Jaeger-LeCoultre

I am always curious to know how many hours on average it takes to fully assemble a watch from scratch to finish. The one that I am more interested in particular is the Reverso Grande GMT, but I don't think anyone has specific numbers for certain watches? But considering that it has I think around 270 parts in movements alone, this would take quite a bit of time to assemble?

Will ask again, but I guess that assembling is not the longer time in a watch.

Look, for example, how many hours are needed in a master class to disassemble then assemble a movement.

Unless you work on a Grande Complication such as the Hybris Mechanica à Grande Sonnerie, with its 1300 parts.

Best,

Nicolas.

This message has been edited by amanico on 2011-07-18 01:56:14

Most watches can be assembled in just an hour, give of take a little. Of course when you move into more complicated watches, the time for assembly can turn into a few hours. On the other hand, it likely took many months or more for the watch and all of its components to be made and finished to such high quality standards.

The assembly doesnt take very long. Adjusting is an other. Depending on the complication also. A minute repeater can take a very long time to perfect to get the right tempo and strike. When I visited Patek philippe they talked about several months for a single watch. Also precision (competition chronometers) can be very demanding to adjust and used to be a seperate skill in itself. I'm shure that quick assembly and easy adjustment plays an important role in today's movement design as manual labour is expensive in Switzerland.

Christian

I see. If it was me I'd probably take a week for a watch, lol

It all depends on who assembles the watch, and believe me, I don't consider myself better than you.



Best,

Nicolas.

most brands receive "kits" that are pre-assembled. Even within "The Grande Maison," some of the base movements have pre-assembly. If you count assembly of every component of the movement, it can take a day or more (on simple movements).

Patek's comment covers more than just simple assembly. If one asks, "How long does it take to produce a JLC watch (or a Patek, or a Vacheron, or an Audemars)?, the answer will likely be between 3 and 9 months, depending on level of complication. This is because the case takes a certain amount of time, the dial, the hands, the movement, and then it all gets assembled.

Hope this helps.

-Dean

I dont have the answer.  But I am interested to know if your question is specifically relating to just "assmebling" the watch, ie after all the parts are done to specification and the quality that JLC wants all parts to be.  OR do you mean how many man hours including decoration, making the parts etc etc

this is an interesting question indeed.