Reuge — "The Art of Mechanical Music"

Company Background and History

Reuge began in 1865 as a manufacturer of pocket watches with musical movements, when watchmaker Charles Reuge settled in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland. Although the luxury music box industry at that time represented only a very small percent of Switzerland's export, Americans soon discovered "the little music" and demand increased.

Answering that demand, Reuge's son Albert opened a small music box "boutique" in Sainte-Croix in 1866, and Reuge evolved from a watch workshop to a real company. In 1930, the third generation of the Reuge dynasty — Guido, Albert, and Henri — built the factory which is still in use today.

By 1950, the Japanese had arrived on the music box scene, and rapidly became very productive, creating a huge challenge for the Swiss manufacturers. Ten years later, even though only about 30 luxury music box manufacturers still existed worldwide, and the industry was declining rapidly, Guido had faith and began escalating production, persuaded that the music box movements had a future in the luxury gift market.

Guido Reuge was right — by 1985, Reuge had become the world leader in deluxe musical movements. The next decade was spent buying up the competition and modernizing the factory. In 2000, Reuge purchased its main musical movement supplier in Italy, a move that gave Reuge complete control over the manufacturing of its music box mechanisms.

From 2001-2007, Reuge went through a total company reconstruction, resulting in brand repositioning, the end of various product lines, a reorganization of the marketing mix, and a change in its Board of Directors. To meet an increased demand, the number of Reuge employees was increased by a full 10%, and today the company employs approximately 85 people.

Reuge is positioned as the market leader in its industry. Reuge music boxes are superior musical instruments, handcrafted with precision and quality to create sound with rich harmonic resonance. Their musical movements are 36-, 72-, and 144-note mechanisms that create some of the world's most beloved melodies.

Making the Musical Movement

The process that creates the musical movements inside the finest music boxes is a complex one, requiring several stages and many craftsmen.

Machining and stamping are the first stages. The brass base plates are shaped in numerically-controlled machines, then stamped from brass or steel to create the mechanical parts that make up the movement.

Combs. The teeth of the combs are machine cut, then the comb is heated and plunged into oil to create a thermal shock. This creates the correct hardness of the comb, and therefore the correct tone. Lead is then soldered underneath the teeth for the bass notes.

The comb is then tuned by computers. Each tooth of the comb has a different frequency, and a grinding wheel files the teeth to the correct frequency. Finally, synthetic dampers are glued underneath the teeth, producing the bass notes to act as a damper and perfect the sound.

The Transfer of the Music Score is the next step, and starts with a piano score. The arranger selects a section of the tune which can be easily recognized and the score is transformed into a computerized file.

The cylinders are drilled by machine, and a 0.25mm diameter steel wire is inserted into the holes. This is called pinning. The computerized file created in the previous step is now inserted into the machines, controlling the drilling/pinning process and determining the positioning of the pins on the cylinder. Each cylinder is visually checked to make sure all pins are in place and straight. Missing or defective pins are corrected with a tiny tool called a poussette (pusher). Plugs are placed at each end of the cylinder and an axle is placed inside. The pins are equalized.

Fixing is the final stage, and the first time we can actually hear a tune. The fixer assembles all the components onto the base-plate and checks the movement. The last step is fixing the comb so that it is exactly opposite the pins, and neither too close or too far from the cylinder. The quality of the completed movement is checked one last time.