The Surprising Influence of the French on Watchmaking History

The beginning of the end for French watches actually came nearly two centuries before Breguet, when French watchmaking was defined more by its decorative qualities Growing in that quiet Swiss way, the country's watchmaking capabilities seem not to have fazed the French watchmakers, some of whom, like Breguet and Berthoud, were actually Swiss themselves by birth Swiss watchmaking expertise simply became too easy to borrow for the French, and as the Swiss extended their micromechanical capabilities, increasingly complicated watchmaking was exported as well.

One of the prides of French watchmaking at the end of the 19th century, Louis Leroy's Leroy 01-considered the most complicated watch in the world for decades-was largely built in Switzerland's Vallée de Joux The early- 20th-century work of Edmond Jaeger, who built a thriving watchmaking business in Paris in the early days of the wristwatch, proved that distinctively French watchmaking need not depend on all-French components Depending on whom you ask, French watchmaking is either a bygone curiosity or a completely vibrant sector that doesn't quite fit the definitions of the industry according to the Swiss and Germans.

There is another class of watch critic-the paying customer-who can detect a French quality in French brands, even if the watches are all made in Switzerland. . Source