About us

Pierhor SA was founded in 1899, making it the oldest jewel-bearing factory still in operation. Since its inception, it has specialised in ruby production for watches, supplying major Swiss watchmaking brands.

Gasser-Ravussin SA was founded in 1927 and was a pioneer in ruby and sapphire laser machining. It also specialised in jewel-bearing production, as well as diversifying into non-watchmaking activities.

The year 2017 marked the beginning of a new adventure for these two companies, which the Acrotec Group acquired. In 2018, the two companies merged at the former Pierhor SA production site in Ecublens to become Pierhor-Gasser SA. This new, independent entity pools over 200 years of expertise in supplying the watchmaking industry. In addition, Pierhor-Gasser guarantees a 100% Swiss-made product.

The primary materials we manufacture are synthetic single crystals such as ruby, sapphire and spinel, as well as technical ceramics. These materials have the quality of having hardnesses ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 Vickers. Mastering the manufacturing techniques that we develop allows us to achieve accuracies of a few microns. We can also machine holes with a diameter of 0.05 mm and perform external cylindrical grinding of 5 mm parts. These same processes enable us to achieve surface finishes of a few nanometres, as required by the systems that incorporate them. This is a unique expertise.