Transmission, sharing a universal heritage
The adventure starts with a deeply rooted passion for a magical craft. Hard work and humility are the cornerstones of this particular and unique know-how, forged along decades of experiences.
Transmission of horological art know-how
A demanding involvement
Pretend to realize timepieces according to traditional horological arts’ strictest traditions, requires hard work, a deep personal investment but also a great dose of humility and an ability to question oneself.
It entails the lucidity of knowing that no matter how many years of experience one has, one cannot be omniscient and therefore, there will always be something to learn. Those moments of sharing also quench the thirst for learning.
This transmission of knowledge is an immense honor for Alchemists and proves to be an invaluable gift. A community humbly engaged into safeguarding these traditional gestures.
The importance of preserving a horological heritage
Alchemists chose to give a particular importance to human genius. A genius found through centuries of creations and the work of watchmakers who truly marked history. Alchemists gathers a small team of individuals, lifted by the same vocation: preservation of these traditional savoir-faire. This vocation materializes in their work environment, allowing the watchmakers to fully live their passion, gifting each component an authentic, artisanal added value.
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The Alchemists are strongly guided by the goal of humbly contributing to the preservation of a horological heritage, belonging to Haute Horlogerie‘s history, as well as perpetuating its know-how and teachings through their timepieces. This will is deeply anchored in their vocation, provoking moments of invaluable human interactions but also representing a real challenge for the watchmakers.
“The more time you invest in the finishing of a part, the more your self-confidence is tested. The slightest mistake can cost several days of work."
The transmission of know-how to future generations
Alchemists is invested by a new responsibility: continue this chain of transmissions of know-how with the younger generations. Transmission of this traditional savoir-faire to the next generation of watchmakers begins in Alchemists’ workshop.
The Alchemists’ watchmakers are humbly working every day for the preservation of this heritage. The skill level and passion required from each watchmakers of the Alchemists are particularly high. Only a small few of craftsmen in Switzerland are still able to hand finish and assemble each of his creations by him- or herself.
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Each movement is assembled twice, nothing is left to chance.
There is no decoration workshop nor watchmakers dedicated solely to timing at Alchemists: each watchmaker receives all the “blank” components constituting the timepiece on his workbench. He assembles the movement a first time to verify than everything functions perfectly as it should, allowing him to perform the mechanical preparation by hand, following traditional methods – the pivots are traditionally rolled on a lathe roller and the polishing of the pinions’ leaves is made with wooden wheels mounted on a specific machine, among other techniques. Then, the movement is entirely disassembled. Each individual component is then very meticulously hand-finished and hand-decorated before the movement is ready to be assembled again, and fine-tuned for the final control. In the end, each movement is assembled twice, nothing is left to chance.
Each creation of the Alchemists will be the child of a single individual watchmaker, from its assembly and adjusting to its most detailed hand finishing.