Caveman's Watch Forum

Trip Report - A visit to a clock factory. Post contains photo

Posted By: Ricky Lee McBroom
Date: Saturday, 11 October 2008, at 11:39 p.m.

Part of my recent business trip to Europe was to perform a supplier audit at Moser-Baer AG in Sumiswald, Switzerland. This is just north of the Swiss Alps...

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'tis also the exact area where the famous Emmental cheeses originate.

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Beautiful country, it is!

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Moser-Baer is primarily an OEM manufacturer of specialty clocks under the MobaTime brand, particularly railway clocks (they are the exclusive supplier of clocks to the Swiss, German, French and Italian railway systems). However, they also do contract machining on high-precision components such as missile systems and medical targeting devices. That's my good friend Erwin Birk on the way to the front door..

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Right outside the front door. The white-faced clock, of course, is the classic (and patented) Swiss Railway design. Like so.

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The owner-president of the company, Herr Urs Moser, is a most personable gentleman of some 65 to 70 years. He was wearing a wristwatch of the same design and, being familiar with ChrisL's Mondaine, I thought I had it pegged. So over drinks that evening I said "Pardon Herr Moser, but I notice your wristwatch has the Swiss Railway look. It is a Mondaine, no?"

His eyes lit up and he responds with "Nein! But how is it you know of Mondaine? Are they more common in America than I realize?" I was forced to admit that, no, they are not well known, and to explain my WIS affliction. He understood perfectly, as he's something of a WIS, too. (Doh! He owns a clock factory! :-) ) We discussed watches at some length. Turns out he knows the owner of Mondaine personally. He told me that Mondaine pays a license fee to the Swiss railway for the use of the design, but that he himself does not because Moser-Baer helped develop the design. Good thing, too, as his wristwatch was a 'cheap give-away' (his words!) quartz bearing the MobaTime logo.

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Note that these are not standalone clocks, but rather a Distributed Time System. There is a central Time Server - the rack of electronics seen in the latter photo - and all the clocks are slaved to it.

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The master syncs to atomic time via GPS and/or radio, and the slave units can vary widely in design, as in the digital units seen above.

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Above and following are some interesting vintage pieces from their under-construction museum.

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That's the tail unit of a Hellfire missile in the lower right corner

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And now, into the factory itself;

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No, it's not what I expected a clock factory to look like, either. Laughing Out Loud

But then these are industrial clocks, so...

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This monster on the test bench is, believe it or not, merely medium-sized by MobaTime's standards. Their largest clock is 9 meters in diameter. That's 27 feet, good people! Eeeeek!

The back view..

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..shows the movement, and the beautiful CNC milling on the hands.

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And, yes, there was a preponderance of watch shops...

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This one was right across the street from MobaTime's factory. BTW, I've always been a little confused about the meaning of 'uhren', whether it meant 'clocks' or 'watches'. The Lead Engineer, Ueli Soltermann, assures me that it is used for both. How efficient! Thumbs up!

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I was quite temted by this group of Certinas. Smiling But, as you can see, the prices are quite high. Frowning

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I found these Boccia offerings to be quite pleasing, too.

So there you have it. The tour of MobaTime, and particularly Herr Moser's hospitality, turned what could have been a dreary business trip into an experience I'll remember all my life. Thumbs up!

And, yes, there are a couple of stories I've omitted for brevity (no, really! Laughing. ). More later, perhaps...

Hope you enjoyed it!

-Ricky


A visit to a clock factory.
Posted by Ricky Lee  October 11, 2008 05:39PM

Very cool, Ricky! I find it interesting >>
Posted by Dave Murphy  October 13, 2008 07:47AM

>>that in your factory pictures, there is a much different view out the windows. Many of our factories do not even have windows! Factories in many parts of Europe can be next door to a watch shop, or even residential neighborhoods. And the factory itself might be an older building, perhaps a couple of hundred years old.

Great shots and story.

Funny you should mention that! Here's a couple of better photos...
Posted by Ricky Lee  October 13, 2008 04:51PM

...showing the view the lucky MobaTime workers enjoy.

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Same view, basically, but zoomed in a bit...

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I was struck by the same thought; "Wow! Windows! And better yet, an actual view! :-)

Another good thing from my perspective (though others may not agree Laughing! ) is that you can smoke in the shop area.

-Ricky


Nice Job, Ricky! Thumbs up! Great Post contains photos (n/t)
Posted by MCV  October 12, 2008 04:40PM

Great report; very much enjoyed that! Thumbs up! (n/t)
Posted by bjornkeizers  October 12, 2008 11:23AM

Brilliant report! Thanks! (n/t)
Posted by cgrif  October 12, 2008 10:52AM

Super post Ricky. Cool networked clock system Thumbs up! (n/t)
Posted by chrise2469  October 11, 2008 10:58PM

Superb post Ricky!! Applause Great stuff and great pictorial. Thanks! (n/t)
Posted by Kelly  October 11, 2008 09:50PM

awesome stuff ricky.. very cool! (n/t)
Posted by anjizkit  October 11, 2008 09:02PM

Wow Ricky way cool and thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (n/t)
Posted by Mark C.  October 11, 2008 08:40PM

Thank You Sir!!! Looks like you had a great time!!! Smiling (n/t)
Posted by Jeff T  October 11, 2008 08:30PM

Cool, man.Cool, man. Next best thing to being there! Thumbs up!  Smiling (n/t)
Posted by JohnnyT  October 11, 2008 06:56PM

That was one cool read and a great post. Thks Rick! (n/t)
Posted by RussMurray  October 11, 2008 06:35PM

What a wonderful story! I envy you!Drooling over that watch! (n/t)
Posted by Remy Bosio  October 11, 2008 06:00PM

Cool Post RL Thumbs up! Thank you! for sharing (n/t)
Posted by SoCalWis  October 11, 2008 05:51PM

Thumbs up! Ricky, thanks for that. It helps me know even a small amount more about my watch. Smiling
Posted by Chris L  October 11, 2008 05:48PM

I do love my Mondaine. It gets a close #4 rank in my collection right behind my Traser Classic Automatic. :)
Chris Larson

Chris Larson

I do love my Mondaine. It gets a close #4 rank in my collection right behind my Traser Classic Automatic. :)

Chris Larson

Chris Larson

Behind the Traser? Dang! No offense, but I'd put it a country mile ahead! } Smiling
Posted by Ricky Lee  October 11, 2008 06:44PM

BTW, I'd never seen the Post contains photo of the back. Thumbs Up! Awesome!

Some might sneer at a brass-cased watch, but the fact is it's a very efficient way of making a watch case. And interesting to me in a professionally historic way, ye ken? I mean, I've already CNC-machined me own cases, right? So I'm thinkin' that next I want to CNC machine me own watch case DIES, and metal-injection-mold me next batch of watch cases. Laughing!

The serindipitous thing is, I also have access to a hard-chrome plating system. So I MIM the brass cases, polish them, then apply the hard chrome. Another fortuitous thing - hard chrome gives a very fine satin matte finish. Never seen what it'd look like on a watch for sure, but my gut feeling is that given I love beadblast-finished watches, it'd be gorgeous! Thumbs Up!

Glad you enjoyed the post, mate.

-Ricky

Re: Trip Report - A visit to a clock factory. (n/t)
Posted by Ricky Lee  October 11, 2008 05:42PM

Ah, crap. Sorry guys.. don't quite have this new interface sussed out yet. Laughing. (n/t)
Posted by Ricky Lee  October 11, 2008 05:45PM

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