ARMAND NICOLET
The story of Armand Nicolet begins around 1875 in Tramelan, Switzerland, a small town in the Bernese Jura. At that time, the region of Tramelan was agricultural. Armand Nicolet, son of a watchmaker, was passionate for his father's vocation and a great admirer of quality. By the end of the 19th century, after a brilliant apprenticeship, he set up his "Atelier d'Horlogerie" and in 1902 he affirmed his technical maturity producing a pocket watch with "guilloche" rose gold case, enamel dial, single button chronographic function, complete calendar, repeating hours, quarter hours and minutes.
During those years, Armand Nicolet also refined his technical skills doing important studies on design and form which were to influence his future work. His watches, masterpieces of pure beauty, quality and precision are in the NICOLET MUSEUM and continue to arouse interest among international collectors.
When he died in 1939 his son Willy assumed the reins of the family enterprise and developed it to be one of the most important production facilities in the region. During the first half of the 20th century, Tramelan was specialized in the production of movements and complete watches and around 1950 became the third pole of Swiss watch-making industry employing around 800 trained watchmakers in 150 factories. In those years, in the historic head office of Tramelan, the company NICOLET regulated and finished practically the whole production of Venus movements, whose components were assembled in different sophisticated calibres with excellent finishing: complete calendars, chronographs with "column wheel" including the 175 with split second pusher in the winding crown.
During the 1950s Nicolet produced also the movement with the patented "Ajustor", an ingenious mechanism that when applied to the movement allowed its regulation without having to open the watch. By the end of 1970s Nicolet was also hit by the crisis of Swiss horology industry and was forced to reorganize and to corporate with prestigious brands for which it produced sophisticated movements and mechanisms. In this way Nicolet preserved its know-how and production skills.
In 1987 Willy Nicolet by chance met Mr. Rolando Braga, an Italian entrepreneur who had been active in the field of horology for 20 years with important achievements in design and in the engineering of wristwatches.
The encounter proved to be strategic and was the catalyst of the cooperation between the extraordinary Swiss technical skill and the Italian creativity. The business relationship was sealed in 1988 with the sale of the Nicolet factory in Tramelan to enthusiastic financiers whose commitment was the preservation of Armand Nicolet's tradition and its re-launching. The management of the new activity was entrusted to Mr. Rolando Braga.
In 1990 the new NICOLET was created, a production company in the historic location of Tramelan. In 1992 the NHS SA was established, the holding of the group, located in Zug, Switzerland. With the appropriate structure the business was developped and the know how and production capacity at the factory in Tramelan was recuperated, while the commitment in Italy was to create new lines exalting the extraordinary value of Armand Nicolet craftsmanship with the beauty of design.
The worldwide success was the reason for the continuous growth of the group. Today, watchmakers, technicians, commercial and administrative operators collaborate with the same enthusiasm of the Braga family.
Armand Nicolet's values, passed on from generation to generation, together with the special machinery dating back in some cases to the beginning of the 20th century, are still present and irreplaceable and continue to be used by the Nicolet's watchmakers. The precious artisan savoir faire is alive and dynimic.
The M02 series are among the nicest in the market. The M02 woman chronograph is probably the finest in the world. The L06 watches use the last UT 176 movements produced in 1951.. The new TM7 will probably become one of the nicest Swiss watch.
LINK
- Our Armand Nicolet page