Posted on

NOMOS accepted into the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie!

CONGRATS!

Good news for Nomos Glashütte this month:  have been accepted into the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) – and the timepieces of the German brand are now also available in Switzerland through prestigious retailer Bucherer.

What is the FHH?

The FHH was created in 2005 and founded by three partners: the Richemont Group, Audemars Piguet and Girard Perregaux. They decided to create a foundation to promote the values of Fine Watchmaking worldwide. There are now five permanent members, including a President, who set guidelines for the Cultural Council composed of 42 members working in different areas of expertise.

The FHH has four core missions:

  • Inform: Informing the public about fine watchmaking with exhibitions, publications, and on-line presence.
  • Train: Training watch professionals, not only the sales people, but also the artisans mastering the crafts that define Haute Horlogerie by delivering a full program of training, from beginner to expert level.
  • Recognize: Acting as a reference for the profession particularly with the help of the White Paper.
  • Organize: The FHH is the organizer of the renowned Salon de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), which takes place in Geneva every year, Waches & Wonders in Miami, Dubai Watch Week and more. All major events in the watchmaking industry.

Nomos just has been accepted into the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie, joining the most prestigious names in watchmaking.

Fabienne Lupo, Chairwomen of the FHH minimatikal White Paper Nomos
Fabienne Lupo, Chairwomen of the FHH – photo credit: lepoint.fr

The WHITE PAPER: What does fine watchmaking mean exactly?

At the creation of the FHH, a Manifesto was produced, detailing the principles of Fine Watchmaking. But it wasn’t as precise as it needed to be. In 2013, the FHH decided to neatly define Fine Watchmaking and give objective evaluation criteria for the brands. It took three years and the help of 46 international independent experts to finish this reference manual. To define the perimeter of Fine Watchmaking, the brands are selected according to 7 areas of expertise:

  • R&D, production and technical expertise
  • Style, design and artistic expertise
  • History and DNA
  • Distribution and after-sales service
  • Connoisseurs and collectors
  • Brand image and communication
  • Training

The brands are then classified into 4 fundamental Fine Watchmaking segments :

Historic Maisons: Watchmaking companies that perpetuate a tradition and a heritage.

Contemporary Brands: Brands which belong to the present day and are characteristic of modern times.

Luxury Brands: Multi-product luxury brands which invest in the art of technical and/or precious Fine Watchmaking with creativity, innovation and excellence.

Artisan-Creators: Independent watchmakers/creators who draw on specific expertise and who generally carry out the manufacturing, sale and after-sales service of their products.

For the first edition of the White Paper in 2016, 86 brands were evaluated and 64 entered the precious Perimeter of Fine Watchmaking. This evaluation will be repeated every 2 to 3 years to stay current with developments in the industry.

Regarding the evaluation method,: brands with a final score of above 6/10 are considered part of Fine Watchmaking (this practice lies on an objective evaluation per area of expertise, with a score from 1 to 10. In addition, an individual general appreciation with a subjective evaluation of the brand from 1 to 10). -> more info

In a nutshell, the White Paper aims to be a reference for the future and maintain the level of excellence in Fine Watchmaking by evaluating the coherence between what a brand says and what it does.

NOMOS AND THE FHH

Back in 2016, after the first publication of the White Paper, we were very surprised that Nomos wasn’t accepted in the perimeter of Fine Watchmaking. After a private talk with a permanent member of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, we found out that the brand had a great final score and was very close to be accepted. After a good talk about the evaluation method of the reference manual, the conversation had to start again one year later, when Nomos has finally been accepted into the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie as a perimeter brand (meaning not a sponsoring partner).

What caused this revaluation remains between NOMOS and the FHH;  the results are strictly confidential and not published or shared with third parties. We do however know that a delegation visited Glashütte in November of 2017 and was quite pleased with what they saw. “The spirit, the simplicity and the watches” convinced them all, and Nomos is now a well-deserved member of the perimeter of Haute Horlogerie under the category Contemporary Brands. Biggest congratulations from Team Minimatikal!

The launch in Switzerland with Bucherer

As good news never come alone, Nomos just revealed that their timepieces are now available with Bucherer Jewellers in Switzerland. Following Bucherer’s locations in Germany, Bucherer Switzerland is now launching the innovative brand in Jelmoli on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse.

Uwe Ahrendt Nomos CEO minimatikal white paper

Uwe Ahrendt is delighted: “It is a real recognition of our brand, since Switzerland is considered to be watchmaking’s ‘large canton’.”

Bucherer is a renowned watch and jewellery store that was founded in 1888 by Carl-Friedrich Bucherer in Luzerne, Switzerland. 16 Bucherer stores are located across Switzerland. A great opportunity for the German brand that only had 6 official retailers in Switzerland before this announcement.