Beissel Shop - Blog #Sample

History of Sewing Machine Needles and How it has Moved to India - Part 2 of 2

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 07:02:25 +0000

(Left – “Klenkes” (statue in Aachen, Germany, erected in honour of workers in Needle factories who separated the good and bad needles with their little fingers) Right- Mr S Ganesh, founder of Altek Beissel Needles Limited.)

Between the years 1992 and 95, Mr. Ganesh made several visits to Aachen, Germany, in single minded pursuit of setting up India’s first sewing machine needle factory. Mr Ganesh is a Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant and Company Secretary with decades of experience in setting up new projects.

The drive of Lammertz and Mr Ganesh in their respective goals was destined to bring them together. A joint venture, Altek Lammertz Needles Limited, was formed in 1995 with Lammertz as an equal partner.

Lammertz management flew down from Germany in 1996 to finalise a business plan. Machines began to arrive at the Chennai plant from Germany. Functional experts followed to install the machine. The Indian technical team received extensive training in Germany.

High quality needle production begins

From day one, there was a laser-like focus on quality. We became the first Sewing Machine needle manufacturing company to win ISO and SATRA quality marks. The tests conclusively proved that Altek’s quality proved superior to Needles imported from Germany. Lammertz bought back the needles manufactured by us and sold all over the world in their four prestigious brands.

German sewing machine needle industry moves to India and then imploded!

Our plant was soon followed by that of Schmetz. The manufacture of sewing machine needles came to an end in Germany. Groz Beckert, though they never manufactured needles in Germany, also started a needle factory in India. Lammertz, Beka, Muva, Rhein, Schmetz all disappeared from Germany. Most of them were liquidated altogether after more than a century of existence. But, the German companies committed the folly of supplying materials, consumable and service at exaggerated prices to their Indian factories. They tried to manage Indian operations from distant Germany. Thanks to the brutal competitive conditions, they continued to bleed losses. In 2003, Lammertz along with the other three brands were acquired by a competitor and liquidated. Similar fate was to await 150-year old Schmetz some years later when they also sold out to the same competitor. All employees in Germany lost their jobs. The centuries of accumulated knowledge in Needle making was in danger of being lost as well. some years later when they also sold out to the same competitor. All employees in Germany lost their jobs. The centuries of accumulated knowledge in Needle making was in danger of being lost as well.

We successfully faced challenges

We lost the Lammertz brand but determined to remain an independent Indian company. Action and success came thick and fast-

2006 – We bought the rights to the name BEISSEL which itself was 150-year old company. We changed our name to Altek Beissel Needles Limited

2007 – Range of Needles was expanded and offered needles for woven, knit, embroidery and leather sectors. We began exports to over 50 countries around the world.

2008 – Entire range of Home Sewing Needles were developed. Prestigious brands in Europe switched their sourcing to us from other German brands. Therefore, needles reached all over the world via this route as well.

2010 – A new brand call King needles was introduced specifically for the Indian market aimed at MSME units. For the first time, they could experience top quality needles at attractive prices. King became an overnight success.

2015 – We started offering the entire range of Home sewing machine needles in our own brand BEISSEL aimed at the hobby market in developed countries.

2019 – We eliminated clutter in pricing models. In Household needles, it is “any needle, one price” now. In industrial needles, just four price groups instead of dozens followed by competitors.

Presently, we are one of just three companies around the world offering the entire range in industrial and home sewing machine needles. We pioneered the transfer of sewing machine needle industry to India. BEISSEL is conscious of being inheritors to the legacy of two centuries of Needle making. We are committed to carry forward the developments and put India on the world map as leaders in Sewing Machine Needles.

Also see: History of Sewing Machine Needles Part 1 of 2

Top Ten Tips for Sewing with Universal Needles

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:55:28 +0000

Enjoy sewing with confidence with Beissel top quality Needles. 1 Needle Always use Beissel Universal (130-705 HU Universal) needle. This is the ideal needle for all general purpose sewing. Home sewing needles run at speeds up to 750 stitches per minute and even that in most cases sewing is intermittent.

1	Needle	Always use Beissel Universal (130-705 HU Universal) needle. This is the ideal needle for all general purpose sewing. Home sewing needles run at speeds up to 750 stitches per minute and even that in most cases sewing is intermittent. So, they are nickel plated which has served well for as long as one can remember. Chrome is harmful to environment because of the effluent the plating generates. Avoid any chrome plated needles for regular home sewing.
2	Needle	The needle point is likely to become dull after about 8 hours of sewing. It will begin to make a bigger hole and a “punching sound” making the machine work harder. A needle is the least expensive item in your project. Do not wait for the needle to break. Change to a nice fresh needle after 8 hours of sewing or when starting a new project. Your sewing machine will work as it is new!
3	Needle	Beissel Universal Needles are available in a wide range of sizes- 60/8, 70/10, 75/11, 80/12, 90/14, 100/16, 110/18 and 120/19. Use this guide for selecting the right size – Lightweight fabrics such as georgette or organdy – 60/8 Medium-weight jersey, Lycra, linen, or calf leather – 70/10 or 80/12 Heavy fabrics like jeans, vinyl, upholstery or canvas- 90/14 or 100/16; and Very heavy fabrics. 110/18 or 120/19.
4	Thread	Polyester is an all-purpose thread. The thread is heat resistant in addition to being strong and colorfast. Polyester threads are often coated with silicone or wax finish to allow them to slide through the fabric easily. For regular woven garment sewing, polyester is perfect choice.
5	Sewing problem	Skipped stitches- check the machine setting. Or thread quality. If you cut about two feet good quality thread and hold both ends, it must hang like a necklace. A poor quality thread will not and most likely cause skipped stitch.
6	Sewing problem	Needle breakage – if you needle breaks often, check the tip of broken piece. If it is damaged, it means the needle has hit a machine part- throat plate or shuttle hook. In such cases needle will break only at Scarf. If it has broken at the blade, it means needle has been pulled when thread is still attached. In that case needle will break only at blade but never in Scarf.
7	Sewing problem	Thread cut – Good quality Needles have superbly polished eye which is done by deburring techniques. Cheap needles cannot afford this and, if you examine under microscope, will see rough edges in eye. This will cause thread breakage. A damaged shuttle hook or throat plate also will cause thread breakage.
8	Plating	Home sewing machine needles are nickel plated about 3 microns. The Home sewing machines run at less than 1000 stitches per minute an even that very intermittently. The heat heat generation will be minimal. Therefore, there is no need to buy chrome plated needles which are not only expensive but hazardous to environment.
9	Packaging	Home users are used to plastic packaging. These are once-use plastic which then damage environment. Go forBeissel Eco paper packaging!
10	Pre-wash fabric	Highly recommended. Fabrics shrink, chemical colours will run … all these will spoil the garment if washed after project is completed. Can cause puckering if unwashed.

The Story of Beissel – “The Brand Behind Brands”

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 07:01:17 +0000

The history of needles began, not in Aachen, Germany, but Redditch, a short distance away from Birmingham, England. The story begins in 16th century and Redditch went on to become world famous for its high quality hand sewing needles. Sewing Machine itself was to be discovered three centuries later.

At its peak, 90% of the world’s hand sewing needles were produced at Redditch. There were more than 100 Hand Sewing Needle companies employing 15,000 persons by 19th century. The variety of hand sewing needles displayed boggles the mind – long, short, thick, thin, straight, curved, sharp, blunt, flat, pointed… the variety is endless. They found applications not just in sewing clothes. Embroidery, pins, fishhooks, fishing tackle, harpoons, sail hooks, sailors’ palms, knitting pins, and bodkins, surgery, fishing ……

The fetish for elaborate dress sense during Victorian times, industrial revolution and innovation carried the English domination to stratospheric heights by 19th century.

1860 onwards – Rise of Aachen, Germany, and decline of Redditch, England

In the meantime, a continent away in America, inventors Isaac Singer and Elias Howe battled over patent rights for inventing the sewing machine. Howe won the battle in the Courts but, eventually, Singer was the winner in market place. He bought the patents, improved on the machine and introduced path-breaking concept of instalment sale of sewing machines. This revolutionised cloth making in coming years. Thereby, arose the need for Sewing Machine needles.

Another interesting reason is contained in the fact that, in the long Needle manufacturing process, the best paid job was also the most dangerous operation of Pointing of needle. The iron dust generated in this operation was inhaled by the worker causing high mortalities. In 1845, a Colin Banks of Reddich invented Point grinding machine. But, the British workers smashed this machine in anger. Banks goes to Aachen, Germany, and sells this machine. This seemingly innocuous event was to change the landscape of needle industry and its shift to Aachen and gradual fading away of Redditch from needle map.

Mr. Stephan Beissel was the first off the block setting up needle company on 13th October 1853 in Germany. Wins a Medal in the First Industrial Exhibition in London. On 1st October 1861, Mr. Leo Lammertz set up a factory in Aachen, Germany, to manufacture Sewing Machine needles. He pioneered die press and other critical operations for fast production, high quality and similar challenges that sewing machine demanded. Other companies followed. Rheinische Nadelfabriken (later known as Rheinnadel) acquired many needle companies including Walter Hesse which was set up in 1654.

In 1859, William Gustavo Prym starts production of needle and is to grow as a big haberdashery company even to this day. The growth was aided by Berlin becoming the cradle of apparel industry by 1860. Germany also emerged as a pioneer in manufacture of all varieties of sewing machines. By 1900, there were 34 needle companies in Aachen employing 4,092 workers. The growth continued in the early 1900s. Singer Nahmachinen started in 30th Nov 1922 near Aachen. Schmetz started Sewing machine needle factory in 1922.

German manufacturers of machines to make needles wanted to export the capital equipment abroad and refused request of needle industry not to do so. Needle manufacturers retaliated by deciding not to share needle knowledge and started building their own machines. So needle making becomes a exclusive club with Aachen ruling the world.

Even the devastation of Germany during Second World War was overcome, factories re-built. By 1949, Aachen produced 70% of sewing machine needles, 40% of Hand sewing needles and 80% of pins and safety pins. Beginning with Emperor Charlemagne in 12th century and until 17th century, Aachen was the political seat from which Europe was ruled. Now, Aachen ruled the Needle world.

Decline of Aachen, Germany, and rise of India and Beissel

The first signs was the decisive shifting of garment manufacturing to Asia in the 1980s and the giants were China and India. The post-war prosperity in Germany was to work against for Needle industry. The garment industry, which is labour intensive, rapidly declined in Europe. There was bitter competition among needle manufacturers because the Asian manufacturers were cost conscious. The Germans resorted to take over and number of needle manufactures came down. In 1995, Rheinnadel bought the brands of Leo Lammertz, Beka and Muva.

The green shoots of Needle industry in India began in 1996 when Altek bought the machines from LeoLammertz on its being shut down. Rheinnadel approached Altek for a joint venture sensing an opportunity to move to a low cost location and growing garment industry in India. This gave Altek access to world class technology and learnt skills to manufacture a complete needle range of high quality. Altek quickly grew, started exporting needles back to Rheinnadel who re-sold them all over the world in the brands of Lammertz, Beka, Muva and Rhein. The packing was marked Made in Germany!

Then Schmetz followed too and started two factories in India. Groz Beckert followed suit and started a factory in Chandigarh, India. Schmetz and Groz Beckert (the latter never had a factory in Germany in the first place) were reluctant to tell the world that the needles were made in India and tried hard to keep the world under the impression that needles were of German origin. Competition continued to be ruthless. They had to contend with Altek in India and elsewhere too. Rheinnadel threw in the towel in 2003 and sold out to Groz Beckert giving away the brands Rhein, Beka, Muva and Lammertz.

Altek had relationship with Rheinnadel as a joint venture and should have been on the cross-hairs as well. But, Altek fought – to paraphrase Churchill – in the courts, in Indian market and in world markets. To cut a long story short, Altek escaped the reach of Groz Beckert, registered Trade Mark rights to Beissel brand and lived to fight another day. It was a battle worth of a David Vs Goliath. Groz Beckert and Schmetz started undercutting each other, gave extended credit and gave up minimum order requirements.

Burdened by financial losses over a decade, Schmetz collapsed in 2017 and sold out to Groz Beckert. Even the pretence of a German needle manufacturing company has now come to an end. Pundits had for many years predicted that Groz Beckert’s financial muscle and predatory corporate culture will prevail – price cutting and unlimited credit were strong weapons. In addition, at least in our opinion, the supposed prowess of Groz Beckert needles (SAN, Loop Control et al) were unprovable at the least and counted on gullibility of customers at worst.

Altek’s strategy was to win customers by sticking to fundamentals. Offer a large range of top quality needles as per German DIN standards manufactured from German/Japanese High Carbon Steel wire. Backed by unbeatable price and service.

Marquee brands in the world (including those mentioned in this blog which played a role in the rise of Germany as a needle manufacturing world power) source household needles exclusively from us.

In India, our King brand has emerged as clear favourites to be #1 brand

Altek has eliminated clutter in pricing models. In Household needles, it is “any needle, one price” now. In industrial needles, just four price groups instead of dozens followed by competitors.

Packing will now be only paper. We are the first to throw away plastic packaging. The competitors will need to inevitably follow

Altek, which was the brand behind the brands Rhein, Beka, Muva, Lammertz and other marquee names mentioned earlier, has decided that it is now time to emerge strongly in its own name. The name “Beissel” will be continued as a tribute to the German contribution to the world in needle making. “King” will be Altek’s own brand dedicated to India.

The time has come to emerge strongly be ourselves.

Forge Mill Museum in Reddich and Art of Needle making

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:10:16 +0000

I had always connected the city of Reddich as the hometown of ENTACO Ltd, the last of the Hand Sewing Machine needle company in England. It was only recently that I learnt that Reddich was the epicentre of all the dramatic developments in hand sewing needle making for hundreds of years beginning 16th century.

The western religious texts supposedly mentions needle as one of the five tools brought to Paradise by Adam! The trend for grand personal adornment by garments was quite the rage in 16th century and needles were in demand. Around the 1600s it was an exotic and rare object. A silver or gold needle was considered a splendid gift amongst the wealthy. Needles were such a useful and indispensable tool that an anecdote circulating in 1850 was that needles can be exchanged for a wife in Sudan! North Americans supposedly bartered land for pockets of needles.

The Spaniards were reportedly the masters of needle making, passing their skills on to the British in early 16th century. Prior to Spanish needle workers arriving in England, needles were crude and rough in manufacture, typically carried out by a blacksmith. The English needle makers began importing the specially drawn wire from Spain and Germany, who excelled in drawing wire, and final fabrication of the needle was further developed by the English. The small town of Redditch went on to become world famous for its high quality manufacturing of handmade sewing needles. The use of water power to polish the needles since the early 1700’s, had given the Redditch area a technical advantage over the competition. At its peak, Reddich produced 90% of the world’s Hand sewing needles.

Forge Mill Needle Museum in Reddich, England, tells the fascinating and sometimes gruesome story of needle making in Victorian times. It was a cold Thursday morning on 3rd April 2019 and I decided to visit this museum. An hour’s train journey from London to Birmingham, followed by a 20-minute travel by local train and a short taxi ride took me to its doorstep.

The museum comprises two blocks of historic red brick buildings. You can step back in time and experience the largely unchanged atmosphere of an original Hand Sewing Needle factory- right down to machines, tools, wire of that era and even factory grime and cobwebs added by the museum for effect. Much of the original Victorian water powered machinery remains and visitors get to see a demonstration on Tuesday afternoons and on weekends.

There was more than one tv screen where movies are broadcast starring actors playing parts of factory workers dressed in period costumes. There were also phones which, when lifted and placed to the ear, tell stories relating to the factory. The stream which provided the water was once known as “Red Ditch”, from which the town got its name. It was called Red Ditch because it stained the grounds with a thick red clay (iron particles?).

Needle manufacturing process was long and the best paid job was also the most dangerous operation of Pointing of needle. Slivers of metal could fly up and blind the worker. Or the grindstone itself could shatter and cause fatal injuries.

Furthermore, to impede rust, needles were rolled in asbestos powder. A typical working day lasted 13 hours and six days of the week. It is not surprising that the life expectancy of a pointer was no more than 35 years. Another floor entirely related to commercial aspects of the business – varieties of needles, applications, marketing, history of big names in the business.

The variety of hand sewing needles displayed boggles the mind- long, short, thick, thin, straight, curved, sharp, blunt, flat, pointed… the variety is endless. They found applications not just in sewing clothes. Embroidery, pins, fishhooks, fishing tackle, harpoons, sail hooks, sailors' palms, sewing machines, knitting pins, and bodkins, surgery, fishing …... Each company of those times had arranged the needles artistically in a large picture frame to visually bring out the range and quality.

These frames were taken out for display in world exhibitions in Europe and Americas. Gold, silver and bronze coins were awarded at these exhibitions depending upon utility, innovation, quality etc., These coins form the subject of several displays. When they are not touring around, the needle displays were brought back to head office and kept in board room. These are priceless and amazingly carefully preserved and the companies were generous enough to give it to the museum for display.

But, Reddich seem to have missed getting on the Sewing Machine needle bandwagon. In 1850s Singer, Elias Howe and some others invented sewing machines and did a fantastic job of marketing them.

Businessmen in Aachen, Germany, spotted this opportunity. They designed needles for these machines, pioneered die press and other critical operations for fast production, high quality and similar challenges that sewing machine demanded. The pioneer among them was LeoLammertz whose technology and machines are now used by Beissel in the Chennai factory in India. But that is another story for another time.

There were more than 100 Hand Sewing Needle companies in 19th century which amalgamated with each other mostly through marriage. One of the stellar names was Henry Milward and Sons which began in 1730 and lasted four generations. The other was Abel Morrall started in 1785. At its peak, 15,000 persons were employed in the factories. During the World War II, the companies in the region diverted their energies into supporting war efforts. Men and women in the factories joined the armed forces. When the war ended and factory life returned to normalcy, there were inevitable changes. Companies consolidated and they morphed into different avatars including changing from family to corporate ownership.

Eventually, there would be only two companies-ENTACO Ltd and Needle Industries Ltd. The latter started a factory in Ooty, India, and is now a 100% Indian owned company. Their Home sewing needles, marketed under brand “Pony”, is prized for quality around the world. ENTACO, which was owned by Coats, was subject of a management buy-out. But, their factory no longer operates in England. They outsource Hand Sewing Needles from another country and sell under the name “John James”.

Similarly, manufacture of Industrial Sewing Machine Needles grew phenomenally in Aachen, Germany, and was the only source for quality Needles worldwide. But, today no Sewing machine needle is manufactured in Germany. Our company was the first to buy machines of LeoLammertz and began manufacture in 1997. This was followed by other German companies moving to India. Therefore, India has now become the centre of both Sewing Machine and Hand Sewing Needles. Reddich also was the home of two other household names in India – Royal Enfield which was eventually bought out by the Indian partner, saw revival first as a retro and now as high performance motorcycle. Another was Guest Keen Williams (GKN) which made a fortune selling humble safety pins. This company is now extinct both in India and England. The museum has a shop which sells a large variety of memorabilia - books, DVDs, Needles, fridge magnets etc., I bought as many as possible. The entrance fees is just 5.80 Pounds but entitles three repeat visits in a year on this single ticket. There are events through the year relating to sewing and art. There is a nice café too.

The curator of the museum, Ms J Gloger, was kind enough to personally welcome us. There is a special bond between needlephiles and spent considerable time with us filling up with stories and patiently answering all questions. Ms Gloger took the trouble to retrieve from archives a write-up on LeoLammertz and generously gave a printout. The other memorabilia we were gifted are similarly priceless and should be the beginning of our own collection. There are two more needle museums in the world, one in Stolberg, Germany, near Aachen. The other is by Bohin of France in Normandy, the scene of d-day landing during World War II. I have seen the one in Stolberg but the Bohin museum is still on my bucket list.

While reminiscing the day’s experience on the train returning to London, I realised the enviable (or unenviable) position me and my colleagues are in by being part-inheritors of this glorious legacy. Will we be up to the challenge of adding to the technological prowess in making this vital tool whose contribution to day-to-day living is too small to notice but too big to ignore?

History of Sewing Machine Needles Part 1 of 2

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 06:31:30 +0000

Too small to notice, too big to ignore!

Do you know..?

Modern sewing machines runs at 10,000 stitches per minute?

The needle touches a temperature of 300 degrees C within seconds of start-up?

Thread goes back and forth more than 30 times for a single stitch?

There are 1,000s of types of needles for sewing woven, knit, embroidery, leather,

Bag sewing and so forth?

There are less than 3 or 4 companies in the world who can make entire range of needles?

Sewing machine needles are micron-specific and its manufacture requires special purpose machines. There are more than 150 steps in manufacturing a single needle. A good quality needle is a must for aesthetic finish of sewn product as well as productivity. Schiffli embroidery machines, for example, need more than 1,000 needles to be fitted at a time. Needles for leather sewing have wide range of point styles. We are delighted to bring you the story of Sewing Machine needles and the role we played to make India the capital of the world in needle manufacture.

1850 – Sewing machine invented

The story of sewing machine needles began in 1850’s when legendary Isaac Singer and Elias Howe discovered the sewing machine. They fought a bitter battle in the court over patent rights. Singer lost! But, Singer’s commercial instincts prevailed. He bought the patent rights from Elias Howe, improved on the machine and pioneered the concept of installment sales. Sales of machines skyrocketed.

1860 – LeoLammertz and Stephan Beissel invent sewing machine needle

The world’s capital of hand sewing needles was Reddich in England. (There is a wonderful Needle museum in Reddich capturing the innovations over centuries in hand sewing machine needles. Please click to read blog on visit to the museum (http://mb1.b8b.mytemp.website/forge-mill-museum-in-redditch-and-the-art-of-needle-making/). The first to spot the opportunity for sewing machine needles were inventors Mr.LeoLammertz and Mr.Stephan Beissel, both in Aachen, Germany. They brought dramatic technological improvements in Die Pressing, Pointing, Grooving, special machines for these operations, quality and high productivity.

Beissel started in 13th Oct 1853 and Mr LeoLammertz set up a sewing machine needle plant on 1st October 1861. By 1911, Lammertz had grown to 15,000 employees. Beissel’s growth was as dramatic. Names like Schmetz and Singer started sewing machine needle factories in Germany in 1922. The second world war did substantial damage to the needle factories. The Aachen region, bordering Belgium and Netherlands, was the theater in which horrific battles were fought when allied forces entered Northern Germany in 1944. Aachen suffered huge damages. Lammertz’s factory as among many factories which were destroyed.

After the war, the factories were re-built and Sewing machine needle brands such as Lammertz, Rhein, Beka, Muva, Schmetz, Singer etc., became household names across the world. But, soon these companies became victims of Germany’s success. With the rising post-war prosperity, cost of production rose. German Deutsche Mark appreciated. European garment factories moved to Asia and they demanded lower prices. All this led to German needle companies accumulating losses from the 1990. They started scouring Asia for low cost locations.

1996- Altek brings Sewing Machine Needle technology to India

This is when we entered the picture. We were the catalyst in moving the entire needle industry to India and make India the center of the needle world.