The Geneva based watch manufacturer Vacheron Constantin is entering a new expansion phase in the next two years. This phase will bring about an exciting new era for the prestigious watch manufacturer founded in 1755.
The expansion of the new Geneva site located in Meyrin is moving faster than expected, according to Juan-Carlos Torres, CEO of the company since 2005. “We’re entering a whole new dimension,” he asserted, referring to the extension which will more than double the current surface occupied by the company, bringing the total to 17,000m2. Designed by the world-renown Lausanne-born architect Bernard Tschumi, the 10 year long project is expected to be completed in early 2015, and will cost 50 million Swiss francs. Torres was also referring to the fact that the extension will allow the company to develop 35,000 mechanical timepieces per year for the next two or three years, compared to 24, 000 in 2012.
In October 2013, Vacheron Constantin also opened a new production facility in Le Brassus (VD) for manufacturing components of its unique timepieces, as well as for research and development from prototype design through to laboratory units. More than 40 different specialized trades associated with the prestigious brand are based at the Le Brassus facility, which cost 35 million Swiss francs.
Vacheron Constantin will join parent company the Richemont Group, whose state of the art campus is currently being built in Meyrin as well. Once completed, the company will hire 100 new employees over the next two years. Richemont's staff additions now include 1,000 new employees, according to Torres. By March 2015, the company will have increased its workforce by 20 percent or 1,200 people in total.
Vacheron Constantin is also committing to innovative human resource measures, including an external special training program, flexibility with working from home, the creation of human capital development, courses in partnership with the University of Geneva and collaborating with the ECAL School of Art and Design Lausanne. The completion of the Meyrin facility will also coincide with the 260th anniversary of the prestigious watch maker which will be marked by the renovation and expansion of its historic headquarters on the Quai de Lille in the heart of Geneva.
Torres expects that with increased capacity, state of the art facilities and a skilled labor force, all Vacheron Constantin timepieces will be certified with the “Poinçon de Genève”( "Geneva Seal"). This official seal indicates the quality of prestigious watches. A rigorous certification for wrist and pocket watch movements made in the City or Canton of Geneva, obtaining the seal requires precision testing and an extensive quality inspection process. Geneva watchmakers who regularly submit their movements for Geneva Seal certification include Cartier, Chopard, Roger Dubuis and Vacheron Constantin.
Sources:
Les effectifs de Vacheron Constantin vont croître de 20% d’ici à quatorze mois, Le Temps, 24 January 2014.
Geneva Seal (Wikipedia article)
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