ST.-IMIER, Switzerland — In some respects, very little has changed at Cadrans Flückiger S.A., a dial maker founded here, in the French-speaking part of the Jura Mountains, in 1860.

The River Suze still trickles through the surrounding St.-Imier Valley, the smallest and least known of Switzerland’s three major watchmaking centers, behind Geneva and the legendary Vallée de Joux. The factory still uses original equipment, including an antiquated rose engine, to perform age-old techniques such as guillochage, a process that creates precise decorative patterns. And the workers still labor by hand to produce dials for a coterie of Switzerland’s leading watch brands, including Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Chopard.

Since being acquired by Patek Philippe in 2006, Cadrans Flückiger has grown from 54 employees to around 100. But it remains a throwback to the 19th century, when a system of production known as établissage — a French term referring to the assembly of a watch from components made by outside specialists — flourished throughout the watchmaking villages of the Jura.

Today, Swiss watches — particularly the handcrafted mechanical variety, lauded for their precision and pedigree — are synonymous with luxury. A Swiss airlines advertisement at Zurich Airport says it all: “Like shopping for a Swiss watch. Hard to make a mistake.”