23/06/2023

Development of our watch kits

January 2020- november 2021

After more than a year and a half of challenging work and energy, we are enormously proud to have developed the first all-in-one Swiss watch kit. Aimed at both novices and watchmaking enthusiasts, this unique assembly kit has been travelling the globe since November 2021! A look back at this achievement.

The origin: a desire for accessibility

At Initium, we are committed to wearing Swiss watchmaking proudly and promoting its history and technicality. This is why, since 2015, we have been offering introductory courses to design and assemble your manual or automatic watch.

Given the increasing demand from abroad combined with the impossibility for some people to visit our workshops in Switzerland, either because of the long distance or the sometimes-unstable health situation, we had the idea at the beginning of the year 2020 to make an assembly kit.

Thanks to the latter, which includes video tutorials, tools and components, anyone is now able to assemble their Swiss watch from home.

A succession of stages

Between the formulation of this idea and its realization, many steps followed one another.

The tool order

First of all, we defined, tested, validated and ordered a very large panel of high quality tools – screwdrivers, tweezers, movement holders, bells, etc. Not forgetting the famous Micros (watchmaker’s magnifying glass), one of the emblematic objects of the watchmaker, manufactured in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

We have also developed two 3D printing tools for the installation of dials and hands to help the uninitiated to take up the challenge of assembling a watch by themselves.

The design of the case

Once the tooling was defined and ordered, we looked for suppliers capable of designing a quality custom watchmaker’s case.

After several prototypes, we got what we wanted: a top-of-the-range bag, in blue vegan leather or black imitation leather, with different compartments.

The creation of video tutorials

With the complete prototype of the kit defined, we set about the next crucial step in this project: the creation of video tutorials.

The challenge was to create tutorials that were precise enough, but not too long, so that everyone could follow the steps involved in assembling their watch.

To do this, we created a script taking into account each step to be carried out, based on our five years of customer experience in our workshops. Moreover, we opted for a rhythm allowing the “apprentice” watchmakers to realize the beginning of each step in parallel to the reading of the video.

We also hired a new watchmaker, fluent in French and English, for this innovative project. As the technical manager of the kits, he is also responsible for their evolution in order to constantly improve the customer experience.

Wishing to use an emblematic place as a setting for the videos, we made a part of them in the Watch Box Museum in Le Noirmont, in the Swiss Jura. The final result was obtained after ten intense days of shooting and almost as much editing!

The creation of the platform

Once the videos were created and edited, we had to build the web platform dedicated to the kit and hosting the tutorial videos – a technical step as much as it was important to get the videos to load properly from anywhere in the world.

The platform also hosts a “community” area including a discussion forum allowing those concerned to exchange with each other and to ask us questions in case of difficulty.

Knowing that the owners of the kits will assemble their watch remotely, it was essential to redouble our efforts and ingenuity to optimize the customer experience!

The development of the communication strategy

In order to market our kits, we developed an active 360° communication strategy targeted at potential customers from all over the world.

Communication during our courses, creation of blog content, digital advertisements, and press articles, all means were mobilised to achieve an efficient communication campaign to match our kits.