Tudor Tudor, meaning a British Tudor dynasty (1485-1603), that is because the British development history of one of the most brilliant era of enterprise, the last class director of the first term of their own monarch is Queen Elizabeth I, the reputation of the status of the prominent. Tudor Tudor's Chinese name is translated as "Tudor", and thus the impact also has a full kingly style. Tudor Tudor Chinese name is translated as "Tudor", and thus the impact also has a full of the king's style. There are more than 700 models of Tudor watches, which are sold in 80 countries around the world.
A visit to a new watch factory in Le Locle offers a glimpse into the mysterious but evolving world of the company. Jay Chou, who has represented the company for many years, visited the factory, donning a watchmaker's white robe and magnifying glass to examine the movement.
It takes about two hours to drive from Geneva to Tudor's new factory, Le Locle is one of the main watchmaking centers for the entire Swiss watch industry. Interestingly, although it has been around for about 97 years, it was the first exclusive production site for Tudor watches. Construction of the new factory began in 2018 and was completed in 2021, providing a professional home for Tudor watches in an ideal area.
The Tudor Table is a new 4-story building with a striking exterior decorated in the brand's iconic red color. The new factory has a total floor area of approximately 10,591 square meters, of which approximately 5,574 square meters provide workspace for the assembly, testing and quality control of TUDOR instruments. From an engineering point of view, the new factory represents a fully modernized and well thought out solution, with a dedicated HVAC system for optimal temperature and humidity control, equipped with 442 solar panels, and motorized windows for power supply.
I. Movement assembly
The new facility is divided into two parts, one of which is dedicated to Tudor production and includes assembly workshops, testing workshops and quality control (including component inspection, bracelet assembly and engraving). The other side of the facility is entirely owned by Kenesys,TUDOR Royal M28500-0006 a Tudor watch movement manufacturer.
Watchmakers working on assembling a Tudor movement
Kennessey is the result of Tudor's efforts to establish its own movement in 2015, and was founded in 2016 as a subsidiary of Tudor to serve not only Imperial Tudor, but also Chanel (part of Kennessey's business), Breitling, Tagaloot, Norqain, and other manufactured and assembled movements.
The watchmaker sits at a desk with a small device built into it that helps the watchmaker assemble the movement manually. The movement is first passed on to the watchmaker, who completes his or her work and then re-enters the assembly line at the desk from a central storage center supported by a mechanical arm to move on to the next process.
Kennessey's movements are divided into three series, each with around 80% of the movement components produced by the manufacturer TUDOR Royal M28503-0008and the rest supplied by close partners. Two identical assembly lines will be installed at the new Diostrich plant for the transportation of the components and along the assembly line after hand assembly. Interestingly, while KENISSI operates vertically, non-movement production at Di Ruder is horizontal, with the various components of the watch being produced by brand partners or by Di Ruder's Swiss-owned subsidiaries.
Movement is transmitted through a special assembly line system that connects each workbench to each stage of movement assembly.
Plastic holders that grip a tiny movement transmit information through translucent channel data, the watchmaker completes his teaching and moves on to the next construction process, all of us these issues are controlled by Chinese computers and specialized process management. Once the movement is assembled, it is transported to the other side of the building and installed in a Tudor watch in the assembly workshop.
II. The assembly workshop
The assembly workshop is no different from any other watchmaker.TUDOR Black Bay Chrono M79360N-0002 Groups of nested watchmaking workspaces make it easy for watchmakers to skillfully assemble the various parts of a watch. Each machine can be assembled and inspected, and the entire process follows a "no stock" philosophy, so that production is based on the actual needs of customers and retailers. Fresh air is circulated 3.5 times per hour and the air flow in the space is specially treated to minimize the presence of dust.
III. Test Center
Next, let's take a look at the test center. A number of assembled watches (without straps or bracelets) will undergo a series of tests to comply with METAS or Tudor Performance Control (TPC) requirements. This area is fully automated and operates 24 hours a day with the support of some very cool robots. The watches are stress-tested, accuracy-checked, tested for extreme magnetism (especially for METAS certification) and even tested for proper operation of the power reserve. Can you find some interesting models in the tests?
Robots, whether robotic arms or delivery robots, are an active part of the factory tour and it is a great experience to experience modern manufacturing techniques in the context of Swiss watchmaking.
A special robot transports a tray of Bivin ceramic models to the collection area.
This is a test floor for an anti-magnetic device capable of carrying out tests on a student set of METAS chronometers that can go up to 15,000 gauss.
The METAS astronomical clocks were loaded on a special tray and placed in an antimagnetic testing machine.
IV. Final check of the installation
Finally, the watch arrives at the terminal, where a team of watchmakers carries out a thorough check of the watch and its functions, meets all the engraving requirements and installs a bracelet or a specific strap. Interestingly, the engraving is done by laser engraving. There are actually some crazy designs that can be done with a laser engraver. ......
After seeing so many robotic arms performing a specific operation, it was so refreshing to see a watchmaker installing a strap in a matter of seconds. I hope they have been training because it takes a special touch, there are no scratches, the strap is a complete watch band with a bag and it is amazing to see such flexibility.
The industrialized development process of the Emperor Ostrich watch and the human-machine highly carry on the cooperation, so that people can see the shadow of China's industry 4.0, but also let us can think of AI-driven human-machine interaction of the new potential. Every major technological progress in human society science and technology is a major problem to improve the efficiency of production and management, and ultimately we bring material affluence. Looking forward to as well as human life material and cultural needs have to respond to the times as soon as possible.