ISSUE 10
202 6 EDITION
Independent Watchmaking BREGUET
LES BOÎTIERS DE GENÈVE:
S Y M PAT H I Q U E No . 1
HISTORY AND EXPERTISE
In the history of watchmaking, few figures have achieved as much or contributed as profoundly as Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823). The inventor of the tourbillon and often described as the father of modern horology, his work formed a bridge between the scientific traditions of eighteenth-century horology and the foundations of modern mechanical watchmaking. Among his most extraordinary creations were the Sympathiques clocks, timepieces so advanced that they continue to astonish scholars and collectors more than two hundred years later. In essence, a Sympathique consisted of a highly precise regulator clock, often employing constant-force mechanisms, paired with a portable pocket watch. When docked, the mechanism would automatically synchronise its time and, depending on the commission, either regulate...
Often overlooked but nonetheless essential, the case is not merely a shell designed to house a movement. It is its protector, its aesthetic ambassador, and a testament to the care devoted to the design of the calibre it houses. Behind its apparent simplicity lie hours of work, a succession of complex operations and the precise hand of highly skilled craftsmen. François-Paul Journe chose to confront these exacting requirements very early in his career. Aware that mastering watch production depends on control of these key components, from his very first projects he approached Elinor, founded in 1957 in Clamart by the Simonnet family. To safeguard this expertise and secure his independence, he acquired a stake in the company. In 2012, the company relocated to Geneva and became Les Boîtiers de Genève...
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Editorial François-Paul Journe
For around thirty years, many watch brands have fallen into the hands of luxury groups. Yet originally all watch brands were independent when they were created, founded either by watchmakers themselves or by entrepreneurs working with a watchmaker. When I began watchmaking school in 1972, we were in the middle of the watchmaking crisis caused by the arrival of inexpensive quartz watches. The question most students were asking themselves was: why learn this when our future will be changing batteries ?!
The main reason lies in the advances made in the construction of machine tools which, thanks to computing, have become programmable and capable of performing multiple tasks. The variety of these machines allows components to be produced in small series, making watches easier to assemble than those once entirely made by hand. Supply has grown and collectors have multiplied, and in recent years independent watchmakers have been able to make themselves known at lower cost through social media.
Later, at the end of the 1980s, a small revival in demand for mechanical watches appeared, and soon collectors of pocket watches began to take an interest in luxury wristwatches.
It is a very good thing that independents are developing and enriching the heritage of the future.
In 1969, at the age of 43, George Daniels made his first pocket watch for Sir Cecil Clutton. Without intending to, he marked the beginning of a new wave of great watchmakers such as Anthony Randall and Derek Pratt, whom I modestly followed. Eight years after George, in 1977, I decided to make a pocket watch entirely by hand (movement, dial and case), which I completed in 1983. At that time I believed there were perhaps ten clients in the world who would buy such a watch. Forty years later, the demand and the number of collectors of fine watchmaking have increased tenfold.
And it is to highlight these young watchmakers that we proudly organise the Young Talent Competition every year !
François -Paul Journe
BREGUET
F. P. J O U R N E A C Q U I R E S
BOÎTIERS DE GENÈVE:
TRANSMITTING THE
Y O U N G TA L E N T
S Y M PAT H I Q U E
A .-L . B R E G U E T ’ S
HISTORY
KNOWLEDGE OF TIME
COMPETITION
No. 1
T O U R B I L L O N N o . 18 9 0
AND EXPERTISE
AT F .P. J O U R N E
2025
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Contributors Audrey Humbert, Isabelle Cerboneschi, Vincent Daveau, Osama Sendi Graphic Design Roberto Muniz Printed in Switzerland
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