Inside the Hogwarts for horologists

Just over 5 kilometers from the Swiss border, the small town of Morteau is home to the Lycée Edgar Faure, one of the most highly regarded watchmaking schools in France. Some of its recent alumni have already won awards for their work as independent watchmakers – including the prestigious FP Journe Young Talent Competition and a Gold Medal for Best Apprentice in France. They also found that there was demand for their work from serious collectors.

A horological school was first established here in 1836 to train young unemployed French in watchmaking skills in order to compete with the Swiss. It closed 14 years later due to lack of funds, but reopened in 1947 as the Lycée Edgar Faure. When the “quartz crisis” devastated the Swiss watch industry in the 70’s, most schools closed, leaving the Lycée Edgar Faure to represent France only in the Franco-Swiss watchmaking region.

At the Watch School, students learn the craft of watch repair and maintenance (as well as standard school subjects). Most students enter the seven-year program at the age of 14. Many are from the area and their families are also in the business, but the school also receives boarders from all over the country. In the final year, each student has to create their own complex watch – from tourbillon to chime to date display. “In my opinion,” said Florent Lecomtehave taught here since 2009 and recently started making their own watches, “which is why the school has a reputation”.

Most graduates work in restoration or manufacturing in numerous companies on both sides of the border. However, in the past few years, a few people have started their own businesses and started their own brands. More controversially, some people chose to open businesses and workshops in France.

Their friendship helps spur their business and provides a support network

centaur coors and Theo Offrey Both are winners of the 2018 FP Journe Young Talent Competition.Cools, who grew up near Morteau, visited a factory (now owned by Blancpain) at age 11. “When I finished my studies, I had the idea of ​​starting my own studio,” he says, but decided instead to work for a Swiss manufacturer to learn about commercial production. The 22-year-old has only been there for three months before he feels confident enough to run the business on his own. In 2019, he sold his first watches (at around €85,000 each) using the subscription model, with collectors paying part of the price upfront to help off-take production. His Tourbillon Souscription (€85,000) – an improved version of the tourbillon he made at school – features a 15.5 mm tourbillon visible through domed sapphire glass, with its winding and setting mechanism on the case back rather than the The standard crown on the side of the watch.

Cools is currently working in a workshop in Annecy with just one employee, and production has grown from nine to 12 a year.he doesn’t plan to grow like an independent plan (about 900 watches a year), rather than limiting it to 40-50.

Auffret entered the watchmaking industry a little later, finishing high school with a bachelor’s degree, and then went to the Lycée Edgar Faure; he chose this school because it was the only one that offered apprenticeships. After graduating, he left the Swiss border region and settled an hour west of Paris because he found Switzerland too far away from what he considered “vibrant”. Paris is convenient for customers and has a huge watch industry (mainly restoring Parisian family timepieces), but, says Auffret, “there aren’t many opportunities if you want to work in France. The solution is to find my own ’” His latest watch, the Tourbillon Grand Sport (€128,000), made Auffret one of a handful of independent watchmakers at last year’s Grand Prix de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva. It has a seconds hand fixed to the tourbillon and a torque reserve indicator which is similar to a gas tank indicator and shows how much power is left before the watch needs to be wound.

It is no coincidence that the new generation of independent watchmakers are all about the same age (late 20s and early 30s). “It’s a snowball effect,” said Lecomte, who taught them all. Their friendship has helped drive their businesses and provide a support network, from figuring out how to run them (such as the popularity of subscription models) to which vendors and other geeks to use.

This isn’t the first time a new wave of independent French watchmakers has emerged. Back in the 90s, the same thing happened. That generation, now in its 50s and 60s, included such luminaries as François-Paul Journe, Vianney Halter and Denis Flageollet. However, they had to base their brand in Switzerland because that’s where all the machines are located. These days, not only is there a lot more second-hand, but you can reach out to expert colleagues around the world for help. The ability to communicate via social media and the internet, and without having to be tethered to Switzerland, has also spread the virus again.

John-Mikaël Flaux is teaching this year’s final year course at the Lycée Edgar Faure. He argues that the need for a “Swiss Made” label no longer matters. “I’m French,” he said (he’s from Brittany). “Why do I have to start my business elsewhere?” Through his studio, Flaux has found new freedom – in addition to making watches, he has also been able to make automatic timepieces (including one in the shape of a car, which sells for €30,000 before sale).Last year, he collaborated with the house ben brother On a watch called the Homage to Al-Jazari (CHF49,000, about £43,590), it shows 24 hours without hands, but with 13 apertures that change from black to white and back again (like the moon ).

This freedom is also Cyril Brive-Noldo, he only makes one watch a year (it used to be two, but now he adds and changes things between each). Originally from the Ardèche, he chose Lycée Edgar Faure because it was the only school where he could board at weekends. He went on to intern at the Swiss company, but didn’t like the way everything was broken down by department—”the watchmakers ended up doing nothing,” he says. More processes are becoming automated, reducing the number of tasks watchmakers need to do themselves. Brivet-Naudot prefers to continue traditional practices, which is why, after running a workshop in Lozère with friends for a few years, he moved to a farm in Brittany. He likens his work to 18th-century watchmakers in the Jura, who first subsisted on farming and seconded clockmaking during the long winters — master watchmakers fleeing Calvinist persecution, then Is the king of Prussia.

He can live away from Switzerland because he makes nearly all 300 parts of each watch by hand instead of cutting them with a machine (the only parts he doesn’t make are jewellery, mainsprings and balance springs). While Brivet-Naudot doesn’t plan to hire staff, he has 4-week interns to pass on skills.He sees no need to be in Switzerland: “We have a lot of talent in France. We have a lot of professional knowledge“

Although these watchmakers all work independently, the models they collectively offer do not involve being absorbed into the Swiss giant’s machines. No one has expressed aspirations to reach the scale of FP Journe, let alone Patek Philippe or Rolex: their grand goal is to make the best timepieces under their name from start to finish. In doing so, they preserve traditional horological methods in the modern world.