The master watchmakers, in the Montblanc manufacture in Le Locle are committed to preserving traditional Swiss watchmaking at the very highest level, creating innovative timepieces of the utmost precision, perfection and durability. Their attention to detail is so meticulous that even those parts forever concealed within a watch’s movement must be flawlessly finished.
The 500-Hour Test in Le Locle
As part of their craftsmanship, the watchmakers in Le Locle assemble hundreds of individual parts, a feat requiring a high level of sensitivity. Later the watches face a great deal of wear and tear: working day and night, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. The movement of a 4-hertz watch completes 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour. Until its scheduled service in three to five years‘ time, a watch performs approximately one billion semi- oscillations that have to be managed by such fragile parts as hairsprings, balance bearings and pallet levers.
In order to guarantee the perfect functioning of all watches with manufacture movements the quality- assurance team at Montblanc Montre S.A. in Le Locle developed a strict and comprehensive testing program which is integrated into the production sequence so that every watch is thoroughly examined before it’s allowed to leave the premises. This “500-Hour Test” simulates the first years of life which these watches will after- wards actually experience.
The test is carried out in several stages on the completely encased watch using methods and tools that are recognised throughout the entire watchmaking industry. Remarkable is the combination of the individual test methods and its duration of 500 hours. A clear commitment to reliability, precision and durability.
