Mondaine

You see, most of Mondaine’s pieces are relatively inexpensive, and since Far East manufacturing is more than capable of producing these pieces at a similar level of quality for a lower cost, production was shipped out there. Yet the Swiss company didn’t abandon debt-ridden, stagnant Europe for Asia–quite the contrary, actually.

While everyone else was weathering the storm, Mondaine stepped up and built up its European facilities. The Bernheim brothers sunk millions of francs into building a new production and distribution facility, with four times the area of the old one. This represented a considerable fixed cost, but expanding their foothold in Switzerland was probably key to the brand’s image. After all, if you’re looking for a cheap watch from Asia, there are plenty of other companies who offer that–probably for less, even.

There’s a tremendous amount of prestige that comes with being a Swiss watchmaker. That’s a selling point for every watch that Mondaine markets. For those that can’t afford a more expensive brand, Mondaine watches offers those individuals the bragging rights of a Swiss watch without the price tag.

Finally, the company added jobs to the local economy. Not only did it manage to preserve the 110 jobs or so that already existed, but they added sixty more. With Europe in crisis, Mondaine strengthened its existing ties and established new ones. Expect the company to continue to thrive in the near term.

As of August this year the production of their watches takes place in a new state-of-the-Art factory in Solothurn, Switzerland. The factory has been built to the very latest and exacting standards for watch production in ever increasing environmentally aware times.

Mondaine’s new factory is the first of its kind in Switzerland. What makes it unique is that the production of their watches takes place in an entirely environmentally controlled atmosphere.

The various components of the watches are brought into the ‘clean room’ which kept is permanently dust free at specific temperatures and humidity levels. Purified air flows from the ceiling to the floor, removing any trace of dust. This air then passes through a treatment system, and then back to the ceiling filters.

The watches are assembled with the aid of assembly devices which, with up to eight hands per watch, are operated and continuously monitored by human technicians.

Mondaine watches are undoubtedly assembled in consistently ideal conditions for a Swiss-made watch of quality.