The Escapement Room Interview: Mr. 60%

The following is another in an occasional series of The Escapement Rooms interviews.

Tramelan, Switzerland.

In a small, prefabricated building at 14 Rue des Sucettes is Doilea, S.A., a small but important part of the Swiss watch industry. Its founder, and today seemingly its only employee, Al Doilea sits behind a large desk in a wood paneled office. Behind his desk is a tattered Movado calendar from 1961. Between me and Doilea is a set of clacking balls that he occasionally pauses to set in motion. At 78, he fidgets with a nervous energy. Son of Romanian immigrants, Doilea has lived in Tramelan for most of his life. He has been associated with many of the local watch manufacturers. But for the last twenty years he has been in a very small niche of the industry.

Article 1 of the Ordinance on the Use of “Switzerland” for “Swiss” for Watches sets forth the requirements for what a watch must consist of to bear the Swiss made label. As of 2019, the technical development must be carried out in Switzerland, the movement must be Swiss and cased in Switzerland, the final inspection must be in Switzerland, and most importantly, 60 percent of the manufacturing costs must be incurred in Switzerland. Doilea is there for when the costs fall just short. Doilea can turn 59% to 60% and make your watch Swiss.

ER:  How did you get started in the watch industry?

AD:  I was a foot courier, a floor sweeper, and then a case polisher all over Jura. I did a little of everything. I eventually gravitated to the office jobs. I wasn’t going to hunch over a bench and squint for my whole life.

(At this Doilea chuckles. Doilea speaks surprisingly good Canadian inflected English from his time in Toronto in the 1960’s working for Cardinal Watches. I was told not to mention why he had left Tramelan, but…)

AD: You know why I had to leave Tramelan, right? Those Nicolet girls, they were fighting over me. Sisters, fighting over who gets Al. The Nicolet men were having none of that. No Romanian was marrying into such a prestigious family (Doilea mimics a haughty demeanor). I didn’t want to marry them, goodness. Just a little bit of youthful fun. They were nice girls. Big girls, but nice girls, the older one married a Voumard and had six children. The younger one…(Doilea’s voice trails off.)

So, I go to Canada to sell commie watches. Whole family was commies…was, but also wanted to make money. The brother of that family was the smart one. I worked for the sister and her husband. Could not wait to get back to Tramelan.

ER: How did you find this particular part of the watch business?

AD: (Doilea laughes and leans forward over his desk, he clacks the balls.) Government bureaucrats…set the manufacturing cost total at 50 percent, now 60 percent. Thing is, they never quite make it, the companies. (Doilea puts a finger to the side of his nose.) So, an idea, simple really, one part to put on the watch to make it 60 percent of total cost. Not expensive for some brands, very expensive for others. It depends on the brand.

It came to me in a second. (Doilea looks to see if I get the joke.) We only make second hands. Big ones, small ones, blued ones, some with a point, some with a lollipop, some with lume paint…I don’t make minute hands or hour hands. I leave that to the big boys. If you are at 59% and need to go over the top, I will sell you the hand that guarantees that you are “Swiss Made”.

ER:  Who do you make second hands for?

AD:  Trade secret. Can’t tell. It’s in the contract. Let’s just say that sometimes it might rhyme with “Boris” or “Tall” and let’s just leave it at that. I have worked with all of them, except Armand Nicolet. They hold a grudge, I guess.

ER: How many second hands does Doilea make a year?

AD:  Secrets, all secrets. I have a nice house and car. My children are provided for. I have what I need. It is slow today, but they come in batches, sometimes a hundred, sometimes a thousand. We roll the steel or brass and die cut them. Willy does the hand polishing. Franz does are bluing. Less of that these days. It’s a living.

ER: And how do you get these companies to 60%?

AD: Math. The second hand costs whatever percentage is needed to make the number. Make a mistake elsewhere in the calculation and it can be an expensive second hand. There was a small second, can’t tell you who for, each of those was a 150 € hand, for a small second. A cost estimator lost his job over that one, I bet.

And I bet that you could talk about second hands all day (Doilea winks), but I really do have another appointment.

And with that I am left to go back to the hotel after a brief glance behind the curtain of the Swiss industry. That must have been an expensive small second hand.

(If you have gotten this far you may be wondering: why all that? Some people get wound up about “Swiss-ness” of watches. It is a truly silly thing to care about. Not to go all Thomas Pynchon on you or anything, but “al doilea” is Romanian for “second.” Pynchon, thank G-d, didn’t have Google Translate.)