Beyond Belief

In an industry known for its deep-rooted tradition and craftsmanship, watchmakers are breaking all the rules—and they’re only getting started

- Annie Darling

MB&F’s Horological Machine Nº6 “Space Pirate”

Is the march of technological advancements harm-ful to traditional watchmaking, or does it open up a world of possibilities?

This is a question that’s gone unanswered since the beginning of time, or of timepieces anyway. The Germans are generally regarded as having first made clocks small enough to be portable in the early 16th century. Around the same time, Protestant Huguenots fleeing persecution from French Catholics brought their artistic savoir-faire to neighbouring Switzerland, where they gradually transformed Geneva into the epicentre of haute horlogerie.

Jaquet Droz’s Petite Heure Minute “Smalta Clara Hummingbird”;

They collaborated with local farmers from the surrounding mountains, who spent harsh winters penniless and stuck indoors for months on end. The farmers patiently hand-polished the tiny metal components that would become the inner workings of the Swiss watchmakers’ designs, subsequently developing an industry based on the expertise of individual craftsmen. By and large, the story of fine watchmaking has stayed that way, at least until the 1970s when centuries of tradition were thrown out in favour of quartz technology.

Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Automatic in satin-polished rose gold;

Bulgari’s Serpenti Seduttori in rose gold set with diamonds

It would seem that watchmakers no longer consider technology a threat and instead appreciate how it’s transforming the way timepieces are designed