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Best known for balance springs, Nivarox FAR – to give the Swatch Group subsidiary its full name – is the near monopolist supplier of oscillators and escapements, the complex components that ensure mechanical timepieces can function. The remaining 10 per cent of sales derive from ancilliaries such as minute screws, pins and hour markers.
Production is to tolerances a fraction of the width of a human hair. That makes Nivarox’s manufacturing practices an eye opener, even in an industry renowned for its precision. The 38 pieces comprising, for example, the tourbillion of a complicated watch weigh just 0.118g – about the same as seven grains of rice. “When we talk about nano-manufacturing, we’re not joking,” says Pierre-André Bühler, chief executive since late 1999 and a 30-year Swatch Group veteran.
Typically for the watch industry, Nivarox’s figures are secret. Even its four plants are off-limits to all but approved Swatch Group employees. That is partly because of Nivarox’s market dominance. Its springs go not just to Omega, Breguet, Blancpain and other Swatch Group brands, but also leading independents, including names such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, which are proud of their manufacturing independence.