ÉTABLISSAGE

Établissage is a proto-industrial mode of watchmaking production that developed from the 18th century onward in the Jura Arc — the Neuchâtel mountains, the Vallée de Joux, the Morez region — and which dominated watch manufacturing until the early 20th century. It consists in dividing production into specialized tasks entrusted to independent craftsmen working most often at home or in small family workshops: each family devotes itself to a specific trade — watch repairer, Maker of hairsprings, stone setter, dial maker, craftsman of Guilloché (engine-turning) — before the parts thus produced are brought together and finished by the établisseur. Acting as an intermediary between the market and production, he orders the ébauches, organizes the network of subcontractors, and ensures the Assembly, the Regulation / Adjustment and the final finishing of the Movement. This system allowed for great flexibility and reduced production costs, but made quality control more difficult to standardize. It stands in contrast to the Geneva model of the cabinotiers, craftsmen grouped into small independent entities. From the end of the 19th century onward, mechanization and American competition gradually shifted Swiss watchmaking towards integrated factories.