At the foot of the Jura massif in the Swiss canton of Bern, one of the four Rolex production sites is located: the one entirely dedicated to the development and production of movements.
The story of Rolex began in 1905 in Biel when entrepreneur Hans Wilsdorf began working with a small watch manufacturer in the city that produced unusually compact movements for the time. That same year, the man founded his own watch company and soon, as you can read on the Rolex website, Biel becomes a nerve centre for the brand. And in part this is still the case, as the heart of a Rolex watch starts beating in Biel.
It is indeed there, at the foot of the Jura massif in the Swiss canton of Berne, that the company has one of its four production sites: the one entirely dedicated to the development and production of movements. The other three are in and around Geneva. One of the sites is in the Acacias area, Rolex's world headquarters, where the creation, research and development activities take place and the final assembly of the watches takes place.
The production of Rolex movements
The Biel factory was expanded in 2022.
In Plan-les-Ouates, cases and bracelets are produced, and in Chêne-Bourg, work is done on the development and production of dials, gemology and gem-setting, and the manufacture of Cerachrom bezel discs and hi-tech ceramic Cerachrom bezels. A new industrial site will soon be built in Bulle, in the canton of Fribourg, where the company purchased a 100,000 square metre plot in 2022.
Ultra-modern, expanded in 2022, the Rolex manufacture in Biel welcomes employees and guests with its characteristic glass façade that the green brand logo at the top. Inside, the space is organised with rationality, practicality and ergonomics in mind: indispensable elements for the type of work performed. There, precisely, the components of the movements - from two hundred to almost four hundred for the most complex calibres - are carefully manufactured and assembled by hand before being subjected to strict controls.
Manufactured Components
Chronerguy escapement, Siloxi hairspring, Parachrom hairspring, Paraflex shock absorber: Rolex innovations.
Rolex manufactures the plate, bridges and all strategic components in-housei: from the escapement - including the patented Chronergy escapement - to the barbell; from the Parachrom spiral, designed and manufactured in-house from start to finish, unveiled to the world in 2005, resistant to magnetic fields, impact and corrosion, the Syloxi coil, the subject of several patent filingswhich exploits the potential of silicon technology and features an extraordinary level of precision and reliability. Or, to cite yet another example, the Paraflex shock-absorbing devicewhich plays a crucial role in protecting the movement and has the function of neutralising the effects of knocks and shocks that can occur during daily use. A variety which, say the company, "constitutes a rare example of industrial autonomy and is testimony to the brand's watchmaking know-how".
