Power reserve suizo y económico?

Well, ValSwiss AG is a company that was established in May 2010 by Messrs. Adrian H. Müller and Rahman Khalid Attou. Mr. Müller is a well-known provider of company services.


In September 2010 they were joined by Dr. Ulrich Frese who is a consultant active amongst other areas in the mechanical industry. Messrs. Müller and Frese relinquished their functions in April 2012.

According to the trade registry, Mr. Attou is a US-citizen and lives next to the Lake of Constance in Ermatingen. The company’s registered offices are at the same address and Mr. Attou is the company’s sole director.

Mr. Attou is married to Mrs. Susanna Attou née Stiefel. She rents out holiday apartments at the same address ValSwiss is registered.

ValSwiss actually offer to a select few customers complications like big dates, etc. Mostly to be mounted on the venerable tractor movement ETA 2824. The actual manufacturing is taking place in the South of Switzerland at Quartino. They seem to employ a few people only there.

There is a reservoir of retired professional watchmakers in the region that is regularly tapped into by various players of the watch industry. Hence, many foreign owned components suppliers set up a small shop there. These shops are usually staffed by one or two master watchmakers who are beefed up by others if need be.

We have never done business with them nor have I ever heard of any of my friends in the industry that they have done so. ValSwiss is said to supply only a few mostly US-centred brands. What the basis of their movement is I do not know.

In any event the company structure is rather expensive as they will have to maintain two sets of accounts and all that in two different languages. This makes for increased costs.

What strikes me as odd is that the offices in Ermatingen do not have a registered phone number other than a mobile one registered in the company’s name. The premises in Quartino have a land-line, however. Having a mobile phone number only is highly uncommon in the watch industry.

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Manufacturing a tractor movement like the ETA 2824 is for most companies simply impossible. Even in the good old times it was very difficult that is why so many movement manufacturers were forced to merge over the course of the years. Most stumbled when they attempted to develop a movement from scratch to bolster their offerings.

The investment in time and funds it takes is staggering. In no time you will have spent several million US$ on research, engineering, tooling, prototyping, etc. and you still haven’t a reliably working movement and are not able to industrialize its production yet.

Even if you were able to muster the sums involved and spend the required time for getting the movement off the drawing board you would still have to buy in the vital parts to regulate the movement and power it.

For a mid-sized company it is impossible to manufacture their own escapements and power barrels. The technology involved is too complex to warrant anything below high volumes.

Some companies like TAG Heuer have found a way around that by buying these components either ready-to-install or partially made from the few existing third party suppliers like Seiko for some of their movements. It is a way out of the bind and takes you only so far as the suppliers are willing to commit to volumes.

Another way is to revive and improve vintage movements. There is an abundant supply of parts and components as well as of ébauches (movement kits) for many of these movements. Especially for those out of the early to mid 1970s when they were manufactured in very large numbers just prior to the coming of the quartz movement. If you travel down this route you might be able to bring a movement into production again at about 60% of what it would take to bring a movement from the drawing board into mass-production.

So if you want to do something in numbers open up your purse and lay back enjoying the way your money is frittering away…..

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