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Is The Naked Frederique Constant Perpetual a Hit or Miss?

June 21, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment

The Naked Watchmaker just announced its collaboration with Frederique Constant, the Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture. Although I’ve enjoyed recent collaboration models, this one misses the mark in some important ways, emphasizing the mechanics at the expense of utility and beauty.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Frederique Constant, perpetual calendar, Peter Speake, Rado, skeleton, Speake-Marin, The Naked Watchmaker

What is a Lépine Watch Movement?

May 3, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Today, a “Lépine” movement is one with small seconds opposite the crown. But this is not one of the many innovations we should associate with Jean-Antoine Lépine, one of the greatest watchmakers of all time. Watchmaker to King Louis XV and George Washington, Lépine changed the course of watchmaking forever, with his plate-and-bridges movement design still used today. So why do we contrast “Lépine” movements with “savonnette” or “hunter” and what’s all this about small seconds?

Filed Under: Commentary, History Tagged With: Beaumarchais, Breguet, ETA 6497, hunter, Japy, Lépine, Louis XV, Moeris, Naoya Hida, Savonnette, Zenith Elite

The Rise and Fall of Leonidas and the Beau-Site Factory

April 5, 2022 By Stephen 2 Comments

Leonidas is a familiar name to chronograph aficionados, but the history of the company is long and interesting, dating back to 1841 and connecting two great names in Swiss watchmaking, Bourquin and Jeanneret, and the company was linked to both Heuer and Berna.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Beau-Site, Berna, Charles Jeanneret, Chronograph, Constant Jeanneret-Droz, Ferdinand Bourquin, Julien Bourquin, Junior, Leonidas, Saint-Imier, Stopwatch

Droz and Degoumois: Berna Watch Factory

March 21, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Berna is perhaps the greatest forgotten watch brand of Saint-Imier, and the Droz factory on Marronniers 20 is just as unknown. But it was the first large and modern factory in Saint-Imier and should be remembered along with the waterproof pocket watches and industrial control stopwatches produced there. Equally important is the involvement of industry pioneers Alcide Droz, Ernest Degoumois, and the Jeanneret family, and the later integration of Berna with Leonidas.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Alcide Droz, Berna, Charles Jeanneret, Droz & Cie, Ernest Degoumois, Ferdinand Bourquin, Leonidas, Saint-Imier, waterproof, West End

Is Longines the World’s Oldest Watch Brand?

February 21, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Longines has long claimed to be “the oldest trademark or logo still in use,” and after researching the history of the Longines factory I became intrigued by this claim. Although it is certainly a long-running and successful company, was today’s Longines really the oldest watch brand, let alone the world’s oldest trademark? And what about all those others?

Filed Under: Commentary, History Tagged With: Blancpain, brand, Breguet, Ernest Francillon, Girard-Perregaux, Longines, Luxury Brands, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin

The Rise of Mass-Produced Watches at Les Longines, Saint-Imier

February 15, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Longines isn’t just the name of the biggest watchmaker in Saint-Imier today, it represents a factory and a critical shift in the industry to industrial-scale mass production. Ernest Francillon and Jacques David were critical to the development of the horology industry in the 19th century, abandoning the etablissage system and industrializing watchmaking, and becoming champions for the integration of manufacturing in the 20th century.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Alfred Pfister, ASUAG, Auguste Agassiz, Ernest Francillon, Fontainemelon, Fritz Galley, Jacques David, Longines, Pierre-Frédéric Ingold, Richard Watkins, Saint-Imier, Théodore Gribi

Auguste Fiedler, Master of Modernist Watch Advertising

January 27, 2022 By Stephen 1 Comment

Although modern advertising is finely crafted, it can’t compare to the impact of the classics. To my eyes, the greatest watch advertisements came off the press of Auguste Fiedler of La Chaux-de-Fonds between World Wars I and II. His poster style advertisements mixed elements of German Plakatstil and French Art Deco movements, and are just as striking today as they would have been on the avenues of the 1930s.

Filed Under: Commentary, History Tagged With: Advertising, Buren, Cortébert, Cyma, Election, Elgin, Eterna, Excelsior Park, Fiedler, General Watch, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Leonidas, Oris, Revue, Tavannes, Unitas

How Edmond Jaeger and Jacques-David LeCoultre Joined Forces

January 5, 2022 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Much has been written of the history of Jaeger-LeCoultre, but little has been said of the complex history that gave us this unusual name. How did an Alsatian immigrant to Paris come to be so closely connected to one of the most famous watchmaking families of the Vallée de Joux? This is the story of the partnership between Edmond Jaeger and Jacques-David LeCoultre, and those that helped them to become Jaeger-LeCoultre, including a group of French aviation pioneers and a Swiss daredevil with a famous family name.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Antoine LeCoultre, Cartier, Cartier Santos Dumont, Edmond Audemars, Edmond Jaeger, Gustave Delage, Jacques-David LeCoultre, Jaeger-LeCoultre

Excelsior Park: Usine du Parc, Saint-Imier

October 7, 2021 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Industrialization of watchmaking came to Switzerland in the late 19th century and is embodied by the huge Longines factory on the Suze river in Saint-Imier. But steam power came first, enabling the construction of factories across Europe and the United States, including Usine du Parc, home and namesake of Excelsior Park. This is the story of the rise and fall of steam power in Saint-Imier and the exceptional stopwatches made there. It is also the story of the end of steam and of the Excelsior Park factory, and the reasons for its failure.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Albert Jeanneret, Chronograph, Excelsior Park, Fritz Moeri, Gallet, Henri Jeanneret-Brehm, Jules-Frédéric Jeanneret, Moeris, Saint-Imier, Stopwatch

The Evolution of Watchmaking Architecture: Rue des Roses 2 and Rue du Stand 35 in Saint-Imier

September 27, 2021 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Around 1900, a small watch factory was built at Rue des Roses 2. This little cottage with a factory wing was soon augmented by an ornate Beaux-Arts factory befitting a captain of watchmaking like Ernest Degoumois. This was then expanded for dial maker Fluckiger and both buildings were expanded or replaced in the 1950s. Then a modern office building was added in place of the original mansion on Rue du Stand, and this became home to Cartier Group in the 1980s. Thus, this single factory complex in Saint-Imier exemplifies the various architectural trends seen in 20th century watchmaking.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Berna, Bourquin, Cartier Group, CEFF, Degoumois, Fluckiger, Leonidas, Nivarox, Reinhard Straumann, Richemont, Saint-Imier, Zeitwinkel

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Latest Posts

Is The Naked Frederique Constant Perpetual a Hit or Miss?

The Neo-Classical Watches of Naoya Hida

What is a Lépine Watch Movement?

Bulova Accutron, the Watch of the 1960s

The Rise and Fall of Leonidas and the Beau-Site Factory

Droz and Degoumois: Berna Watch Factory

From Atelier to Factory: Usine Centrale, Saint-Imier

Is Longines the World’s Oldest Watch Brand?

The Rise of Mass-Produced Watches at Les Longines, Saint-Imier

Auguste Fiedler, Master of Modernist Watch Advertising

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