The smallest screw in the world is not at Nasa or Nagoya, but Nivarox, the Swiss precision engineering company whose parts form the heart of virtually every top mechanical watch.

Best known for balance springs, Nivarox FAR – to give the Swatch Group subsidiary its full name – is the near monopolist supplier of oscillators and escapements, the complex components that ensure mechanical timepieces can function. The remaining 10 per cent of sales derive from ancilliaries such as minute screws, pins and hour markers.