Two quick snips of the scissors into a piece of leather? Far from it!

The process is far more complex and involves up to 100 different operations.

In addition to the leather itself, there are synthetic inserts, untearable paper, linings, stitching holes, etc.
The various parts are made by classic machining, moulding, cutting, stamping with a hollow punch, or cutting with a water jet at a 3’000-bar pressure able to slice through virtually any material.  

The layers thus obtained are glued and the edges are turned.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, come the stitching and heat embossing.

 This functional and aesthetic model, also known as a flange, is so slender and fragile that it might have discouraged our gemsetter. He nonetheless brilliantly rose the challenge. The gemset zone is barely one millimetre thick!

This is how the bridges and inner bezel look once they are fitted together. All that remains are the finishing and colouring processes.

This operation is classic, but the material used for the bezel requires all the skill of a good gemsetter. It is made of titanium, which is thus harder and less malleable than gold.