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Z|magazine 01.2015
Tool size: 0.29 mm
Miniature components are used for manufacturing the valuable
NOMOS Glashütte time pieces. The tools required vary in size
between 0.29 mm and 11.2 mm.
Before the tools are used, they are subject to intensive inspecti-
on with the ZOLLER »smarTcheck«.
The mechanical NOMOS Glashütte watches are world-famous. Absolute pre-
cision is required in the manufacturing of the valuable pieces. The extremely
delicate individual parts used here are manufactured with tools from a size of
0.29 mm upwards. And, of course, they need to operate without a fault – and
this where ZOLLER comes in.
Micro precision inspection and measuring
Things could not be
more accurate!
T
he town of Glashütte in the Erz Mountains is the
Mecca of Germany‘s fine watch makers. Numerous
renowned watch manufacturers are based here, in-
cluding the NOMOS Glashütte watch makers. The company‘s
watches and their timeless design are regular recipients of
awards, for example, the „Watch of the Year“ or the „iF pro-
duct design award“.
The world-famous watches are manufactured with a com-
bination of manual craftsmanship and high-tech. Up to 95 %
of the components are manufactured by the company its-
elf. The tools have to meet the highest demands: „The pre-
cision requirements of the plate alone are 4 µm“, exp-
lains Frank Höhnel, manufacturing technologist at the
watch maker.
Precision requirement: 4 µm
To make the plates, the map for the watch‘s design, up
to 70 different tools from a size of 0.29 mm upwards are
used to manufacture just a single side of the plate. In
order to operate as efficiently as possible with these
micro dimensions and a run time of the milling centers
of up to eight hours per lot, the requirements for the
tool center are correspondingly high.