Inside the Mondaine watchmaking factory

Exported worldwide, the Mondaine group's watches are all set to Swiss time Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

The Bernheim family bought the licence to produce the miniature version of the Swiss railway station clocks in 1986. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

More than 90% of the watches that leave the Mondaine workshops are exported abroad Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Mit Lupe an der Arbeit — The work of the operators requires meticulousness and concentration Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Watch crowns ready to be attached. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

arbeitsräume — The new, ultra-modern Mondaine plant was built in 2009 at a cost of almost CHF10 million. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Fluorescent markers ready to be glued to the watch face, allowing the time to be displayed in the dark. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

An operator applies glue and sets up the twelve illuminated points of the watch ©2022 Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

lager — The numerous watch components delivered by subcontractors are stored randomly until they are assembled Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Zeigerfesthalter — These fixing brackets for watch hands are delivered with the movements and then replaced by the real watch hands Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Most of the watches of the Mondaine group are equipped with quartz movements Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Parts of older models are kept in stock for after-sales service Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

In total, Mondaine employs almost 130 people at its various sites. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Some of the fluorescent markers are machine glued to the dials of Luminox models ©2022 Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

While the group's headquarters are in Schwyz, Mondaine's production workshops are located in Biberist, in the canton of Solothurn, a watchmaking region where it is easier to recruit skilled labour Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

Mondaine's production employees work in an aseptic, climate-controlled environment. Thomas Kern/swissinfo.ch

This content was published on December 24, 2022 - 10:30

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