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Josh Hacko, Technical Director, is a fourth-generation watchmaker at Nicholas Hacko Watches. His father Nicholas moved to Australia in the 90s, when the family business focused on servicing, overhauling and repairing other watch brands.
Five years ago, Josh and Nicholas created their own brand of watches, Rebelde, which includes the design, assembly and adjustments of the products.
A huge turning point came two years ago, when the father-son duo decided to manufacture individual watch components themselves, rather than send parts out for sub-contract work. Not only was it complete shift in business model – it also means that Nicholas Hacko Watches are now the only watch company in Australia to manufacture their own parts.
Josh explains that the decision to manufacture their own parts in-house was a “huge learning curve”, so they spent a great deal of time researching the best machinery for the job.
The business needed a machine to enable them to continue producing the highest quality of watches for their customers, with timely and accurate service.
With industry leaders in Switzerland favouring Makino over local Swiss manufacturers, Nicholas Hacko Watches followed suit. Josh says that the outstanding machine specs contributed to their decision to purchase the Makino U32j Wirecut, alongside the machine providing reduced costs due to wire consumption.
Josh says, “before the purchase of our Makino U32j, we were on track to manufacture 50% of the internal components in a watch. With the addition of the Makino U32j, we are much closer to 80/90% vertical integration. Only a handful of watch companies can claim this – maybe 20 worldwide.”
“Our Makino runs 24/7, so it’s always working with complete accuracy, even with no-one manning it. We’re seeing dramatic cost savings, especially for batch work rather than just prototyping. Having our machine up and running is an integral part of the business and we couldn’t function without it.”
Nicholas Hacko Watches needed a fully integrated solution with training throughout the process, which is where Headland came in.
Josh says “finding Headland was the best thing that could have happened for our business. From the start, they invested so much time in our business so the pre-sales element was truly fantastic.”
As a small business, Nicholas Hacko Watches places prime importance on not only the manufacturing of quality components, but the understanding and knowledge behind the practice.
“Headland knew that we were just starting out, so they made sure we fully understood every process possible. Headland also organised for us to spend three days in Singapore for training at the Makino factory, which was critical for us in terms of being able to fully learn about the machine directly from the experts. We then returned to Sydney for another week’s training with a Headland service technician. We had a lot of questions, and he answered absolutely everything we could possibly ask. It just made so much sense for us – you get the speciality and knowledge coupled with the breadth of excellent, prompt service, and I don’t know how much better you can get than that.”
Nicholas Hacko Watches remain the only company in Australia to manufacture their own parts and components. With their fully integrated machinery portfolio, they continue to produce optimum quality watches for their ever-growing customer base
If you’re interested in discussing our range of CNC machinery, wire EDM and more for applications like the above Enquire Now.
