News The Basel firm has decided to position itself once more in the mechanical watch segment. Unveiled at Baselworld 2016, the new R150 automatic calibre - a design specific to Ronda - also marks the firm’s 70th anniversary.
A commitment to precision for 70 years
Imbued with Swiss tradition since its creation in 1946, Ronda this year proudly looks back on 70 years of existence. William Mosset, its founder, was driven at a very young age by a pioneering spirit. The entrepreneur developed a number of valuable inventions before forming the company in Lausen, in the Basel countryside, and establishing its first manufacturing workshop.
The family business concentrated initially on designing components for the mechanical calibres of third party companies, before placing its own mechanical movements on the market in 1961. In the mid-1970s, when new quartz technology took the mass market by storm, Ronda chose to align itself with this dynamic change. Due to insufficient demand, the production of mechanical movements came to a complete halt at the end of the 1980s.
Managed for the last thirty years by the family’s second generation, the company today employs a total of 1,800 staff, based in Switzerland and Asia. The group now has five subsidiaries: two production workshops in Ticino, one in the canton of Jura, a manufacturing unit in Thailand and a sales office in Hong Kong.
Uncompromising innovation
Thanks to the optimization of processes and manufacturing systems, product quality improved on a continuous basis. At the same time, every effort was made to expand on the world market. Today, Ronda movements can be found in many timepieces in the middle and higher price segments. Meanwhile, globally renowned brands laying great store by Ronda’s strengths in innovation, quality and customer service, have become steadfast partners.
The R150: a historic step for the future
The aim was to develop an 11 1/2’’’ (25.6 mm) diameter calibre adapted to the mass market. After more than four years of intensive work, the R150 represents a very advanced level of fabrication and is ideally suited to industrial production. This automatic movement has a thickness of 4.4 mm and comprises three hands and a date aperture. It benefits in addition from a power-reserve of 40 hours. Self-winding, with a ball bearing and lever escapement, the R150 beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour.
The proportion of components manufactured in-house at Ronda is very high, enabling the firm to be competitive in terms of costs and to guarantee impeccable quality. The launch of the first movement in the new line of «Mecano» products is scheduled for the end of this year. In the medium term, an increase in production is planned, with a view to producing parts in industrial quantities.
Ronda is therefore the only major independent Swiss manufacturer to sell quartz movements - several million a year - and to offer movements for mechanical watches. This choice reflects the firm’s strategy: to be a significant and attractive partner for watchmakers worldwide, both now and in the decades ahead.
The family business in dates
- 1909 Birth of William Mosset.
- 1946 Ronda registered as a company.
- 1952 Production of the first unfinished movements with pin-pallet or Roskopf escapements, also known as movement blanks.
- 1972 Opening of the firm’s first subsidiary in Hong Kong.
- 1974 Design of the first quartz movement.
- 1996 Ronda has 1,000 employees worldwide. The firm is the first movement manufacturer in Europe to receive ISO 9001 certification.
- 2000-2010 Design of more than thirty movements.
- 2003 Launch of the Startech line.
- 2007 Acquisition of the firm Zwahlen SA in the canton of Jura.
- 2009 Third production site built in Thailand.
- 2013 Design of the Z60, the first 13 1/4’’’ calibre to feature a chronograph function.
April 14, 2016
