In an exclusive with Dr. Thierry Copponnex, Managing
Director C.HAFNER & HILDERBRAND, the JTM
bureau gets to know about one the world’s foremost
products of the company in the precious metals Industry. In
this Interview, Dr. Thierry Copponnex also talks about the
various initiatives taken by the company to keep the
environment and our ecology safe. Excerpts:
C.HAFNER & HILDERBRAND has been synonymous with the
Precious Metals Industry since the last 170 years. How has
been the growth of the company since then and what are those
important factors that you attribute this growth to?
Our Group is one of Europe’s leading companies in the field
of precious metal technology. The business of C. HAFNER
initially started with recovering precious metals from
secondary materials. This activity originated in the expanding
jewelry and watch industry towards the end of the 19th
century. The reprocessing of precious metals soon elevated its
far-reaching potential to be sold in the form of semi-finished
products such as wires, sheets and tubes. Step-by-step at the
end of the 20th century but mostly during the last two decades
the motive of the company shifted to leading through
technology and Innovation. Innovation in materials, in
technologies and processes.
In parallel in Switzerland, the company HILDERBRAND &
Cie SA introduced in 1974 solder pastes into the
watchmaking and jewelry industries. Their popularity
developed soon after this introduction and C.HAFNER
acquired the company in 2013. In 2021 HILDERBRAND &
Cie SA became C.HAFNER & HILDERBRAND SA
relocating its activity at the very heart of the Swiss watch
making industry in Geneva.
From precious metal brazing pastes to innovative precious
metal alloys or cutting edge powder technologies, the
company is now able to serve on a wide basis the local Swiss
market as well as international customers.
Tell us something about your flagship products for the precious
metals Industry. Also please emphasise on “Brazing & Joining
Solutions” and Manufacturing Technologies?
Our core business is the manufacture of precious metal
powders. For five decades we have been designing,
manufacturing and distributing HILDERBRAND® brazing
pastes by mixing these powders with binders/fluxes in order
to offer our customers an all-in-one product for the brazing
process, particularly for the watch and jewelry industry.
These brazing solders are equally suitable for the jewelry
craftsman for manual torch brazing as well as for massproduced
parts in the luxury goods industry for brazing in a
belt furnace or by using induction technique for example.
Each of our products are developed and customised according
to the client's needs. So, more than a product, we develop for
our customers, integrated brazing solutions
with tuned consumables. Over the past decade,
our expertise in precious metal powders has led
us to develop solutions for additive
manufacturing too. We now offer within the
Group a wide range of 18K gold alloys (yellow,
pink, red, grey) and high purity PGMs for
selective laser melting technologies. Our
expertise does not stop at the manufacture of
powders, but also includes the 3D print of highend
parts for the watch making and jewelry
sectors, thanks to the use of the latest laser
technology in red and green lasers. By
machining the parts produced by 3D printing,
we master hybrid manufacturing technologies
allowing the production of the most complex and precise
parts.
C.HAFNER & HILDERBRAND has focussed on maintaining
highest quality in all its products and services. What are the
parameters followed by C.HAFNER & HILDERBRAND to sustain
the quality in the products and services that you promote?
Our quality management system complies with all
certifications of industries that we serve. We are committed to
providing our customers with the highest standard and
solutions. The responsibility rules defined by the Group are
based on a strong sense of responsibility towards companies,
society and the environment with the values of openness,
appreciation, sustainability and transparency. We do think
that these values are the basis of cooperation with our
customers.
Tell us about the state of the art production Infrastructure of
C.HAFNER & HILDERBRAND and also add on the resource and
technical capabilities of the team working in C.HAFNER &
HILDERBRAND?
Within the group, we master the various industrial techniques
and processes for precious metal refining, the manufacture of
traditional semi-finished products and precious metal powder
technologies. These resources are complemented by our
certified and accredited analytical laboratories.
As an example, our innovative positioning in the field of
precious metal powders is based on no less than four
atomisers allowing us to cover the most varied requirements
in terms of compositions, batch sizes and specifications,
including for high-temperature alloys such as PGMs.
C.HAFNER & HILDERBRAND benefits of course from this
technological environment of the Group.
What is the current geographic expansion of C.HAFNER &
HILDERBRAND and what are your plans to expand in the
future?
Our products are sold internationally through a dense and
long-established network of distributors. We are well
established throughout Europe, including Russia. We are also
present in Turkey, Hong Kong, South East Asia and Japan, so Asia is an important market for us and India is of course part of
it through our historical distributor N. Jewellery Techniques
Pvt Ltd. in Mumbai. Finally, you can also find our precious
metal powders and solder pastes in Australia, Oceana and
South Africa. Geographically, our aim is to strengthen our
presence in the Asian markets and to introduce ourselves to
the American continent by making the decisive advantages of
our products better known. We often find that testing them is
the same as adopting them!
But our development strategy is also based on technological
innovation and we are developing solutions around our
products to meet our customers' requirements as closely as
possible.
C.HAFNER & HILDERBRAND has followed stringent norms to
protect the environment and help maintain ecological balance.
Tell us something about this and also a brief on the corporate
social responsibility measures followed by the company?
Climate change is a fact and will impact the future in an
unprecedented way. The Precious Metals industry must also
face up to its responsibility and make its contribution. Gold
has a bad name when it comes to ecology. This is because
ecological assessments of mined gold are usually considered.
On the other hand, recycled gold has a substantially smaller
CO2 footprint by a factor of up to 2'000 when compared to
extracted gold.
As a major refiner, our parent company C.HAFNER is only
processing secondary gold and is committed to actively
reducing CO2 through the use of state-of-the-art technology.
Using only recycled gold with state-of-the-art processes like
thermal energy, effective wastewater treatment and filter
technologies along with preserving resources makes
C.HAFNER the very first refinery with CO2-neutral refining
process for gold. C.HAFNER & HILDERBRAND is part of
this approach.