Alexandra Schmitz · Art de l’Anglage · Les Brenets

A path shaped into a workshop method.

Since 2006, Alexandra Schmitz has approached anglage as a complete reading of the component: geometry, function, intervention zone, width, reflection and edge control.

From jewellery to watch decoration and high-end subcontracting workshops, she has worked with demanding components, strict specifications and finishes where each zone involves aesthetics, mechanics and control at once.

“Light does not lie. It shows straight away what the hand needs to correct.”

A journey that matters

A path that sharpened her way of teaching.

The path is not chronology for its own sake: it explains a method. Different workshops, different criteria, then the same necessity: train the eye as much as the hand.

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, she is already learning to read material, the trace left by the tool and surface condition.

Pressure, support and surface are never secondary.

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 everyday work. The gesture is measured against pace, consistency and inspection: 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 sharpen the eye: varied finishes, inspection, watchmaking subcontracting and training new collaborators. The work brings demanding components and expectations from high-level watchmaking houses, with little room for vagueness.

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

Period

2009–2019

Stages

Decotech
JBH
José Lopes

Demands encountered

Strict specifications
High-level subcontracting
Targeted bench-to-bench correction

Finishing Inspection Subcontracting

04 Entrepreneurial chapter

Structuring an activity without losing the concrete.

Between 2019 and 2021, Alexandra co-managed a commercial activity in Guadeloupe. The stage is away from the bench, but it strengthens organisation, client relations and the precision of a working frame — all useful 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
Client listening and 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 component and teaching come together. Retouching, polishing, satin-finishing and inspection become points of transmission: show, make the student observe, make them repeat, correct without waiting.

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 Today

Giving the method a clear form.

With Art de l’Anglage, this method takes a simple form: small groups, close monitoring of retouches, photo portfolio and named deviations. The profiles supported — enthusiasts, professionals and companies — learn to keep a component under observation through a real sequence of work.

The deviation appears, is named, then corrected at the bench.

Today

Art de l’Anglage

Art de l’Anglage today

Les Brenets
21 profiles trained or supported
Enthusiasts, professionals, companies

What it makes possible

Teach without dilution
Follow rework closely
Maintain a clear standard

Les Brenets Transmission 21 profiles

What this journey shaped

What years at the bench change in the training.

Over time, the method has become simpler in form and more demanding in substance: observe more accurately, correct more clearly and connect every gesture to visible quality on the component.

Observe before correcting.

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

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.

Connect the gesture to real quality.

A finish does not live on its own. It must be regular, defensible and compatible with the level 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 workspace first serves the component, the gesture and correction without delay. The atelier brings together the equipment needed to work hand anglage, micromotor work, retouches, inspections on real components and photographic tracking of progress.

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.

Microscopes, high-definition camera and 4K screen allow the component to be read live: pressure, path, reflection, width and retouching areas become visible at the very moment the gesture happens. The gesture remains traditional; observation becomes more precise.

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.

Natural next step

You now know where this method comes from.

The Training page helps you choose the format that best matches your level, your current gestures and your objective. The rest is tested at the bench, through the line that accompanies Art de l’Anglage: “What if true luxury was having gold in your hands?”

View training formats

Choose a training course