Harry Winston

foversta
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A visit at the Harry Winston Manufacture (Plan-les-Ouates)

I was very happy to have the opportunity to visit the Harry Winston Manufacture in January. It was actually a wish I've had since its inauguration in 2007. Why? Simply because it is always very informative to visit a new Manufacture, to discover the processes (are they different from an old Manufacture ones?), the organization and of course: the staff. There is nothing better than to visit a Manufacture to understand the strategy and a brand ambition. We all know that Harry Winston has had since the beginning of its watchmaking adventure in 1989 a strong will to become a credible player in the high-end segment. The Manufacture built in Plan-les-Ouates is a keystone in this ambition and we will see why.




First of all, I would like to present you... the building. It was designed by architects Patrice Reynaud and Philippe Gaillard. Frédéric Legendre, who designs the Harry Winston booth at Basel was also involved in the project. Located at Plan-les-Ouates (aka Plan-les-Watches), surrounded by other prestigious neighbours, the building of the Manufacture can be divided into two wings around the main entrance lobby:  the administrative departments (HR, Finance, IT, Security, Sales, Marketing and Communications) and the Design teams are located into the commercial wing. We will come back of course to this Design activity because it actually includes different jobs. The industrial wing includes the production processes, the timepieces assembly, the control of quality and the gem setting.

The building as seen on Google Earth:





The question which may arise now is to know which are the watches parts produced by the Manufacture. The Manufacture produces the cases, around 4000 per year and this is obviously essential for Harry Winston. First of all, if the yearly production of Harry Winston watches is quite low to preserve the exclusivity of the brand, the range of case shapes is very broad. Let's browse the catalogue: we have the Ocean, the Premier, the Midnight, the ladies watches cases... without forgetting the very specific Opus cases or the ones of the high horology collections. This large range of cases requires modern and efficient production tools. Harry Winston has invested a lot and we can feel and see the results when we visit the Manufacture.  The cases at Harry Winston are considered as the first vector of quality, it is the reason why the quality control process is so present. It is not a surprise for Harry-Winston to have an in-house cases production: it is after all something close and linked to its traditional activity: gems setting.




The dials are not produced at the Manufacture but by the company in which Harry Winston was involved with a 50% share: Les Cadraniers de Genève. Now, the company is fully owned by Montres Journe SA.

The modules part are provided to the Manufacture as kits, coming from different providers like Agenhor. The timepieces assembly is done at the Manufacture by the watchmaking teams: there are two steps in the process: first step is to assemble the modules, second step is to fit them in the cases. For Harry Winston, it is very important to assemble the kits: first of all, it is a better way to control the quality. Of course, in a pure watchmaking point of view, the jobs are much more exciting this way: 6 different modules are assembled at the Manufacture including complications like Perpetual Calendar, second timezone display or chronographs. The watchmaking team learns and improves its skills day after day and it is fundamental in the Harry Winston strategy: this strategy leads to the development of more ambitious watches in terms of horological contents and so the watchmaking team is preparing the future with its present activity.




Before proposing you the pictures of the different departments, I would like to show you the lobby: it is really impressive with a lot of free space and a huge height which gives a majestic feeling if not imposing. This lobby and its main entrance door give to the visitors different messages, it is at least the way I felt it: first of all, they show that the investments done by Harry Winston are huge. We don't enter small premises, we enter an ambitious Manufacture. Secondly, the use of luxurious materials like marble combined with a clever use of glass which makes the place very luminous is the proof that the strategy is focussed on high-end watches. The last point I felt (and it is something I really appreciated) is that the whole staff has perfect work conditions to create and produce the future Harry Winston watches: there is enough space left in several departments... including in the timepieces assembly to welcome new colleagues without any trouble.The light enters the rooms from everywhere and as usual at Plan-les-Ouates, there is a beautiful view on the mountains... everything is gathered in this Manufacture to be inspired!




I visited several manufactures in the past. Obviously, the Harry Winston Manufacture doesn't belong  to the category of the closest ones to the "pure definition" of Manufacture: the place in which the whole movement is designed, produced and assembled by in-house teams. It is clearly not the purpose here: the teams work in collaboration with external providers. You don't see the same organization when you visit Lange & Söhne or JLC: you don't work exactly the same way when you produce your own watches parts or when the parts are coming from outside: my feeling is that the size of quality control is even more important at Harry Winston's especially for the incoming parts. But I would say that classic Manufactures or not, I saw the same high standards of quality and the care into the details. 

The impressive lobby of the Manufacture:




It is difficult to compare the Harry Winston Manufacture with some historical ones but on the other hand, it produces its own cases and I have rarely felt such ambitious project. The Manufacture is young, teams are improving and are growing (more of less 120 people work at  Plan-les-Ouates) and it is just the beginning of the story. It is the reason why it will be interesting to follow the evolution of the processes and jobs within the Manufacture during the upcoming years: this evolution will show us how the strategy will become a reality.

I decided to split the report into different parts to make it easier to browse. With these differents parts, you will visit the main departments of the Manufacture: the Design, the production and the watches assembly. I could visit almost every place of the Manufacture (except a very few ones which are not allowed for visit due to security reasons) and I was warmly welcome by each team. So I would like to thank a lot Maryline de Cesare for this organization, Didier Decker who is at the head of the Manufacture for the time he spent with me, for the very clear explanations and of course to all the employees for their kindness and their availability.

Fr.Xavier
This message has been edited by foversta on 2011-02-13 08:44:29 This message has been edited by foversta on 2011-02-25 10:54:49

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