Chopard Revives Legendary 18th-Century Watchmaker, Ferdinand Berthoud

After a nine-year incubation period, Chopard revived the long forgotten house of Ferdinand Berthoud last September as a modern watch brand and released its first timepiece, the FB1 Chronometer, drawing inspiration from the marine chronometers, pocket watches and regulators that this talented master watchmaker had once created. Measuring longitudes to within less than half a degree, Ferdinand Berthoud’s chronometers allowed France to compete with England for maritime dominance in the 18^th century and earned him the official title of “Master Clockmaker to the King and the Navy” in 1753 in Paris under the reign of Louis XV. A long-time admirer of Berthoud, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Co-President of Chopard and President of Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, says, “His life and work are absolutely unique and his destiny truly remarkable. A shrewd diplomat, he made his way from the Age of Enlightenment to the French Empire period, while surviving the French Revolution. Acknowledged and respected for his creations, Ferdinand Berthoud was also an exceptional horological theoretician and the author of a number of reference works. But the most important aspect of all is undoubtedly his visionary spirit, since a large proportion of his works remain as timely and relevant as ever.”

When Scheufele had first heard about plans to bring Berthoud back to life as just another brand selling ETA-powered timepieces, he decided to buy the rights to the name in 2006, safeguarding it until he felt he could do right by Fleurier’s most famous son. Then he proceeded to set up a separate team, hiring watchmakers and movement designers to create a well-defined non-Chopard approach, while having Chopard’s Creative Director, Guy Bove, oversee the project and providing access to the expertise of the Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier, Switzerland, which handles the production of L.U.C haute horlogerie movements. While Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud is part of the Chopard Group, the development, design and production of its watches originate from an autonomous creative process and are assembled in dedicated premises within the Chopard Manufacture. In tribute to the master watchmaker, the brand will only offer exceptional contemporary timepieces produced in extremely limited series rather than nostalgic commemorative models. Scheufele explains, “We have sought to transpose what Ferdinand Berthoud might have created if he were living now. The contemporary translation of his genius consists in drawing inspiration from the master horologist’s most remarkable accomplishments in order to offer modern creations bearing reinterpreted distinctive features and evoking emblematic historical constructions.”

Following in the chronometer maker’s footsteps to create a watch that stayed true to his legacy, the new house of Berthoud meticulously studied the clocks, published documents and archival material still existing. The fruits of its labor was the FB1 fully developed a few kilometers away from Berthoud’s birthplace and a natural continuation of the work achieved by three generations of master watchmakers: Ferdinand, Pierre-Louis and Charles-Auguste Berthoud. The complex one-minute tourbillon chronometer with suspended fusée-chain constant-force transmission regulation, which compensates for variations in the torque of the mainspring depending on its degree of winding, is offered in an unexpected 44-mm white or rose gold octagonal case with water-resistant sapphire crystal lateral portholes, inspired by the gimbal suspension system characteristic of the wooden boxes of Berthoud’s marine chronometers.

Entirely independently designed, developed and manufactured by Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud after almost three years of research and development, the original hand-wound COSC-certified movement with over 1,120 components, Caliber FB-T.FC, is built around the pillar-type architecture that Berthoud used, and houses several patent-pending innovations like the direct-drive central seconds hand and mobile cone indicating power reserve visible on the dial side. Hours and minutes are off-set at 12 o’clock, while an aperture at the center exposes the seconds wheel-and-pinion and the tourbillon carriage’s driving wheel. Typical Berthoud design cues appear on the FB1, such as placing hour markers between numerals, the case bolts and the round counterweighted sweep seconds hands, as well as a unique typeface Bove created exclusively for the timepiece, which is available in a limited edition of 50 pieces in each case metal.