Defining Independence Part III
The Dreamers
During the quartz crisis of the 1970s and early 1980s, the fates of both Swiss watchmaking and the entire mechanical watch industry were on the brink of disaster. The battery-powered quartz watch, both less expensive and more accurate, had rendered the mechanical timepiece unnecessary. The demise of the mechanical watch seemed written on the wall.
From this existential chaos, a renaissance emerged. Fueled in no small part by two boutique movement workshops, a new generation of horological visionaries cut their teeth and learned to carry on the legacy of haute horology. Finding freedom in the newfound superfluity of the wristwatch, these watchmakers realized their creations no longer had to exist solely for timekeeping. Rather, their creations could become wearable works of art, mechanically complex items that not only expressed a specific point of view on watchmaking, but pushed the limits of human ingenuity and micro-engineering.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, two firms in particular incubated the talents of young watchmakers, and accelerated the careers of many of today’s best-known independent watchmakers. Those two firms were Audemars Piguet, Renaud, et Papi, better-known as Renaud et Papi or APRP, and Techniques Horlogéres Appliquées, or THA.
Both workshops were created by groups of incredible young watchmakers who recognized the structure of the Swiss watch industry was broken. The bureaucracy of the major brands dictated that young watchmakers paid their dues by doing 20 years of simpler work before working on a complicated watch. For those looking to skip the corporate ladder, there was no better place to work that APRP or THA.
But the watch industry did not change overnight. It largely remained an industry unchanged from the days of Calvin — watchmakers outside of the large brands developed movements and parts for them, crafting and creating so that large brands could industrialize their production. While the creation of small parts was once outsourced to farmers and shepherds, the innovation and creation of new ideas and concepts was outsourced to small workshops across the country.
The revolution began in 1984 when two talented young watchmakers met in the skeleton workshop at Audemars Piguet. They would challenge the norms of the watch industry, raise a generation of independent watchmakers, and shape the world of modern watchmaking.
They were Dominique Renaud and Giulio Papi, of Renaud et Papi. In the current industry structure, both of them would have to wait close to 20-years to work on a complicated watch. They didn’t want to wait. They wanted to work on those watches early in their careers so that they might build skills, develop new solutions, and innovate on the way things had always been done.
So what did they do? They decided to leave Audemars Piguet and opened their own shop, to give themselves the opportunity to work on complicated watches. In 1986 the duo struck out on their own to create Renaud et Papi.
The duo focused on new technologies and new materials with the goal of engineering new complications. Pioneering the use of computer-aided design allowed them deeper access and understanding of the world of microtechnology engineering, helping Renaud and Papi build several minute repeaters and understand complications in greater detail. The duo worked alongside Christophe Claret, another independent watchmaker focused on repeating watches for a short stint, and would receive an injection of capital in 1992 from their former employer, Audemars Piguet, also a client, to keep the doors open and continue to push the limits of horology. From Audemars Piguet, Renaud, and Papi, a renaissance began.
APRP served as an incubator for young talents. Notable APRP watchmakers included Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, now of Greubel Forsey fame, who joined APRP in 1990 and 1992 respectively. They went on to found Greubel Forsey and push the limits of complications and chronometric precision. Tim and Bart Grönefeld, founders of Grönefeld: The Horological Brothers, were also among the distinguished alumni, joining APRP in 1992 and 1995 respectively, leaving in 2008 to start their eponymous brand.
Other notables include Carole Forestier-Kasapi who led Cartier’s movement development until 2020, and now leads movement development for TAG Heuer. Peter Speake-Marin left to create his brand with co-founder Daniela Marin, and he continues to share his love of watchmaking and deep industry insights with his project, The Naked Watchmaker. Other notable alumni now working as independent watchmakers include Anthony De Haas, Stepan Sarpaneva, and Andreas Strehler.
This was the dream team of watchmakers. From the workshops of APRP a movement was born. These Watchmakers completed many minute repeaters and high complications for brands, and notably worked on the launch of Richard Mille. At their prime, they produced some of the most spectacular watches the watch world has seen, many of which we may never know because of rigidly enforced non-disclosure agreements. APRP was founded at the right time, attracted the right talent, and provided young and disruptive watchmakers with a chance to hone their skills and challenge the traditions of the watchmaking industry. This philosophy helped many young watchmakers develop their skills in design, prototyping and building complications, providing them with all the skills they would need to eventually become independent watchmakers.
The second powerhouse workshop at this time was Techniques Horlogères Appliquées, founded in 1989 in Sainte-Croix by François-Paul Journe, Vianney Halter, and Denis Flageollet. The trio of watchmakers were young and hungry to learn. They were ambitious in creating a laboratory that would allow them to work together on a shared creative vision, making watches of their own original designs. THA focused on creating movements for Cartier, Breguet, Girard Perregaux, and Carl F. Bucherer, but many of these projects remain under strict non-disclosure agreements. As a result, the general public may never know the true extent of their work.
Most of their projects remain under NDA, but we know THA was behind the creation of the 1990 Breguet Sympathique mantle clock, a clock that could hold and wind a Breguet Classique Complications wristwatch when docked to the clock. We also know that it was Denis Flageollet’s idea to make the Chronograph Monopoussoir as an homage piece to the Cartier Tortue CPCP that spurred the reboot of the Cartier Monopoussoir CPCP.
During this time, aside from Journe, Flageollet, and Halter, the company hosted many notable craftspeople, including Nicolas Court, a micro-mechanical engineer, who would later set up Janvier S.A. alongside Vianney Halter, and Pierre-André Grimm, a specialist maker of mechanical singing birds.
Vianney Halter left the company in 1998 and exhibit his Antiqua at the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) Baselworld booth. The Antiqua would change how watchmakers and collectors thought about case shapes and case design, using multiple subdials for the perpetual calendar in a case that was equal parts stem locomotive and science fiction. At THA Halter worked on pieces for Franck Muller, Jaquet-Droz, Audemars Piguet, Mauboussin, Harry Winston, Breguet, and Zenith before becoming an independent watchmaker. This exposure to a broad variety of design aesthetics is clear in Halter’s work as he focuses on geometric shapes and complications.
François-Paul Journe followed Halter and exited in 1999, building his own brand through Souscription pieces as Breguet did, selling a limited edition series to collectors to fund his workshop. Journe had a fascination for the tourbillon, having been captivated by those he saw while apprenticing for his uncle’s repair business. There was nothing on the market that he could afford to outsource, so he chose to build his own. It was this obsession with the tourbillon that launched his brand and helped him become arguably one of the most sought-after independents in the watch industry.
Denis Flageollet left THA in 2002 to join former THA client, David Zanetta, to launch De Bethune. His first watches at De Bethune showcased his technical genius while relying on Zanetta for the aesthetic design queues that skewed towards vintage watches. When David Zanetta stepped aside, Denis was able to express his incredible skills as a watchmaker and develop watches that are representative of his science fiction and nature inspired design, with incredible innovations. Denis continues to innovate on the work of the great master watchmakers with a specific focus on materials innovation, escapements, and balance wheels.
All three founders became well-known independent watchmakers, and both François-Paul Journe and Vianney Halter became members of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI).
It’s not difficult to appreciate the work of both Audemars Piguet, Renaud, et Papi, and Techniques Horlogéres Appliquées S.A. Their teams created a number of amazing watches that we know of, and likely some amazing watches that we may suspect, but never know the full truth. These laboratories built incredible teams of watchmakers, accelerating their careers so that they would grow to become the modern independent watchmakers.
In some ways, this was destined to happen. Young watchmakers were disillusioned with the long waiting period before getting to work on grand complications and create something from scratch. What these young watchmakers accomplished was something tantamount to saving the industry following the quartz crisis and securing the future of the wristwatch. It is exciting to think that the independent watchmakers who emerged from APRP and THA are mentoring and inspiring the next generation of independents.
In this series, I will dive into independent watchmaking, work towards a definition, and help create a better understanding about what it means to be an independent watchmaker, and the routes to getting there. Follow along as I drop a new installment of this series over the next few weeks, you can always read it here.
