Watchmaking - A unique approach - Bienne

The Bienne site, at the foot of the Jura mountains in the Swiss canton of Berne, is entirely dedicated to developing and manufacturing Rolex movements. Here, the components of the movement – from 200 to nearly 400 for the most complex calibres – are meticulously manufactured, then assembled by hand and rigorously checked. A new extension to the production buildings was opened in 2022.

Movement components

Rolex manufactures in-house the main plate and bridges of its movements as well as all the strategic components: the escapement – including the patented Chronergy escapement – the balance wheel, the patented Parachrom and Syloxi hairsprings, as well as the Paraflex shock absorbers. The diversity of the components designed, manufactured and often patented demonstrates a rare example of autonomy and further testifies to the extent of the brand’s watchmaking expertise.

In this world of microtechnology and micromechanics, manufacturing tolerances are of the order of a few microns – and sometimes as little as one tenth of a micron in the most rigorous cases. To achieve this degree of precision, considerable production resources have been introduced, including clean rooms and controlled environment zones.

Regardless of their size and the additional functions they offer, all Rolex movements are built with a similar architecture: a guarantee of aesthetic unity, chronometric performance and reliability, which also allows for ease of maintenance by after-sales service.

Superlative chronometer

The precise functioning of a mechanical movement depends on the precision manufacturing of the individual parts and on their perfect assembly and interaction. Each finished movement is tested by COSC (the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute), an independent organization that measures and controls the precision of watch movements in different positions and at different temperatures according to international standards. A movement that, after undergoing these drastic tests, meets the eligibility criteria receives a chronometer certificate.

After Bienne, it is back to Acacias where, after casing the movement, each assembled watch undergoes a series of special final controls conducted by Rolex in its own laboratories, and according to its own criteria. This protocol guarantees superlative performance on the wrist in terms of precision, power reserve, waterproofness and self-winding, allowing the watch to receive Superlative Chronometer status.

Rolex performs meticulous final inspections

The heart of the watch starts beating in Bienne.