Art de l’Anglage
Workshop & training
Français FR English EN Deutsch DE Italiano IT Português PT

Alexandra Schmitz · Art de l’Anglage · Les Brenets

Alexandra Schmitz, craftswoman and trainer in Les Brenets.

Since 2006, Alexandra Schmitz has built a finishing eye trained on the component, at the bench and on screen.

Jewellery, watch decoration, control, training and workshop responsibilities: each step sharpened her way of seeing, correcting and transmitting.

“I prefer a precise correction to a long phrase. When the student sees the gap, the correction can really begin.”

A journey that matters

A path that sharpened her way of teaching.

Alexandra’s path explains her teaching: start from the component, name the exact gap, correct immediately, then check whether the gesture holds.

01 Jewellery foundation

The material is already teaching the eye.

At MATY and then in a jewellery workshop, Alexandra works on creation, stone setting, repairs, soldering, ring sizing and polishing. Before watchmaking, there is already a relationship to the material, to the trace left by the tool and to surface condition.

In training, this comes through in the attention paid to the support, the pressure and the surface condition.

Year
2005
Places
  • MATY Jeweller
  • Jewellery workshop
What takes root
  • Respect for the material
  • Reading surfaces
  • Precision of gesture
Jewellery Jewellery making Polishing
02 Entering the workshop

The gesture enters the workshop.

At Compagnie Horlogère Locloise SA, anglage and watch decoration become part of everyday work. The gesture is then measured against pace, consistency and inspection. This still matters in the way she teaches: one isolated success is not enough, it has to be repeatable cleanly.

The gesture starts to show in consistency, not in effect.

Period
2006–2009
Places
  • Laser Automation
  • Compagnie Horlogère Locloise SA
What grows stronger
  • Workshop rigour
  • Consistency of gesture
  • Sense of responsibility
Workshop Rigour Responsibility
03 Consolidation

The eye becomes sharper.

Decotech, JBH and then José Lopes refine the eye: varied finishes, inspection, training new collaborators. Correction becomes more precise: where the deviation lies, why it appears, and how to take it back without blurring the rest.

The more precise the eye becomes, the less correction needs long explanations.

Period
2009–2019
Stages
  • Decotech
  • JBH
  • José Lopes
What becomes clearer
  • Stricter reading
  • More targeted correction
  • Bench-to-bench training
Finishing Inspection Teaching
04 Entrepreneurial chapter

Structuring an activity without losing the concrete.

Between 2019 and 2021, Alexandra co-managed a commercial activity in Guadeloupe. This stage strengthened her sense of organisation, client relations and offer clarity — three useful dimensions in structuring Art de l’Anglage.

Its contribution is not read on the component. It is read in the clarity of the exchanges and decisions.

Period
2019–2021
Activity
  • Co-management of a commercial activity in Guadeloupe
  • Offer development and client follow-up
  • Daily management and organisation
What it brings
  • Entrepreneurial mindset
  • Clearer offer
  • Attention to the client’s real need
Entrepreneurship Co-management Structuring
05 Practice + teaching

The part and teaching come together.

At Inhotec and then Swissmec, the part and teaching come together. This is where the method truly becomes clear: demonstrate, make them observe, make them do it again, correct without delay. Learning no longer floats around the gesture; it rests on the part, its defects, its corrections and the expected result.

You do not learn anglage in the abstract. You learn it from what the work reveals.

Period
2021–2025
Places
  • Inhotec
  • Swissmec
  • Art de l’Anglage founded in 2025
What becomes clear
  • Real practice on actual parts
  • Immediate correction
  • Teaching tied to the result achieved
Part Training Founded 2025
06 Current framework

Giving the method a clear form.

With Art de l’Anglage, Alexandra gives this method a clear form: small groups, attention to each part, followed rework and named gaps. The journey is no longer a series of steps. It becomes a stable framework for learning seriously.

This project does not promise an atmosphere. It relies on precise reading, clear correction and visible criteria.

Today
Art de l’Anglage
Art de l’Anglage today
  • Les Brenets
  • Small groups
  • Enthusiasts, professionals, companies
What it makes possible
  • Teach without dilution
  • Follow rework closely
  • Maintain a clear standard
Les Brenets Teaching Small groups
What this journey shaped

What years at the bench change in the training.

Over time, the training became simpler in form and more demanding in substance: observe more accurately, correct more clearly, and connect each gesture to an observable result.

01

Observe before correcting.

When a line drifts or a reflection breaks, correction begins with accurate observation. It avoids vague instructions and mechanical gestures.

02

Name the deviation precisely.

Correction is not about starting everything again when the issue comes from pressure, angle or width. It has to be exact, otherwise it exhausts without helping progress.

03

Connect the gesture to real quality.

A finish does not live on its own. It must be even, defensible and compatible with the standard expected all the way to the final client.

Workstations, binocular microscopes and tools in the Art de l’Anglage workshop in Les Brenets
Workshop & tools

A workshop designed to see, hold and correct the component.

In Les Brenets, the working space serves one priority: making the gesture readable. The workshop brings together what is needed for hand bevelling, micromotor work, reworking and checks on real components.

The workstation remains deliberately concrete: the component is positioned, the support is chosen, the work is observed under magnification, then corrected until the reflection and the width tell the same story.

See precisely.

Binocular microscopes, a high-definition camera and a 4K screen make the component readable in real time: pressure, trajectory, reflection, width and reworking areas become visible as the gesture happens.

Hold and adapt.

Supports, holding balls, component holders and 3D-printed supports help stabilise specific components, including certain wheels or geometries that are difficult to hold cleanly.

Work the gesture.

Files, cabrons, micromotors, diamond points and satin-finishing equipment are used to work on surface states, drawn strokes, reworking and regularity.

Keep the rhythm.

Compressed air, a clear workstation and a rest area — coffee, microwave and breaks — support clean work without adding unnecessary fatigue.

Hand bevelling on a watchmaking component at Art de l’Anglage
Work in direct contact with the component: support, light and control of the reflection.
Alexandra Schmitz working with a binocular microscope, camera and 4K screen
The component is observed through a high-definition camera so the gesture can be corrected precisely.
Teaching principles

What guides the training, in concrete terms.

These principles are short because they need to stay operational. They are there to help the work become cleaner, with a result one can genuinely stand behind.

They also say what I refuse: no theatrical pressure, no posturing, no vague tolerance on the part.

“When I observe a part, I look first at the line, the width and the reflection. When I correct a gesture, I look for the exact deviation before asking someone to start again.”

Principles that hold.

Simple principles, applied on the part.

  • See before going fast. The right pace comes after accurate observation.
  • Name the deviation exactly. A vague instruction produces a vague gesture.
  • Correct straight away. Do not let a defect settle through repetition.
  • Make the gesture reliable. Getting it right once is not enough.
  • Connect the gesture to real quality. The result remains the final judge.

What I refuse in training.

  • Unnecessary pressure that blocks the eye.
  • Authority posturing that crushes instead of clarifies.
  • Shortcuts that create the illusion of a standard.
  • Tolerated approximation on the part.
  • Letting someone repeat for too long without clear correction.

Rigour does not need theatre. It needs precision, calm and honesty about the result.

Natural next step

You now know where this method comes from.

The Training page helps you choose the framework that best fits your level and your objective. Bookings then give you the next available dates.

View availability
Choose a training course