31/05/2026
Your luxury watch contains rubies.
Not for decoration. For precision.
Back in the 1700s, watchmakers faced a major problem… friction. Steel pivots rotating inside metal holes created wear, poor accuracy, and constant repairs.
Then came Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, who pioneered the use of ruby jewel bearings, dramatically reducing friction inside a movement.
Almost 200 years later, Auguste Verneuil made the next breakthrough by creating the world’s first commercially successful lab grown rubies, allowing high quality jewel bearings to be produced at scale.
More than 300 years later, the world’s finest mechanical watches still rely on the same innovation.
Did you already know what watch jewels actually do?
