2/5 The production sites
The Plan-les-Ouates Rolex site, located in the canton of Geneva and inaugurated in 2005, brings together all the development and production activities for watch cases and bracelets, from casting gold alloys, to forming and machining raw materials and manually finishing completed parts.
It is composed of six wings, 65 metres long, 30 metres wide and 30 metres high, linked by a central circulation corridor. Through its activities and the considerable resources deployed there, the Plan-les-Ouates site is emblematic of the brand’s commitment to master in-house the quality and production processes for the essential components of its watches.
Behind the anthracite grey glass facades characteristic of Rolex production buildings, the Plan-les-Ouates site houses a foundry in which Rolex creates the three 18 kt gold alloys used for its watches – yellow gold, white gold and Everose gold, an exclusive pink gold alloy developed by Rolex and patented.
In 1985, Rolex became the first watchmaking company to use 904L steel to manufacture the cases of its watches in steel. This stainless steel is commonly used in high-technology industries, such as the aerospace and chemical industries. The excellent anti-corrosion properties of this alloy are comparable to those of precious metals. The specific alloy that Rolex uses is called Oystersteel. Its physical characteristics and toughness required the development of specific tooling and working methods.
Rolex also has a qualifying and production unit for its exclusive RLX titanium that machines and finishes middle cases and bracelets. RLX titanium is a grade 5 titanium alloy selected by Rolex for its resistance and weightlessness, as well as for the possibilities it offers in terms of finishing.
Directly linked to the production workshops, the Central Laboratory controls the quality of Rolex’s 18 kt gold alloys, 950 platinum, Oystersteel and RLX titanium, using powerful equipment such as a high-performance scanning electron microscope, which allows the slightest imperfection in the metal to be detected.
In addition to materials science, the Central Laboratory’s skills in two other disciplines are available to the entire company: tribology (the science of friction, lubrication and wear) and chemistry.
The laboratory also uses sophisticated equipment specifically designed to conduct wear, accelerated-ageing and resistance tests on the bracelet and case.
The Oyster case consists of a middle case, a case back, a bezel, a sapphire crystal and a winding crown. It is made up of 10 to 20 components and its manufacturing requires anywhere from 150 to 300 operations. A Rolex bracelet brings together up to 190 components and its manufacturing involves hundreds of different operations. These components are precision-machined to give them their definitive shape, then the surfaces are manually polished and satin-finished.
The numerous elements that make up sections of Oyster, President and Jubilee bracelets are assembled by hand. This phase includes several manual and semi-automatic operations that require extreme precision, followed by visual and functional checks to verify the appearance and flexibility of each bracelet section. After its various components are assembled, the bracelet section is fixed to the clasp, producing a complete bracelet.
Plan-les-Ouates, like the other Rolex sites, is equipped with an automated stock system. This high-performance logistical system is entirely automated and computerized to ensure the secure and efficient management of the stocking and flow of raw materials, components and finished products between the various workshops.
In Plan-les-Ouates, raw material is transformed into the physical exterior of the future watch.