Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier Unveils the VMF 5500, ts Upgraded Micro-Rotor Movement

As the EPHJ Geneva trade fair, the major annual gathering dedicated to precision industries, including watchmaking, medtech and high-tech manufacturing, approaches (from 16 – 19 June), several suppliers exhibiting at the show have started unveiling their latest developments. Among them is Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, a movement maker well known to regular readers of MONOCHROME Watches, now introducing a new ultra-thin micro-rotor calibre, the VMF 5500, which comes with several upgrades compared to its previous offering.

Part of the watchmaking division of the Sandoz Family Foundation and partly owned by Hermès, which holds a 25% stake in the company, Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier occupies a rather unique position in the Swiss watch industry supplier landscape. The manufacture has built its reputation on the production of high-end mechanical movements distinguished by their quality, reliability and industrial consistency.

Over the past several years, and particularly since 2020, the company has also reinforced its commitment to long-term durability and serviceability. All newly developed calibres are now engineered and homologated with a 10-year durability target, while clients benefit from an 8-year service guarantee for movements developed after that date. This long-term philosophy has become one of the defining aspects of Vaucher’s industrial strategy. The manufacture also stands out for the flexibility and agility of its production capabilities, made possible by a highly modern industrial infrastructure and advanced machinery. Furthermore, Vaucher can rely on the expertise of its sister company Atokalpa – also part of the Sandoz Family Foundation’s watchmaking division – notably for regulating organs and precision turning operations.

The profile of Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier and the quality of its products are such that many watch brands openly highlight the origin of their movements when powered by a Vaucher calibre, which is not always the usual practice in the industry… As a result, despite production volumes remaining relatively modest compared to the overall Swiss watch industry, the manufacture enjoys credibility and recognition among knowledgeable collectors and enthusiasts.

Its client portfolio also speaks volumes about the perceived quality of Vaucher’s work. Longstanding and important partners include brands such as Richard Mille, Hermès, Parmigiani Fleurier – another company linked to the Sandoz Family Foundation’s watchmaking division – as well as Audemars Piguet, TAG Heuer, Gérald Charles, Urwerk and many others.

Vaucher’s movement portfolio remains relatively compact. Rather than attempting to cover every segment of the market, the company has chosen to focus on areas where it can offer genuine expertise and competitiveness. Its catalogue includes classic automatic calibres, micro-rotor movements, tourbillons and chronographs. Among the most complex products are split-seconds chronograph movements supplied to brands such as TAG Heuer, Richard Mille and Parmigiani Fleurier. More recently, one of the manufacturer’s most innovative developments was the remarkable TH20-08 Evergraph chronograph movement developed in collaboration with TAG Heuer.

Coming now to the movement that interests us today, the new VMF 5500 may not be entirely new after all. In reality, it succeeds the VMF 5400, Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier’s previous ultra-thin micro-rotor calibre, which has served as one of the pillars of the manufacture’s offering for more than a decade and has powered many of Parmigiani’s watches, including the recent Tonda PF micro-rotor.

With the VMF 5500, however, Vaucher has undertaken a complete redesign of the calibre, deeply optimising virtually every aspect of the movement in line with the durability and quality objectives mentioned earlier – namely the 10-year homologation target and the 8-year service guarantee offered to clients. Importantly, the idea was to retain identical dimensions, fixing points and stem height in order to ensure full interchangeability with the VMF 5400. The new calibre thus maintains the same 30mm diameter and an ultra-thin height of just 2.6mm in its no-date configuration, allowing existing clients using the VMF 5400 to integrate the VMF 5500 without modifications to their watch cases or overall construction.

Beyond these unchanged dimensions, however, the movement itself has evolved considerably. The entire kinetic chain has been reworked, starting with the barrel. Both the barrel architecture and the mainspring have been extensively optimised, resulting in a substantial increase in power reserve from 45 hours to 65 hours. The gear train and tooth profiles have also been completely redesigned, leading to a full reconsideration of the movement’s energy management. Considerable work has also been carried out on the materials used for each component, including the elimination of lead from the manufacturing process. Lubrication and epilame treatments have also been comprehensively revised in order to improve long-term reliability and stability. Made by Atokalpa, the 3Hz regulating organ itself remains based on the same variable-inertia architecture found in the VMF 5400, featuring a metallic hairspring and a balance wheel regulated through gold inertia blocks.

Finally, an important aspect of the VMF 5500 lies in its extensive customisation capabilities. Thanks to the manufacture’s modern machine park and the elimination of stamped components previously used on a few parts of the VMF 5400, Vaucher can now offer a significantly higher degree of aesthetic and technical customisation to brands interested in the calibre.

For more information, please visit vauchermanufacture.ch.