The atelier
Orvell is one watchmaker, Élie Orvell, and one bench on the second floor of a former music-box factory in Sainte-Croix.
Why one bench
Élie trained at the watchmaking school in Sainte-Croix and spent eleven years restoring pocket watches before drawing a movement of his own. He still makes every part himself, from the plates to the screws.
Working alone keeps the number small and the standard fixed. It also means the person who answers your email is the person who will make your watch.
The drawing index: six sheets, about 450 hours.
Sheet 1 of 6
About 120 hours
Drawing
Every part is drawn to the hundredth of a millimetre before any metal is cut. The drawings become the plan for the whole watch.
Sheet 2 of 6
About 90 hours
Cutting
Plates and bridges are cut from German silver, wheels from brass and pinions from hardened steel. Teeth are cut one wheel at a time.
Sheet 3 of 6
About 160 hours
Finishing
Geneva stripes, perlage, bevelled and polished edges, blued screws. None of it is needed to keep time. All of it is done by hand.
Sheet 4 of 6
About 40 hours
Assembly
Around 130 parts go together under a loupe. Each jewel is pressed in and each screw is tightened to its own setting.
Sheet 5 of 6
About three weeks
Regulation
The watch runs on a timing machine in five positions and at three temperatures until it holds its rate within a few seconds a day.
Sheet 6 of 6
About one week
Casing and delivery
The movement is cased, the case is sealed and pressure-tested, and you collect the watch from the atelier or we bring it to you.