Watches Made In France: Semper & Adhuc Keeps Tradition Alive

France may not be the first country that pops to mind when it comes to watchmaking, despite its praiseworthy past in the art form In fact three watchmakers whose inventions changed the course of watchmaking history maintained workshops on the Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris: Jean-Antoine Lépine, Ferdinand Berthoud and Abraham-Louis Breguet "Indeed, France has been a very great watchmaking country for many centuries, but it almost collapsed during the quartz crisis," says Colin de Tonnac, founder of the Bordeaux-based Semper & Adhuc.

A desire to start his own business began to take shape in 2016, ultimately in the form of Semper & Adhuc Semper & Adhuc, Latin for "Always and until now," expresses the essence of the company's philosophy: to create unique watches containing restored mechanical movements, which, de Tonnac explains, is "a way to anchor an ancestral heritage in our time [and] for the many years to come." Thus, the firm is on a never-ending quest to find "Orphaned" pre-quartz era mechanisms of different origins and calibers, which will later become the hearts of his models The young brand produces about 150 watches per year, available via the Semper & Adhuc website.

Looking towards the future, de Tonnac says, "For the year 2020, the Semper & Adhuc workshop will launch the study of a new very small model, mainly intended for the feminine wrist, trying to keep the sobriety and elegance that characterizes our inaugural collection On the other hand, we continue our daily treasure hunt and are currently gathering old mechanical movements manufactured at the time by the French factory 'France Ébauches,' which will allow us to make an edition of watches 100% made in France." . Source