News Established for more than twenty years in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the company Ernest Borel is expanding and returning to its birthplace in the Franches-Montagnes.
In 1997, Raphaël Boillat took over the reins of Ernest Borel under the impulse of Chinese partners. Production, standing at approximately 3,000 timepieces per annum, quickly rose to a level of several tens of thousands in 2008 (around 60,000). Short of space at its site in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the firm decided to acquire an old house in Le Noirmont with a view to installing production capacity on a par with its ambitions. The relocation, which took place last February, marks a return to its origins in the Franches-Montagnes region for the firm founded in 1856 by Jules Borel and Paul Courvoisier.
Fully renovated, the old building houses the firm’s administration, a showroom exhibiting Ernest Borel collections, as well as a conference room where clients from around the world can be made welcome. Adjoining the house and connected by a corridor, a modern workshop meets current production requirements.
This relocation also marks a turning point in the career of Raphaël Boillat, since he has taken this opportunity to hand over the reins to his daughter Nathalie, who at 33 years of age is ready to rise to the challenge. She becomes the CEO of a rapidly expanding company with markets in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, where the “Asia-Pacific” branch of Ernest Borel has developed solid skills and sales networks. The acquisition of new distribution channels is one of the major projects on which Nathalie and her team will be focusing over the next few years.
Combining latest-generation technologies with careful attention to detail, Ernest Borel collections are available in a range of constantly updated models. The firm’s classic timepieces include sports watches and an upmarket range featuring certified chronometers and watches with complications. Employees are constantly busy designing new collections such as the latest in line, the True Love Collection.
It is therefore on deeply rooted foundations in the heart of the Franches-Montagnes, a region of age-old watchmaking expertise, that the firm will now be promoting worldwide the Ernest Borel brand, a guarantor of Swiss made for more than 150 years.
November 23, 2009
