technology, and how many steps are required from the initial design draft to the finished dial that ultimately gives every timepiece from the manufacture its distinctive face? In search of answers to these questions, we attended the opening of Glashütte Original’s new…

Founded as recently as 2001, Lang & Heyne has swiftly established a strong reputation among collectors, thanks to its remarkable horological expertise and artisanal skill. The manufacture is based in a historic mill near Dresden and seeks to continue the legacy of the city’s renowned court watchmakers, such as Johann Heinrich Seyffert and Johann Friedrich…

Swisswatches team headed to Switzerland to discover the stories, innovations and people behind the Hermès watchmaking division, from the brand’s impressive production site in Le Noirmont to its serene watch assembly and leather workshops at the La Montre Hermès atelier in Brügg. To read our interview with the division’s CEO, Laurent Dordet, please click here.…

An invitation to the hallowed halls of the Patek Philippe Manufacture is a special honour – a watch collector from our community shares his extraordinary journey. Anticipation is said to be the greatest of all pleasures. In the spirit of this, the years of anticipation, prolonged by the pandemic, have been rather marvellous. It was quite…

Glashütte – the renowned town of German watchmaking – is home to Nomos, an innovator that has gained international acclaim for its minimalist design, aimed at achieving the maximum with minimal resources. During a visit to the manufacture, we had the opportunity to follow the entire process of creating a Nomos watch – from raw…

The German manufacture Glashütte Original has firmly earned its place alongside some of the most reputable of Swiss brands. Glashütte Original combines traditional watchmaking and craftsmanship with the almost implausible ability to adapt to new economic, political and cultural conditions. These lines were not written by the author of this text, but by the CEO…

Jaeger-LeCoultre, often dubbed the ‘Watchmaker of Watchmakers’, has a long history of supplying parts to esteemed brands like Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Cartier. Today a fully integrated manufacture producing some of the most coveted and complicated luxury watches in the world, this legacy of expertise is upheld by the 180 crafts that continue to…

‘Born in Saxony’ – so goes the slogan of Lang & Heyne, a watch manufacture from the small German town of Radeberg near Dresden. It’s a name known only to true connoisseurs and watch aficionados; only around 150 watches are crafted here every year, with the utmost attention to detail. ‘Born in Saxony’ is not…

When one thinks of Swiss-made watches, what springs to mind? For some of us, it’s a luxurious boutique in the heart of an affluent metropolis. For others, it’s a fast-paced car rally with watch-branded banners plastered over the track. But what about the place where mechanical watches come to life? To find out, I accompanied…

Richard Mille's company history is marked by an unprecedented rise. In 2001, the first Richard Mille watch, the RM 001, made an immediate impact with its tourbillon regulator and a six-figure price tag, causing the brand to stand out from the crowd from the get-go. Almost as legendary was Richard Mille's decision to throw the…