Ébauche is the term for a watch movement that is unfinished or not yet put together, along with the parts that go with it. Specialist firms make ébauches and sell them to other watch companies. Starting from one spares a brand from designing a movement from scratch, which saves time and money.
What does an ébauche include?
Today an ébauche is a jewelled movement. It arrives without its regulating parts, its mainspring, its dial or its hands. The escapement, balance and hairspring are also left out. The watch company that buys it adds these parts and completes the movement. The parts of a watch that fall outside the ébauche have their own name: the assortiment. Put the ébauche and the assortiment together and you have the whole watch.
How has the ébauche changed?
Before about 1850, an ébauche was a simple thing. It was basically two plates held apart by pillars and bars, with a few other parts. The trade around it has also changed. Firms such as A. Schild and Peseux once made ébauches. Many makers have closed down in recent decades. Nearly all of those still working now belong to ETA, which is part of the Swatch Group.
Which watches use ébauches?
Ébauches are not tied to one kind of watch. They sit inside basic models, and they also sit inside high-end pieces with advanced complications. Tudor is one brand whose watches use them. In each case the ébauche is a starting point, not the finished article. The brand takes the movement as supplied, adds the missing parts and completes the watch itself.
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