Tag Heuer has announced that it will build a new manufactory in Chevenez, Switzerland, the next step in its drive to become as integrated as possible following its purchase of dialmaker ArteCad and its creation of two brand-owned movement workshops.
Its chief executive Jean-Christophe Babin revealed the news at an outdoor press conference and said the new manufactory will be dedicated entirely to the production of TAG’s 1887 mechanical calibre, which it hopes will double its production.
The manufactory is due to be complete by the end of 2013 and will have a floor space of around 2,000m sq.
Babin took part in a special launch ceremony for the project, in which a Plexiglas cube containing the 1887 movement was laid sealed inside a block of concrete.
The brand hopes to bring the manufacture, mounting and assembly of key components of the 1887 Calibre to Chevenez by the end of 2013.
The movement itself was launched just two years ago and is presently produced in Cornol and in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
The new site at Chevenez is expected to create nearly 100 new jobs while 50 other jobs will be moved to other TAG Heuer manufacturing sites.
The manufacture of its mount mechanical movement components is currently carried out by the firm Cortech but this will be transferred to the new Chevenez site, allowing TAG Heuer to “refocus its Cornol entity on watch cases, and as a result increase production capacity significantly”.
Babin also announced that TAG Heuer is already working on an all-new mechanical chronograph movement, developed entirely in-house, to broaden its range. The latter is expected to complement the 1887 Calibre’s construction, performance and volumes.
Last year TAG acquired ArteCad, a dial manufacturer based in Tramelan employing 230 people. Since then the brand says it has "invested large sums in recent years to speed up its vertical integration and above all double its production capacity of mechanical movements". To date, around 50,000 1887 calibres have been produced.
