(meaning "

watchmaking A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their part ...

manufacturer") is a French language term of

horology Horology (; related to Latin '; ; , interfix ''-o-'', and suffix ''-logy''), . is the study of the measurement of time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, hourglasses, clepsydras, timers, time recorders, marine chronometers, and atomic clo ...

that has also been adopted in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

as a

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because t ...

. In horology, the term is usually encountered in its abbreviated form ''manufacture''. This term is used when describing a wrist watch movement or watchworks fabricator which makes all or most of the parts required for its products in its own production facilities, as opposed to simply 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.

The concept of '' manufacture'' in the Swiss watch making industry refers to any firm that at least designs

calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...

s, 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

hairspring A balance spring, or hairspring, is a spring attached to the balance wheel in mechanical timepieces. It causes the balance wheel to oscillate with a resonant frequency when the timepiece is running, which controls the speed at which the wheels of t ...

s may still be regarded as a ''manufacture''.Terms of art - manufacture
/ref>

Examples

The following companies produce whole watches, including cases and movements: * A. Lange & Söhne * Aquastar (watch brand) *

Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet Holding SA () is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches and clocks, headquartered in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux in 1875, acquiring ...

Blancpain Blancpain SA () is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer, headquartered in Paudex/Le Brassus, Switzerland. It designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells prestige and luxury mechanical watches. Founded by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain in Villeret, Switz ...

* Breguet *

Breitling SA Breitling SA () is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1884 in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, by Léon Breitling. The company is known for its precision-made chronometers designed for aviators and is based in Grenchen, Switzerland. History Breit ...

Bvlgari Bulgari (, ; stylized as BVLGARI) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1884 and known for its jewellery, watches, fragrances, accessories, and leather goods. While the majority of design, production and marketing is overseen and exe ...

* Cartier (some models) *

Chopard Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A., commonly known as Chopard, is a Swiss manufacturer and retailer of luxury watches, jewellery and accessories. Founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier, Switzerland, Chopard has been owned by ...

Citizen Holdings is an electronics company primarily known for its watches and is the core company of a Japanese global corporate group based in Nishitokyo, Tokyo, Japan. In addition to Citizen brand watches, it is the parent of American watch company Bulova, a ...

* Damasko (some models) *

Frédérique Constant Frédérique Constant SA is a Swiss ''manufacture'' of luxury wristwatches based in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. It was acquired in 2016 by Citizen Holdings of Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1988 by Peter Stas and Aletta Stas-Bax ( ...

(some models) * F. P. Journe * Gallet & Co. *

Girard-Perregaux Girard-Perregaux SA () is a luxury Swiss watch ''manufacture'' with its origins dating back to 1791. Since 2011, the Swiss holding group of Girard-Perregaux, Sowind Group, has been a subsidiary of the French luxury group Kering. Headquartered i ...

* Glashutte Original *

Moritz Grossman Moritz Grossmann is a manufacturer of luxury wristwatches based in Glashütte, Germany. Annual production is approximately 200 pieces. History During the financial crisis of 2007-08 Christine Hutter (who had previously held positions at Wempe, Ma ...

* H. Moser & Cie *

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Hublot Hublot () is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1980 by Italian Carlo Crocco. The company operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH. History A scion of the Italian Binda Group dynasty, best known for ...

* IWC *

Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre SA, or simply Jaeger-LeCoultre (), is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded by Antoine LeCoultre in 1833 and is based in Le Sentier, Switzerland. Since 2000, the company has been a fully owned subsidiary ...

* Jaquet Droz * Lang & Heyne *

Maurice Lacroix Maurice Lacroix is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in the Canton of Jura and headquartered in Zurich. History Maurice Lacroix was founded as part of Desco von Schulthess of Zurich in 1975. Founded in 1889, Desco von Schulthess (Desco) is an old ...

Omega SA Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''La Generale Watch Co.'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ...

* Orient * Panerai * Parmigiani Fleurier * Patek Philippe & Co. *

Piaget SA Piaget SA () is a Swiss luxury watchmaker and jeweller. Founded in 1874 by Georges Piaget in the village of La Côte-aux-Fées, Piaget is currently a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont group. Piaget was founded as a manufacturer of watch move ...

Roger Dubuis Roger Dubuis is a Swiss watch manufacturer of luxury watches based in Geneva, Switzerland. The company was founded by Roger Dubuis and Carlos Dias in 1995. In 2008, the company was acquired by Richemont group. The Roger Dubuis watches include ...

Rolex Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...

* Seagull *

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, semiconductors, jewelry, and optical products. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced one of the first quartz watches and the ...

The Swatch Group The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 by the merger of ASUAG and SSIH to move to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the traditional Swi ...

* Tudor *

Ulysse Nardin Ulysse Nardin SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaking company founded in 1846 in Le Locle, Switzerland. The company became known for manufacturing highly accurate marine chronometers and complicated timepieces used by over 50 of the world's navies from ...

Vacheron Constantin Vacheron Constantin SA () is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded in 1755. Since 1996, it has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group. Vacheron Constantin is the second oldest Swiss manufacturer and one of the oldest wat ...

Vostok Vostok refers to east in Russian but may also refer to: Spaceflight * Vostok programme, Soviet human spaceflight project * Vostok (spacecraft), a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union * Vostok (rocket family), family of rockets derived from ...

* Vulcain Watches *

Zenith The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction ( plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location ( nadir). The zenith is the "high ...

References

{{reflist French words and phrases Watches Horology Economy of Switzerland

Definition

Examples

See also

References