Josh Hacko, Technical Director at Nicholas Hacko Watches, is a fourth-generation watchmaker whose father Nicholas moved to Australia in the 1990s.
Back then the family business was focused on servicing, overhauling and repairing other watch brands. Five years ago, Josh and Nicholas created their own brand, Rebelde, which included the design, assembly and adjustment of the products. A huge turning point came two years ago, where the father-son duo decided to manufacture individual watch components themselves, rather than send parts out for sub-contract work. Not only was it a complete business change – it also means that Nicholas Hacko Watches is 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 from Headland Machinery, alongside the machine, providing reduced costs due to wire consumption.
“Before the purchase of our Makino U32j, we were on track to manufacture 50% of the internal components in a watch,” Josh explains. “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.
“Finding Headland was the best thing that could have happened for our business,” Josh says. “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 knows that we were just starting out, so they made sure we fully understood every process possible,” says Josh. 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 remains the only watch company in Australia to manufacture its own parts and components. With a fully integrated machinery portfolio, it continues to produce optimum-quality watches for an ever-growing customer base.