Cartier

SJX
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Part II: The Cartier Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds

The Cartier Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds

Cartier has united all the stages of watch making, from design to manufacturing under one roof.

With its priceless watch making heritage, famous shaped watches and expertise transmitted and enriched from generation to generation, the Cartier manufacture has created a unique style and special universe that have won recognition around the world from the very beginning.

Today Cartier is one of the largest, fully integrated Manufactures in Switzerland.

Since 2003, it has brought together all the crafts required to produce Cartier watches in a seamless creative process that extends from the design of the movement to the finished piece itself.

It is a place where watch making modernity and tradition blend together with ease. Here, creativity, precision and innovation are free to explore new horizons, ensuring that Cartier remains a truly exceptional brand.

The Home of Tradition

The Manufacture has been in operation since 1972 in La-Chaux-Fonds, at the heart of a region rich in watch making tradition.

In 2001, seven local production sites were consolidated into one single building designed to accommodate 1000 people. It’s total surface area exceeds 33,000 square metres, of which 13,000 square metres are devoted to production.

More than 50 crafts are practiced under this one roof, which cover all the stages of watch production including the development and manufacture of cases, metal bracelets, hands and crystals, gem-setting, the assembly of watches and movements, the repair of old or complicated models and decorative arts.

An Architectural Gem

Seen from the road, the building has a simple, compact appearance dominated by large bay windows. It respects its urban surroundings, as well as the valley and panorama of the Jura mountains, and has a remarkable effect of transparency that enables it to fit quite naturally into the landscape.

An expansive wall of glass greets the visitor. The classic elegance of the entrance hall offers a contrast of noble materials, with marble, glass and light beech wood creating an atmosphere that is unmistakably Cartier. Watches are displayed in illuminated niches, or small show windows set into large panels of pale wood.

On the upper floors and in the offices, the colors are simple: blue, grey and beige, punctuated with pale wood. Designer furniture by Stark, Mies van der Rohe or Eames set the tone.

The administration and production buildings are linked by a corridor that serves as a spinal column. The axis ensures the flow of internal traffic between the two architectural units.

The Production buildings

The front view of the manufacture is impressive with its long and uninterrupted lines. Among the first to build here when the zone was opened for development, Cartier took the opportunity to set high aesthetic standards in architectural design and materials. The light color of the building is a reflection of the local stone. Five silkscreen-printed Cartier logos punctuate the 90 metre façade.

From the planted roof to the wooded site, everything has been designed to generate a feeling of calm and respect for the environment, a feeling that is as noticeable in the offices and the workshops as it is from the outside.

An Architectural gem: From design to development

The manufacture is organized around three principal axes: development, production and customer service. Its mission is to design, develop and deliver watches in the style of yesterday, today and tomorrow, while safeguarding its future and expertise.

The entire enterprise is motivated to support and strengthen the training environment because, for Cartier, the skills and crafts of watch making are the guarantors of quality and expertise.

Training is an essential dimension at Cartier and underpins its constantly advancing research into the, mastery of watchmaking.

A new wing a new era:

In 2007, a new 3,000 square metres wing with four floors was opened, devoted entirely to development activities: R&D, design, prototypes, industrial methods, mechanics and a laboratory. “One team, one place” is the motto of the Think Tank project (a “Think Watches” idea laboratory) which involves almost 100 people.

In these offices, the new Cartier watches slowly take shape in a series of meetings between product managers, creative teams and marketing teams; all disciplines are involved from the very start of the process. The average length of time required to move from design to delivery is 18 to 24 months and, today, more than 200 new projects are being developed.

In addition to these “classic” models, jewellery watches, the fine watch making collection and special orders are also created here.

A model of the watch is made, showing its features, components and details in three dimensions.

These are then analysed and improved where necessary. The watch that has hitherto been a mere idea or dream now becomes reality. This is the first step towards bringing it to life.

Based on these models, the prototypes are built. Modifications and improvements are made progressively, both in terms of the design itself and its production. To help select the most appropriate methods of manufacturing, machining simulations are prepared. This is the final step before production begins.

Inspired production

In the Exteriors Department, which enjoys an extensive surface area of 4,000 square metres, several components are manufactured every year from gold bars, steel or titanium, then machined, polished and inspected.

In a production process focused on achieving the highest possible quality, samples of every raw material and provision are carefully tested. This rigour reflects a highly selective supply policy that requires suppliers and sub-contractors to meet very strict criteria. In this way, Cartier clearly lays out its expectations in the watch making industry, upstream of production.

The newly produced watch cases, together with the links and other components of metal bracelets, are carefully machined before they pass through the traditional watch making stages of polishing, assembling, adjusting and , for precious watches, gem-setting.

Polishing is an essential and highly demanding skill that can only be acquired thought years of practice. It is an example of artisanal and personal expertise that demands great dexterity to create polished and brushed finishes on the same piece.

Polishing is a slow operation that can require as much as two hours of manual work per watch.

The Ballon Bleu de Cartier needs an average of 20 separate polishing operations on the case and 30 on the bracelet. Today, 150 independent, totally modular polishing stations operate in the manufacture.

At the same time, similar finishing operations are performed on large volumes of gold each year.

Due to the value of this precious metal, they are carried out in a special, private zone that is subject to close control.

The Artistic Crafts

In the Jewellery Workshop, the precious cut stones are set into bracelets, cases and bezels, or onto shafts. The air of quiet concentration recalls the workshops of another era as craftsmen, seated in front of their binoculars and jewellers wax, create pieces that are always rare and often unique.

This is slow, meticulous work. To set the case of a paved Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch, for example, requires three full days.

(NB: Cartier also does enamelling in-house, examples are shown below. - SJX)

The Watchmakers Room

After manufacture, the parts are transported into a 2,000 square metre hall known as The Watchmakers Room. Here, the movements watch heads and bracelets are assembled. To reduce the presence of dust – the arch enemy of this operation – the air is filtered and recycled continuously, while the use of special overalls and slippers are obligatory.

The dial and the hands are fitted to the movement, which is then positioned on the case. These elements together form the watch head.

(NB: Naturally Cartier also assembles and finishes movements at La Chaux-de-Fonds; assembly of movements is shown below. - SJX)

(NB: Cartier performs significant finishing, especially for its high-end models. The first three pictures below depict finishing for the skeleton bridges of the Santos 100 Skeleton while the other pictures show the decoration of the movement found in the Central Chronograph. - SJX)

Tests and checks: a rigorous approach.

Te watch case is mounted on the bracelet only when a series of checks confirm the parallelism of the hands, the correct operation of the movement and water-resistance of the case.

Tests are also performed whenever an anomaly is noted. Nothing is left to chance: the dimensional, aesthetic, electrical, mechanical and chemical aspects of every watch are all analyzed.

Corrective action is proposed, carefully considered and, if structural, integrated into the production process. When testing is complete, the watch is sent to the distribution unit and then onto the boutiques.

The Tradition Workshop

Complication watches – vintage Cartier watches

Cartier has always been a prominent creator of shaped watches and of models that’s reflect the greatest watch making traditions. A room has been entirely reserved for complication watches and for the repair of watches and movements.

Representatives of the traditional crafts of watch making are grouped around small, dark wooden benches. They concentrate on the assembly of watches and movements, the restoration of vintage Cartier watches and the repair of movements of Fine Watch making models.

Above all, watchmaking is an art. Its roots are linked to the creation of beautiful objects and it draws on numerous artistic crafts to enhance its products. Goldsmiths, engravers, painters, sculptors and gem-setters all contribute to producing a splendid timepiece. Today, watch making is one of the few sectors in which these crafts still thrive, finding new horizons to explore and new forms of expressions. They create exceptional movements that contain 300 to 500 miniscule components, truly exceptional movements.

Serving our Clients

To ensure that a watch functions correctly and accurately, it must be serviced regularly. This applies particularly to models in the Fine watch making collection: they are more complicated and contain larger number of parts, all of which are subjected to constant force and friction while operating in a limited space.

To meet the requirements of the clients, the Customer Service Division has been incorporated into the Manufacture. It is “tailor-made” service responsible for the repair of watches and movements, the production of certain watches, and the preparation of technical documents. It can also remake components of extremely old watches, by using a surviving model as a reference for example, without the help of any technical drawings.

 The Fine Watch making collection includes extremely delicate timepieces and requires very specific knowledge. Each master watchmaker specializes in a certain type of “Grande Complication” and a timepiece that requires servicing will been trusted to the craftsman who assembled it.

More than a watch…. a legacy. Cartier watches are eternal – and can always be repaired. The earliest models are already into their second century.

Meeting the challenges of tomorrow, ensuring the long life of its creations and the survival of its crafts – that is the mission of the Cartier manufacture, which has assembled, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, all the people and tools necessary to anticipate the future demands of watchmaking.

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