It is possible to be 75 years old and still have a start-up mindset. DIXI Polytool, a long-established manufacturer of precision tools for watchmaking and other microtechnologies, has just invented a revolutionary miniature milling cutter. By Joël A. Grandjean With two patents registered and a trademark, DIXI Cool+, entered in the intellectual property register, the outlook […]

Moving from métiers d’art to micro-series of 250 units or more: that’s the vision of this fiercely independent dial manufacturer. It’s a place like no other, fired by a creativity containing just a touch of madness… By Joël A. Grandjean The adrenaline coursing through the company is precisely this whiff of madness floating around in […]

ABConcept and ABProduct: nothing in the two company names hints at the vast space in which over 14 trades are carried on, the impressive fleet of machinery and the sudden appearance, on a detour during the visit, of the largest 3D printer on the market. An interview with Aurélien Bouchet.  By Joël A. Grandjean Just […]

Words matter. For over 40 years, watchmaking jargon has used the term subcontractors to refer to suppliers. It is high time we started talking about core business and professional environment rather than subcontractors.  By Joël A. Grandjean Over recent decades, since the recovery from the quartz crisis, watchmaking has seen a steady enhancement of its […]

Having been voted the winner of the 2020 EPHJ Exhibitors’ Grand Prix by its peers, H2i had the pleasure of welcoming officials from the EPHJ Show, who travelled to its premises at Cortaillod in the canton of Neuchâtel to hand over the trophy in person (wearing face masks, of course) to the company’s two founding directors, […]

Every year for the past seven years, the Deloitte study on the development of the Swiss watch industry has provided some very useful insights. The study is based on an online survey and interviews conducted with 55 senior executives in the watch industry, as well as an online survey of 5,800 consumers in China, France, […]

It would take a very astute person to predict today where we’ll be with the pandemic in June. EPHJ is absolutely determined to make an effective contribution to the industrial recovery and will do everything in its power to ensure that the 2021 show goes ahead next June. The high-precision industry cannot remain in lockdown […]

In just a few months, rhodium’s price has reached historic highs, recently reaching CHF 690 per gram! Rhodium, which is used to coat specific watch movement components, is presenting the watchmaking industry with a new challenge in becoming the most expensive precious metal in the world. Fortunately, STS Saulcy Surface Treatment, the largest consumer of […]

From standard tools to consumables, but above all, specific tools, @Henri Robert produces tools that are part of the permanent evolution of the market needs and which characteristics are constantly reinvented. Herewith, the presentation of the company by @Thibault Richard, its manager