GMTI: from encasing to caliber development
Watchmakers Nicolas Commergnat and Sébastien Billières came to have“gold-fingers” having worked for some of the sector’s big names. They then became watchmaking trainers at Ifage and afterwards became partners. Will they eventually create their own brand?
By Joel Grandjean
Editor-in-Chief
Do they share the same life? Nicolas Commergnat and Sébastien Billières have been inseparable since they graduated from the “Ecole d’Horlogerie de Genève”. They both became teachers and, armed with faith that moves mountains, a healthy ambition and hard work, they became entrepreneurs. Their company GMTI SA stands for ‘Geneva Made Time Industrial’.
Polyvalent, reactive and unique production workshops
They have always known how to choose their entourage so they always had the right people to delegate and to trust. This enabled them to establish several successful watchmaking companies. Proof of this are their prestigious clients and the continuous expansion of their premises in Vernier.
It all started when a renowned Genevan brand hired them to make corrections, after which their company naturally moved onto encasing. Sometime later, they built another workshop dedicated to Haute Horlogerie. The extraordinary R&D department of the think tank was capable of dealing with complications and the development and production of in-house calibers. And that is how their manufacture was created. They were able to consider new diversifications thanks to a collection of varied and complementary skills combined with intelligently built machinery and with the hands of either experts or patiently trained people.
A range of in-house calibers already completed
New companies will be created in the future; they will be able to benefit from this amazing production tool that works perfectly in the T1, T2 and T3 phases. It has also already made a name for itself through its excellent decorations and its electroplating. More versions of in-house calibers were added to GMTI’s caliber range thanks to the constant effort they put in development. Those are positive outlooks for the company. And what if, in the near future, they decided to undertake design and development for one or more watchmaking brands? The company could certainly be up to the challenge, but only time will tell…
The great creators of complications in Swiss horology
By Joel Grandjean
, Editor-in-Chief
In the process of pitting themselves countless times against the most prestigious watchmaking complications, some watchmakers ended up inventing and innovating...