Henriod SA, alchemy of brilliance, quality under control: nothing suggests from the outside, in the Acacias industrial zone, the generous space available to this Geneva SME with a human face. Read about it in the Swiss watch magazine JSH.

Joël A. Grandjean, JSH Magazine & Swiss-Watch-Passport.ch’s Editor-in-Chief
Follow us: Linkedin – Facebook – Insta JSH – Insta SWP – JSH’s Subscription

This is where Henriod SA has established its extensive galvanic bath facilities. People sometimes come from far and wide to entrust their most precious creations to the hands of this expert in surface coating. Thierry Henriod, assisted by employees whom he has enjoyed training, is keen to pass on his knowledge.

Short visit to the workshops, introductions

Coating surfaces, especially in watchmaking where “doing better than necessary” still inspire those who cherish true values, means combining the useful with the enjoyable: protection against all kinds of corrosion and the visual beautification it provides. Once they’ve been treated, you could never suspect some components have lacked in luster in their initial state.

Workman and boss Thierry Henriod points out a piece whose snow setting, the result of an incredible number of hours and a great deal of dexterity, is now transcended after being soaked in one of those baths whose knowledge is well protected. It takes an infinite amount of respect for the work of others to dare handle such a valuable piece. It also requires years of expertise. All of a sudden, as the piece rises from its bath, all its brilliance is revealed. The brilliance of its diamonds is enhanced by the miracle of undreamt-of luminosity.

Sometimes the parts – complete cases, components of movements, jewellery or tiny elements – are sent back and forth a few times. “We receive them a first time for a two-tone treatment, gilding and the application of a protective varnish, then we send them back for their decoration to be manufactured. They then come back to us for white rhodium treatment,” enthuses Thierry Henriod.

Series? Its mastered art is also expressed in reliable repeatability, in operations, colouring and processes.

He adds that here, while waiting for his company to add other facets of watchmaking finishing to its range of services, almost any treatment is possible: nickel, copper, yellow gold, pink gold, rhodium, silver… And as if to add to the care of his discerning eye, he has invested in the latest generation of ultra-high tech X-ray fluorescence machines for measuring deposit thicknesses.