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| Joined: | Thu Apr 16th, 2009 |
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Founded in 1973 by Mr Emile Pequignet in France close to the Swiss border in the town of Morteau.
It don't take a wild imagination to understand that they was from the very start, facing like everybody the quartz era, that would crack down most of all watch manufactures...
It mades its short way and did look like many other brands: Dead and buried.
But in the beginning of 2004 Mr Didier Leibungut took over the leading of the brand, well decided to revive the french movement manufacture who had disappeared with Lip in 1975.
Mr Leibungut is not new in the business: He was international marketing director for Zenith and knew the Pequignet brand as he grew up in the same town of Morteau.
I think that in his position, even with the revival of the mechanical era, very few men would have taken the chance to restart a watch brand as a manufacture, just because it was born in them home-town: The challenges are enormous.
But he had some determination, experience and the right friends around him to start it up.
The jewel of the brand, Calibre Royal took 6 years of development by a team of 5 men and was finally ready and revealed in 2010 at the Basel fair, along with its many registered world patents.
http://youtu.be/8mU_gEMyuEU
Pequignet employs 47 persons and produce around 4500 pieces a year.
They are a small manufacture and was recently saved from bankruptcy by 2 investors in 2012, presenting now positive results the last months.
There is no big surprise there: Starting from scratch and developing a such movement is no guaranty for success at all.
On the contrary, as confidence has to grow on the market, they was expecting a 10 years time waiting and working before having any chance to emerge and see them investments coming back.
They needed an economic salvage and the industrial investors who saved them, arrived just on time.
No need to say that the Royal is an impressive and beautiful caliber who seems to be very well thought : It is fully produced in-house except 2 components.
We are speaking about the palettes-wheel and the palettes made by Nivarox(Swatch-Group).
It has 88 hours of effective power reserve and a bunch of cool details you'll appreciate by clicking some of the links I posted here at the end of this writing.
There is different complications: Right under you can see the day, double disc date and moon-phase complications.
I will go straight forward and say that I'm not so found of them sport models with the "AP" links... But some will certainly like it.
They also have some chrono models housing the 2894-2 ETA that I don't even look at.
For me, it's all about the in-house classic watches they have in them collection and the complications they offer.
The cases are 42mm in diameter and I think that it's a good size: It will fit many WIS in this large watches era.
Price is starting at 5500€ or about 7000$ at today's change for the in-house models with complications such as power reserve, day, big 2 numerals date, moon-phase, sub-second dial.
The day is in french: Exotic and cool for some, boring for others...
I didn't see english day models yet.
And yes, it's written "Fabriqué en France" , "Made in France" under the dial: Something you don't see anymore.
A bit of history I gathered around...
The interesting thing is that apparently, when we could start to talk about mechanical horology production, this art was mainly active in France.
But when in 1685 Louis XIV signed the definitive revocation and renouncement of the Edict of Nantes, who did allow protestantism on the french territory: He established the new Edict of Fontainebleau who banned protestantism from France.
The result was over 400 000 protestants, the Huguenots, leaving the french territory...
Among them, it is told that there was around 1500 french horologists working mostly in Blois(center of France), who moved out and restarted them work in Switzerland, England, and the Netherlands.
You can guess the rest.
It can seem a strange affair that most of the french horologists was protestants but considering they mainly was originated from Germanic culture borders, one can easily understand.
It is said as well that France is now the land who gives education to most of the horologists in the world: Those french mainly work in Switzerland where they represent a third(1/3) of the horologists working in the country.
As a strange paradox, Pequignet is now the only watch manufacture 100% french.
Let's hope that others will follow the dream of Mr Leibungut and that we'll see more of those mechanical marvels hitting the market.
I let you now read those links, any reader is welcome to correct any wrong infos I would have written!
A small video
http://youtu.be/B2V_pXa-4gA
Movement details with explanations when you hit it with the cursor.
http://www.pequignet.com/luxury-watchmaker/calibre-royal.swf
The FB page with an interesting interview of Mr Leibungut on them page (wich is in french)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pequignet-Manufacture/253867551353374
Article with multiple very interesting links
http://www.europastar.com/news/1004084497-pequignet-s-rue-royale-ranked-best-watch-2011-by.html#.UP5FT46NVFY
Article about the brand in general
http://horlogerie.lemonde.fr/?Code=TEC&ID=1107
Some reading again and the prices...
http://www.my-watchsite.com/watch-luxury/the-brands/pequignet-103.html