Method for orienting a timepiece component to guide the pivoting of said component, which is made of material that is at least partially magnetically permeable, or at least partially magnetic, including a first end and a second end defining a longitudinal axis and remote from a length, wherein, on both sides of said first and second ends, at a first and a second pole piece forming part of a guide device, a first magnetic field and a second magnetic field are created in the same direction and in opposite senses, each having revolution symmetry about a pivot axis, each tending to attract said component onto one of said pole pieces (4; 6), and wherein an field unbalance is created between said asymmetrical magnetic fields relative to each other and of different intensity from each other, around said component, so as to create a differential in the forces thereon in order to press said first end of said component onto a first surface forming part of said first pole piece, and to hold said second end at a distance from a second surface forming part of said second pole piece, said field unbalance being created around the space comprised between said first surface and said second surface, which are separated by an air-gap distance which ensures a determined operational play greater than or equal to 0.020 mm over the entire range of temperatures of use of said guide device and of said component, characterized in that the magnetic permeability of the material of said component is selected, and the magnetization of said first pole piece and said second pole piece on the one hand, and/or said component on the other hand, is determined such that said first magnetic field and said second magnetic field exert on said component attraction forces that are ten times greater than the gravitational force of attraction, and characterized in that said timepiece component is oriented on said pivot axis, and further characterized in that said guide device is arranged with access means for inserting said component into said air-gap, or in that said guide device can be dismantled into several parts including means for cooperating with each other and/or with a bridge, and/or a plate, to enable said component to be mounted resting, via said first end thereof, on a first part including said first surface and said first pole piece, prior to the assembly of a second part including said second surface and said second pole piece, and characterized in that said component is made in one piece, in that a specific surface treatment is carried out to produce a magnetic discontinuity between said first end thereof and said second end thereof, and characterized in that said guide device is arranged with shielding means arranged to prevent the action of any magnetic field with a radial component relative to said pivot axis, in proximity to said first and second contact surfaces, which shielding means include at least one tubular part (21; 22) centred on said pivot axis and surrounding said first pole piece and said second pole piece, and at least said second end of said component, and characterized in that said component is made with a spindle-shaped portion rotating about said longitudinal axis, whose section decreases from the centre of gravity of said component towards said second end, so as to improve the magnetic field gradient, in proximity to said second surface and to facilitate the centring of said second end on said pivot axis.