“Our times are different.” in an age of immediacy, watches keep us in tune with life

What are watches for in 2023? By the way, time to tell. But philosophy is elsewhere… because time is manifold, today more so than in the past. “Time” is just a small five-letter word,” writes writer and literary critic Brigitte Bontour in the introduction. The taste of time, a small work published this fall by Éditions Mercure de France and watchmaker March LA.B. It’s vague, intangible, and yet so real.” From literature to film, philosophy to watchmaking, time is a vast subject that questions, fascinates and sometimes divides. Above all, in our society dominated by immediacy, it is a rare commodity that we run after, desperate not to have time or see it pass too quickly.

Man has sought to capture and measure this time since the beginning of the world, perfecting his techniques over the millennia. “All the great innovations we’ve had have had to do with measuring time,” recalls Antoine de Macedeau, a watchmaker based on the rue Madame in Paris. Without the latter, there is nothing.” Notice the sundials and the clepsydra (hydraulic clock); then the first clocks that were born at the very end of the 12th century^e century, and which, having no dial and hands, told the time only by the sound of a bell. Before the advent of clocks, the Renaissance foreshadowed the explosion of the watchmaking industry in the 18th century.^e century. The latest invention to date, smart watches and other connected watches whose performance and ultra-accuracy will make mechanical watches almost obsolete. However, the measurement of time, or even its production, remains a never-ending quest for great watchmakers.

Everyone is looking for their own time

From the Place Vendôme to the variegated Swiss pastures, “each production takes its time and is aimed at customers, or at least amateurs, who are sensitive to a quite different vision of time,” explains Nicolas Boss, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels. We can appreciate an over-elaborated system of chronometry, or, conversely, be captivated by an imaginary world that will change imperceptibly with the seasons. Therefore, there is a time for everyone, which Kant established in himself Critique of Pure Reason, where the German philosopher claimed that everyone has their own conception of time. “Time at Van Cleef & Arpels is poetic time, represented through signs of nature, fairy tales and more,” continues Nicolas Boss. The idea is to use clockwork and the measurement of time to tell stories and expand the imagination of the home, which is generally expressed in by definition stationary objects.”

This is because Van Cleef & Arpels is first and foremost a fine jewelry house, whose first tradition was the creation of jewelry watches intended as works of art, into which the function of measuring time was later integrated, the famous secret watches. For several decades, Van Cleef’s time was discreet, embodied by a small dial hidden under a precious stone, hidden in the heart of a floral brooch or integrated into the side of a precious bag. “We’re really at the intersection of storytelling and technical development,” recalls the house’s CEO. The poetic intricacies imagined by Van Cleef and Arpels, whose complex mechanisms allow you to make butterfly wings, bring to life a fairy whose wand tells the hours, or bring two lovers together at noon and midnight are the best. for example

“At Hermès, time is a friend that accompanies us in the realization of our creations and participates in the creation of our projects. We are going to make the most of it, giving ourselves time to do everything well,” says Philippe Delhotal, creative director of Hermès Horloger. To set itself apart from its peers, the house decided to create “its own time, allowing itself enough fantasy to be able to approach it differently.” And reject a whole vocabulary around the latter. there is Le Temps Suspendu, where a complication conceived by star watchmaker Jean-Marc Wiederecht allows the movement of the hands to be stopped thanks to a small push-button which, when. it reactivates, returning them to the correct time and date, as if time had never stopped. Or Travel Time, embodied by a watch that wanders from Athens to Rio Bangkok and Santiago without ever leaving the wearer’s wrist. “Our time is joyful, unexpected, different, transports us into the imagination and is designed to evoke emotion. We are here to surprise people,” adds Philippe Delhotal.

It gets more complicated over time

However, emotion does not mean a lack of precision, the latter obviously being one of the immutable rules of watchmaking. In this race against time, some therefore embark on a quest for precision and performance, where time is measured to the nearest hundredth of a second. Swiss Patek Philippe pushes the measurement of time further with its complications and grand complications. Its annual dates – a complication that takes into account the fact that the twelve months of the year do not all have the same number of days, and allows, for example, to go from April 30 to April 1.^eh but without the need to manually change the date, its dual time zones or world time clocks that allow you to read the time in 24 time zones at a glance make the manufacture one of the symbols of great watchmaking precision, as it claims;

Our time is joyful, unexpected, different, transports us into imagination…

Philippe Delhotal, Creative Director of Hermès Horloger

Another big name in Swiss watchmaking, Jaeger-LeCoultre also focuses on ultra-precision and prides itself on producing some of the most complex watchmaking complications in its factory; “A watchmaker creates precise time,” confides Lionel Favre, director of product and design at Jaeger-LeCoultre. Our watches require know-how that is passed down from generation to generation. Their production is not done under time pressure. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed as long as they are perfect. Our vision is the long term.” Minute repeater, multi-axis tourbillon, celestial complications…

Technical terms that are confusing to some, but that appeal to fans of the genre. “I have clients who are extremely demanding when it comes to accuracy,” says Antoine de Macedo. The latter also notes the renewed interest in iconic models in the history of mechanical watchmaking. “We have a lot of young customers today who are interested in the 1980s, one of the most glorious periods in the watchmaking industry, epitomized by, among others, Santos de Cartier (a symbol of wealth as well as social uplift, portrayed by Michael Douglas : wall street by Oliver Stone, released in 1987, editor’s note).

Addition of Eternity

With quartz and battery-powered watches declared dead at the dawn of the 1970s, the watch market was “killed” for the second time by the arrival of linked models, the mechanical watch therefore stalls and now plays on itself. aesthetics more than its utility. There is no more question. using mechanics really makes life difficult for something that can be done with an electronic chip, admits Nicolas Bos. But the beauty of mechanical watches is that, like an automatic, we can always repair them. So there is a form of eternity associated with it. An eternity not found in an electronic object, which in principle will become obsolete one day.

Same story at Hermès. “If we are very honest, we don’t need a watch today. But we have to imagine it as a living object that accompanies us in our daily life,” adds Philippe Delhotal. A watch is also an accessory that reflects the personality of its wearer, adds Antoine de Macedo. It provides feelings. when you hold it against you, its blows resonate with you. There aren’t many everyday items besides a car that give you as much pleasure as a nice watch on your wrist. This concept of object is essential. We buy a watch because we like it, because it is beautiful.’

What if wearing a watch was, after all, a ritual that allowed us to anchor ourselves in the present? Or even a way to give yourself extra time, a few extra hours in a more timed life. Like this enthusiast who, following serious health problems, began buying them on a frenzy, as if to defy the incessant flow of time. “We must not forget that time is a luxury,” recalled Philippe Delhotal. And I think people need to take time out, step away from the routine a little bit and take a break that offers you a bit of peace, quiet and, ultimately, reflection.” If possible, be armed with a nice watch…