HYSECK is a watchmaking manufacturer specializing in complicated timepieces. We visited the factory to see how the watch is made.

Known for its avant-garde designs, Heyseck is in fact a manufacture specializing in complicated watches, which is extremely rare even in Switzerland. The company's in-house production, which began in 2007, has come to fruition in a very unique way under the direction of its owner, Mr. Aljoud. We would like to see these watches being made in person.

From an établisseur to a manufacture

　The manufacturer Hysek, founded by designer Jorg Hysek, has two faces: one is a manufacturer of avant-garde and ergonomic design watches, which Hysek favored, and the other is a manufacturer of complications, which is rare even in Switzerland.

　Hysek is currently owned by the French Aljoud family. Its head, Akram Aljoud, also owns the Parisian jeweller Perrin and serves as CEO of IBG France Holdings, an affiliate of the multinational conglomerate IBG. Although he doesn't appear in public much, he is arguably one of the most successful figures in the French luxury sector.

"I've always liked watches, luxury items, and unique things. When I saw HYSEK, I thought it was an avant-garde, good watch. HYSEK also had the resources and the drive. So I decided to acquire the company. Jorg HYSEK is a fantastic designer, and I thought he could achieve many things in the future. Incidentally, I also invested in Roger Dubuis around the same time. The watches made by this company were classic, unlike HYSEK." (Aljoud)

　Fascinated by the distinctive appearance of Hysek watches, Aljoud acquired the company and took the helm in 2000. At the same time, he decided to invest in Roger Dubuis, which was seeking capital to become a manufacture, and became involved in its management as a major shareholder.

　This situation changed dramatically in 2008, when the Richemont Group acquired 60% of Roger Dubuis' shares. Eight years later, Aljoad sold all of his Roger Dubuis shares to the group and decided to focus on his other watch manufacturer, HYSEK. At the same time, he invited skilled craftsmen from Roger Dubuis, which had undergone a management change. HYSEK, which focused on design, would go on to create the most complicated watches. Aljoad explained, "The reason we decided to become a manufacture was to create watches that had never been seen before."

　The Heizek parts manufacturing factory is located a 15-minute drive from Rennes station in Switzerland. From the outside, it is completely indistinguishable from a watch factory, as the factory handles precious metals and other expensive materials. Opening the heavy metal door reveals rows of old and new machine tools. Factory manager Pommard Huang explains the process to us. He has been involved in the manufacture of precision parts for 30 years, and previously worked in a similar role at Roger Dubuis.

"The Heyseck factory was established in 2007, but it took a year to set up the factory. Now, we not only manufacture the gears and balance wheels of complicated watches, but also gold and stainless steel screws and complicated cases ourselves." He says that the in-house production rate for the movement parts used in complicated watches is an astonishing 95-96%. "In the past, we even made escape wheels ourselves, but now we outsource them. If we wanted to, we could, but it wasn't very efficient in terms of production," he says.

　What's interesting is that they don't just use the latest machine tools. Almac's 3-axis CNC, which was popular some time ago, is still the main machine here. "The most delicious sauce is made in an old pot," Yuan said with a laugh, but the reason they can achieve a machining precision of ±2 to 3 microns is because of the skilled and experienced craftsmen. What's more, the wide range of work they do, including not only operating the machine tools but also programming the machining, is a source of motivation for the craftsmen.

One of the keys to the stable production of particularly complex watch parts like the Colossal lies in the pre-processing of the materials. According to Yuan, there are over 60 different types of blanks, ranging in thickness from 0.9mm to 9mm. The blanks used for the base plates are ground to prepare different ones in thicknesses of just 1/10th of a millimeter. "The reason we can make the parts for complicated watches is because we push the boundaries of precision at the stage of processing the materials. For example, to make a skeleton base plate, we take a 90g material and grind it down to 8g over the course of four hours. Of course, sometimes it takes two hours just to adjust the machine."

　The finished parts are then smoothed over with emery paper and meticulously deburred. The same goes for the cases, which are hollowed out from 65mm thick bar stock. It's certainly clear that this is possible with such skilled craftsmen, but it's amazing that they can produce a wide variety of products in small quantities. "We don't make industrial products, after all. And when each person has a lot to do, we can improve the finish and quickly fix any problems that arise," says Yuan. The same can be said for Yaman & Stübbe, with whom the company currently works as a parts manufacturer. They produce parts that are out of stock, making it possible to reproduce them.

As the photo shows, the finish is so beautiful that it's hard to believe it was just machined.

The Hyzek parts factory employs only skilled workers. "Working for a company with a system in place is like being a sheep," he says.

　The completed parts undergo additional processing such as plating at external suppliers before being transported to HYZECK's headquarters and workshop in Morges. All HYZECK complications, some entry-level models, and all of HYZECK's golf watches and YAMAN & STUBE watches, which are outsourced for design and manufacturing, are assembled here. Like the parts factory, the craftsmen here are highly skilled. This may be natural, as the main focus is on ultra-complicated watches, but one watchmaker is also responsible for sub-assembly processes such as hammering in jewels. Moreover, the watchmaker also polishes the movement parts and cases, so the work carried out at the workshop is no different from that of a micro-maison.

"Because we produce small quantities, we do everything ourselves," laughs watchmaker Oliveira, but perhaps that's exactly why such skilled watchmakers have settled here. Incidentally, Oliveira himself previously worked for Roger Dubuis. "I've been with Hyseck for about 10 years now. This company is a true manufacture, so assembling a watch is truly amazing." We asked him what the most difficult watch he has worked on so far was. "It was the Colossal."

　The Colossal, released by the company in 2017, was an extremely complicated watch that combined digital hour, minute, and second displays, a perpetual calendar, a 3D moon phase, a GMT, and a flying tourbillon. It contained over 1000 parts. It took the company three years to complete this watch. I had assumed that the assembly was outsourced, but that was not the case.

This is the process of chamfering the parts. The surface is covered and only the corners are filed to reduce the surface. The process itself is seen in other companies, but very few manufacturers perform it themselves as watchmakers. After that, a tool is applied and diamond paste is used to polish the corners.

A buff used to polish the case. The paste used gets finer and finer, from 20, 12, 9, and 3 microns at the top. "We polish not only stainless steel, but also gold and titanium materials," he said. At HYSECK, these tasks are also the responsibility of the watchmakers. "We do everything because we produce in small quantities," he said, but I never expected that such a classical process would remain.

"It took two years to manufacture just the Colossal parts, and another year just to assemble them. The design required an assembly tolerance of ±6 microns. However, the watch wouldn't work if assembled with that tolerance, so we narrowed the tolerances (laughs). It was really difficult to keep all the tolerances within ±5 microns."

　The other watchmakers all agree that "the appeal of this company is the flexibility with which we can work." However, there is probably no other watchmaker in the world where the same watchmaker creates everything from basic three-hand watches to counter watches like Yaman & Stübi, and even highly complicated watches like Colossal. What's more, Heizek takes pride in meeting deadlines.

"We were asked by a company to make 30 tourbillons. Hysek was the only one that could produce them in such a short time. I think our manufacture is managing things well," says Aljoud.

　HYSECK has now become a surprisingly high-level manufacture. However, as we have repeatedly mentioned in this article, its path is very different from that of other companies. "Large companies would use subcontractors to become a manufacture, but we are different. At HYSECK, rationalization means being flexible. And isn't that the very tradition of Switzerland? We have all built that culture together, accumulated know-how, and cherished it over time."

The "Furtif Skeleton Tourbillon" being assembled. This is a variation with a blue-painted main plate. While Hyseck specializes in small-lot production of a wide variety of timepieces, many of these complicated watches share the same gear train design. This allows the movement to fit a variety of cases simply by changing the arrangement.

We were shown the CAD drawings of the "Furtif Skeleton Tourbillon" in the workshop. The design, which thoroughly emphasizes openness, is evident in the compact hand-setting/winding mechanism and the separate bridge that simultaneously supports the carriage and third wheel. Also noteworthy is the extremely small push-button that does not interfere with the skeleton design.

　Regardless of the type, HYSECK watches are modern and revolutionary in a way. However, Aljoud also said, "We carry on the traditions of the Swiss watch industry, both in our manufacturing methods and our way of being as a company. But we also want to create watches that have never been seen before." This is the energy that drives the HYSECK brand. It is precisely because "living" people are involved that the products take on a unique life of their own.

The new Yaman & Stübi by Heizek

　Currently, Yaman & Stübi is owned by Misuzu, the Japanese distributor for HYZEK. Faced with a parts supply cutoff, Misuzu turned to HYZEK, with whom they had a business relationship, to manufacture and assemble the watches. HYZEK specializes in complicated timepieces, but assembling HYZEK's counter watches, which primarily produce counter watches, is apparently quite difficult. The golf counter, which positions five components with two eccentric screws, requires fine adjustments by filing the components.