egid, the “Maison of Evolutionary Watchmaking”, cultivates its French distinction in watchmaking and reveals its new movement: the Specimen FE-01 Calibre.

This automatic mechanical movement, with its robust modern architecture and elite technical specifications, is characterised by French manufacture. While most of Hegid’s watch components are already manufactured in France, the company is now repatriating the production of its calibres from Switzerland, thus contributing to the nation’s reindustrialisation efforts.

The manufacture of the brand’s watches is now concentrated in the French Arc Jurassien, an area renowned for expertise in watchmaking mechanics, and which was recently listed by UNESCO as part of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage.

This new milestone in Hegid’s development is the result of a collaboration with the historic manufacturer France Ebauches, which was recently relaunched by the Festina group, owner of Soprod, an integrated and independent Swiss watchmaking manufacturing company which has been producing calibres for major brands in its workshops since 1966.

Hegid watches are made to evolve, be worn every day, and be inherited by future generations. The Hegid Specimen FE-01 Calibre, developed based on proven Soprod manufactured movements, ensures that the movements in Hegid’s timepieces are solid and manufactured by workshops that can guarantees maintenance for decades. Optimised, it rivals or surpasses its cousins from the other side of the Jura. Its elegant architecture and meticulous finishing enhance its precision and demonstrated durability.

The new mechanical heart of the Hegid capsules beats at a frequency of 4Hz (28800 vibrations/hour) and offers a comfortable 44-hour power reserve. Thanks to fine adjustments, its chronometric performance is in line with the standards of the great Swiss watchmakers (-4s/+6s). In addition to the various shock absorbers incorporated into the design of Hegid capsules and cases, the Specimen FE-01 Calibre features a double-cone Incabloc^® system and a hollowed-out bridge that guarantee unprecedented solidity and stability for its regulating organ. This makes Hegid watches among the most robust on the watchmaking scene.

French craftsmanship and Parisian chic resonate around the world. French watchmaking, currently experiencing a revival, has begun contributing to the country’s creative aura. By offering a watch that can be transformed in a matter of seconds yet last for generations, and by its commitment to national manufacturing, Hegid is striving to become one of the ambassadors of the French watchmaking renaissance that shines on the international stage.

Watchmaking was a French discipline for centuries before being internationalised. France Ebauches was born in 1967 out of a strong industrial demand and grew to become the world’s second-largest manufacturer of mechanical movements. Having failed to adapt to the new competitive environment, France Ebauches shuttered its doors in the 1990s.

Similarly, a large number of French watch companies that once excelled in functional mechanical watchmaking but failed to successfully negotiate the technological shift to quartz and the societal shift to style shared the same fate. In recent years, French watchmaking has regained its prestige driven by a global resurgence of interest in analog technology and by the unique creativity of French watchmakers.

As the French watchmaking industry is adapting and the France Ebauches facilities are being revived, Hegid timepieces are further evolving with the Specimen FE-01 Calibre, the first of its kind in the brand’s catalogue.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

The Specimen FE-01 Calibre

• Type : Self-winding mechanical movement
• Functions : central hours, minutes and seconds, date at 3 o’clock
• Accuracy : -4/+6s per day
• Power reserve : 44 hours

Technologies :

• Incabloc^® double-cone shock absorber with hollowed-out bridge
• Date window, semi-instantaneous
• Quick set date function
• Time setting with stop-second function

Finishes :

• Hollowed-out balance bridge with clear view of the regulating organ
• Gilded, open worked and ’Evolution’ engraved rotor
• Rhodium-plated main plate, engraved with the Hegid monogram and Calibre Specimen FE-01

• Frequency : 4 Hz (28’800 vibrations/heure)
• Number of components : 151
• Number of jewels : 23
• Dimension : 11 ½ ‴
• Manufacture : France