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(u-s:b /HAUTE HORLOGERIE QUALITY CERTIFICATION) The first qualitative horological certification for finished watches

The Fleurier Quality Foundation certification meets a normative requirement for the market and the final customer to have a better definition of quality watchmaking, adapted to today’s demands and technological advances.

Created on 5 June 2001, the Fleurier Quality Foundation stems from a joint project undertaken by the Chopard, Parmigiani Fleurier and Bovet Fleurier brands, as well as the Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, to establish new aesthetic and technical criteria dedicated to the certification of finished watches.

As an autonomous and independent structure, it draws its legitimacy from the active participation of public authorities, including the Swiss Federal Government (SECO), the Canton of Neuchâtel, the Municipality of Fleurier, the Val-de-Travers Regional Association, and the Philippe Jéquier Foundation.

The principles:

Representing the first certification to be open to all producers of mechanical fine watchmaking, the certification encompasses a set of demands that ensure the final customer of precision in all circumstances, tested robustness and durability, as well an exclusive aesthetic quality of finish.
The goals of the Fleurier Quality Foundation are thus to establish criteria for technical and aesthetic watch construction; to issue an attestation of quality in the form of a written certificate and a logo placed on the timepiece; and to contribute, as far as its means permit, to training in the field of haute horlogerie.

The procedure for obtaining this certification, conducted in an objective manner by the Technical Committee, which is independent of the participating brands, is subject to precise conditions:

- The movement must be COSC-certified
- The movement must have passed the CHRONOFIABLE test
- The movement must attain an exclusive aesthetic quality of finish
- The rating of the finished watch must be vouched for by the FLEURITEST machine

Adapted to contemporary standards of efficiency and profitability, the tests take place in Fleurier, in the premises of the Foundation, but may be delocalised in any other place that has been given prior authorisation by the Foundation, since geographical constraints are not part of the criteria for obtaining this certification (NB: the computer data as well as the movement kit must imperatively remain in Fleurier).

When testing is complete and if successful, a certificate is issued for each watch tested, mentioning the numbers of its case and movement. The logo is placed on the movement and on an element of the watch exterior, if desired.

Future developments of the Fleurier Quality Foundation certification:

Keeping step with the technological progress inherent to our era, the criteria governing the Fleurier Quality Foundation certification may be revised on the basis of a proposal by the Technical Committee or by the Foundation Council, but any modification is imperatively subject to a double majority decision from both bodies.

Open to the participation of new watch brands or Manufactures, obtaining the certification requires payment of a fee of SFr 10,000 per year and of SFr 45 per certified watch. Each new brand or Manufacture has the possibility of delegating a technician to serve among the assessors consulted by the Technical Committee.

In order to provide an optimal response to demand, the Fleurier Quality Foundation may envisage the production of several FLEURITEST machines.

Finally, the Fleurier Quality Foundation does not exclude the possibility of adopting a certification for watches with quartz movements.

The validation criteria

The certification procedure conducted by the Technical Committee comprises four stages of testing, making it possible to determine whether the timepiece meets the established criteria.

1- Validation of the technical and aesthetic criteria

In order to perform controls of the technical and aesthetic criteria, the applicant deposits the movement of the watch to be certified, presented in a kit, at the offices of the Foundation.
The plate, the bridges, the complete barrel, the oscillating weight, the wheels, the profile-turned or profiled-turned and cut parts, as well as the shaped parts, are set aside and submitted to a visual examination at a distance of 30 cm, and then under the no. 3 microscope setting.
The main aesthetic criteria:
Decoration must be visible on the maximum thickness of the mainplate or on the visible part of the bridge, by a selective process of the zone to be decorated, as well in the main recesses. The parts must not have any rough sharp angles and the countersinks must be polished. No burrs must be visible and the functional zones of the steel parts must be polished. The screw-heads must be flat and polished, chamfered on the slot and around the rim. The shaped parts must be chamfered and polished, if possible with strokes drawn out with a file.

2- The CHRONOFIABLE test

Movements submitted for Fleurier Quality Foundation certification must have passed the CHRONOFIABLE test which comprises several stages:
An ageing cycle, test cycles designed to measure the pull-and-push forces on the stem, the pushbuttons and on the rotating bezel if there is one; tests on reactions to magnetic fields, shock-resistance tests using a heavy pendulum or striker, except for complications, as well as several water-resistance tests.
NB: The following number of watch heads are required to be submitted to the CHRONOFIABLE tests: 5 units (if the model is produced in a series of 1 to 100); 10 units (from 101 to 200 units); 20 units (over 201 units).

3- The COSC test

100% of movements submitted for Fleurier Quality Foundation certification must have successfully passed the test.

4- The FLEURITEST

This machine, specially invented at the time of establishing the Fleurier Quality Foundation certification, is used to perform the last stage of control: the regularity of rating of the movement, once cased up within the watch in its final form. A positive result in this test ensures future owners of the high aesthetic and technical quality of their watch.

A 24-hour operating test is conducted on the machine. The originality of its procedure lies in the computer-driven simulation of conditions in which the watch will be worn. Depending on the programming, the Fleuritest machine is capable of reproducing the activities of a man or woman in all possible types of activity, making it possible to alternate between active, highly active and calm phases (e.g. sport, a typical working day, etc…).
Variations in rate are analysed using a digital camera image acquisition system.
The precision of the movement rating must fall within the range of 0 to +5 seconds per day.
At the end of the test, if the watch has passed, a certificate is delivered for each watch head. The watch is then entitled to the certification “FQF La Haute Horlogerie certifiée”.

WATCHMAKING HISTORY IN THE VAL-DE-TRAVERS

The beginnings of the longstanding watchmaking adventure in the Canton of Neuchâtel date back to as early as 1650, thanks to the incomparable know-how of Daniel Jean-Richard, who is credited with initiating watch production in the region. The mastery of watchmaking is closely linked to the dexterity developed by local artisans in making various kinds of tools, since the valley had been active in the iron industry from the earliest antiquity.

In the Val-de-Travers, it was in Fleurier that the first watches were made, and we owe its introduction in 1730 to the talented David-Jean-Jacques-Henri Vaucher. Ferdinand Berthoud, born in Couvet in 17237, contributed to the growing reputation of Val-de-Travers watchmaking thanks to his renowned genius in the construction of marine chronometers.

In 1800, ten to twelve watch producers were established in Fleurier, which became the main centre for making modestly sized clocks and watches. In 1820, the introduction of the Chinese watch by the Bovet brothers, who enjoyed exclusive rights to watch imports in China, gave a vigorous boost to the watchmaking trade. By 1840, companies such as Vaucher frères, Dimier frères and then Juvet frères, also specialised in the production of Chinese watches.
The extraordinary watchmaking prosperity of the Val-de-Travers is closely linked to the reputation acquired by the Fleurier Watchmaker’s School, opened in 1851. In 1874, Georges Piaget founded his company in La Côte-aux-Fées. The pursuit of his ideal of high-quality watchmaking was to ensure the lasting success of his family firm.
In 1890, Fleurier was home to around thirty watch companies which, in addition to China, mainly exported their timepieces to Egypt, Turkey, the United States, England, Spain and France.
The birth of Charles-Edouard Guillaume in 1861, in Fleurier, was soon to revolutionise precision watchmaking. This brilliant physician won the Nobel Prize in 1920. He is the brains behind the crucial discovery of Invar and then Elinvar, two nickel and steel alloys which made it possible to avoid losses in precision due to the expansion of iron, a material still used in making the balance-spring.
At the same period, a movement blank factory was founded in Fleurier by the Jéquier-PetitPierre association. In 1915, three factories merged under the name “Fleurier Watch Co”, which extended its business to all five continents.
In 1930, there were over thirty watch companies in the Val-de-Travers.
The successive crises of the late 19301, and then the 1970s, had a severe impact on the watchmaking industrial fabric of the Val-de-Travers. Nonetheless, the know-how was not lost, and in the mid-1970s, Parmigiani Fleurier set up its workshops in Fleurier. The Bovet Fleurier was reborn in 1989, giving a new lease on life to its prestigious past, followed by the establishment of the Chopard Manufacture SA in Fleurier SA. Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier SA, a sister company of Parmigiani Fleurier, was officially inaugurated in 2003.

The creation of the Fleurier Quality Foundation certification stems from a rich historical background that has undoubtedly played a premier role in the economic evolution of Swiss fine watchmaking.
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HAUTE HORLOGERIE QUALITY CERTIFICATION 

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