with a view to its industrialisation, is completely original. There is nothing of an ETA clone about it but it is ETAcompatible in terms of its encasement. Our medium-term objectives with this movement are to produce several hundred thousand calibres over the next few years. But, for the time being, our prime objective is quality. We have tested it on many occasions. It is reliable, robust and well finished. We are ready
and delivery will start in early 2017. The Ronda Mecano – Cal. R150 illustrates our arrival on the mechanical watch market. It was logical to start with an automatic three-handed calibre. Of course we have ideas on how to develop it, with modules, but also with specific constructions, but we have no intention of rushing things. I repeat, we want to listen to our customers above all as we have a very strong relationship
with them. I am personally very confident as to the future of the mechanical watch. It is a 'genuine watch', an emotional product, which fascinates and will continue to fascinate, and not only in the high-end and luxury ranges. We are positioned in the mid-range, above 1,000 Swiss francs. Moreover, you will observe that above 1,500 Swiss francs to 2,000 Swiss francs, there are very few non-mechanical watches for men."
SELLITA: SAFEGUARDING ACHIEVEMENTS INTERVIEW WITH MIGUEL GARCIA, DIRECTOR AND OWNER OF SELLITA HOLDING SA.
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Safeguarding achievements” is, in Miguel Garcia’s opinion, the priority in this period of strong slowdown. And the ‘achievements’ of Sellita are many, as the Neuchâtel-based company, with a payroll of 500, is the largest competitor of ETA with around 1.4 million mechanical movements produced each year. When, in 2002-2003, Swatch Group announced its decision to gradually reduce its deliveries of completed movements and, above all, its assembly kits, Sellita took action and referred the case to COMCO. At the time, most of its business revolved around the assembly and finishing of ETA kits. This decision therefore threatened its long-term survival. Sellita
– acting as the spokesperson of many major brands that would not directly take on the all-powerful Swatch Group - therefore took two lines of action: with COMCO to strictly frame this progressive withdrawal by ETA which risked strangling it, and the launch of a programme to develop its own movements. To achieve this, it had to find ways of saving time. This was done, setting 2019 as the cut-off date. This objective seems to be in the process of being achieved, but then again the ‘crisis’ is hitting and the context is one of oversupply. Miguel Garcia wanted to reply to our questions but given the scale of the issues, he remained very cautious and laconic in his answers.
Miguel Garcia: “Yes, we are experiencing a complex period and have had a drop in orders from our customers since early 2015. We set up the necessary measures over a year ago and adapted our industrial tools to deal with the situation. The supply of movements currently exceeds demand. We are taking advantage of this time to strengthen our structures and our position in order to be ready to satisfy demand when the recovery arrives, because, sooner or later, it will be here. We now offer a wide range of high quality mechanical movements at very competitive prices and we have a dynamic production capability.”
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