Did you know? It was France that gave birth to the modern watchmaking industry, as it developed from the fifteenth century onward and as it continues to disseminate its expertise throughout the world from, notably, Swiss workshops and Japanese laboratories. At certain moments in its history, French watchmaking held pride of place in the conception and manufacture of timepieces, and Parisian workshops were the living centres of national excellence. Join us as we delve into a history whose mechanism has not always run without a hitch!
The Prehistory of French Watchmaking
What if the first true watchmaker had been French? Around 1292, the name of the individual considered the very first representative of his profession appears in history: Jehan l’Aulogier. At the same period, the celebrated Roman de la Rose makes reference to a mechanical clock, for the first time in a literary work. This is undoubtedly the moment when the millennial quest for the measurement of time shifted into the realm of precision, abandoning the instruments that, until then, drew time from the course of the sun or through the flow of water. History shifted, it must be said, to meet the needs of those holding religious and political power. The first astronomical clocks took their place in monasteries and on cathedral towers, with the aim of organizing the hours of prayer—and, by the same token, the lives of the faithful. Lords and kings swiftly seized upon this great power. One of the first public clocks, designed by Henri de Vic, was installed on the Palais de la Cité in Paris at the request of Charles V in 1370. The monarch ordered, in passing, that all clocks in the kingdom be set to this one—a means of imposing the supremacy of temporal power over the spiritual authority of the clergy.
The Era of Development
From that point forward, the progression of watchmaking techniques accelerated its tempo. Mechanisms became miniaturized, moving from towers to tables, notably via the spring-driven clock in 1430 and the “portable” clocks of Julien Coudray, manufactured for François I in 1518. Thanks to goldsmithing, French watchmaking transformed into the production of objects as refined as they were practical—veritable jewels whose purpose was no longer solely to capture time. Timepieces still possessed a single hand, imprecise, until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, with its division of the day into two twelve-hour periods, facilitated the manufacture of dials. In its wake, the first complication watches emerged, designed to impress monarchs and courtiers who were the most numerous in soliciting master watchmakers. A rumour began to rise from neighbouring Switzerland, where a genuine mechanical watchmaking industry was developing from the end of the fifteenth century onward. French artisans, such as the Lorrainer Thomas Bayard, emerged everywhere, but they crossed the border to learn their trade from our neighbours. For in the Swiss Jura, watchmaking was already more than a craft: it was an art in its own right. France then began to adopt a position that would remain valid for centuries to come: not only did its finest watchmakers tend to emigrate (it was in England that De Beaufré designed the first jewelled watch in 1704, giving British watchmaking a head start for a considerable period), but failing to “produce” great artisans, the country devoted itself above all to bringing them in from abroad. Thus, it was at the invitation of the Regent Philippe d’Orléans that Henry de Sully arrived from London in Paris and founded, in 1718, a watchmaking manufacture in Versailles. The creation by Colbert of the Académie des Sciences in 1666, the new position given to French watchmaking, and the construction of the Paris Observatory would alter this status as a “host” country for watchmaking only at the margins. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 worsened matters: watchmakers of Protestant confession fled toward England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, generating a formidable exodus of talent. French watchmaking would then, most certainly, have lost for a long time its dearly won position, had the Age of Enlightenment and its innovations not come to rescue its precious mechanisms.
From the Age of Enlightenment to Modern French Watchmaking
A major period for French watchmaking, the Age of Enlightenment benefited from the prodigious advances due to its finest representatives, notably in the domain of clockmaking: Julien Le Roy, then Pierre Le Roy, Jean-Antoine Lépine, Louis Dauthiau, and Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (yes, the inventor of the character of Figaro the barber!) designed or perfected components, escapements, and astronomical clocks. Public clocks multiplied, manufactured by the brothers Jean-André and Jean-Baptiste Lepaute. The production of clocks remained relatively modest, and commissions were limited to those from the Court. This did not prevent Paris from being, for a time, “the place to be” for watchmakers. Ferdinand Berthoud came to lend invaluable assistance to marine chronometers, while the great Abraham-Louis Breguet, inventor of the perpetual watch, died in Paris after having acquired French nationality. The Revolution altered the situation somewhat by relocating the vital centre of French watchmaking: it was in Besançon, in Franche-Comté, that the master watchmakers driven from their homes settled, making the city the country’s foremost watchmaking hub. Laurent Mégevand founded the Manufacture d’Horlogerie Française there. By the end of the nineteenth century, up to 90% of French watches were produced there, in some 400 workshops; and it was thanks to this surge forward that French watchmaking then managed to occupy second place worldwide in this art, just behind Switzerland. This relocation, and its global success, testify to a distinctly French determination to resist adversity in order to rebound better at the heart of the storm. Nothing, it seems, can bury French watchmaking—including quartz watches, which swept in from Japan beginning in the 1970s. It must be said that quartz technology originated from patents filed by a French engineer, Marius Lavet! These patents, registered in 1949, would be exploited by the world’s greatest watchmaking brands. And today? After a bleak period during the 1970s and 1980s, France has managed to reposition itself in the realm of watches by deploying its most prestigious brands into the fray. The major players in the sector have established themselves in niche segments, most often in connection with fashion and the luxury industry; while component manufacturers have progressively acquired worldwide renown. The proof: 50% of the workforce employed in Swiss workshops is said to be French. Nowadays, the sector still accounts for 3,700 jobs distributed among 85 companies (a large proportion of them in the Doubs) that achieve annual revenues ranging between 250 and 300 million (according to Ecostat). French watchmaking will therefore never have ceased to turn its gears.
The Great French Watchmakers and Inventors
Here is a selection of the watchmakers and inventors who have contributed to writing the history of French watchmaking (in chronological order):- Henri de Vic
- Julien Coudray
- Julien Le Roy
- Pierre le Roy
- Jean-Antoine Lépine
- Louis Dauthiau
- Jean-André Lepaute
- Jean-Baptiste Lepaute
- Henri Lepaute
- Auguste-Lucien Vérité
- Frédéric Japy
- Marius Lavet
- François-Paul Journe
- Richard Mille
- Edmond Jaeger
- Frédéric Boucheron
- Robert Greubel
- Christophe Claret
The Great French Brands
Although the watchmaking world is today dominated by Swiss manufacturers, French brands have managed to position themselves in the luxury domain with considerable success, capitalizing on the rich history of French watchmaking. Thus, heritage brands (L. Leroy, Lip, Yema) are outpaced by brands descended from the major luxury groups, with worldwide reach (Cartier, Dior, Hermès). But other players are carving out their niche in more specialized segments, such as military watches (Mer Air Terre) or watches designed for adventure (Patton). Rare, however, are the timepieces manufactured entirely in our country; there is scarcely anyone but Pequignet to offer watches that are 100% made in France.