the horological one-man- band - julien coudray 1518 filefor fabien lamarche, the con - straints...

Jean-Philippe Arm

If there is one particular man fromthe Jura mountains who has beenin the watchmaking wings forever,who knows all the ins and outsand whose discretion is inverselyproportional to the importance ofhis role, it is well and truly he. Hisname won’t mean much to mostpeople. In fact, the first time weheard of him was 20 years ago inSainte-Croix, and that was by hisnickname: the crazy Machinist ! Amoniker used with same respectas another often applied to him:the Magician.

His primary tool is undoubtedly thepencil or pen. He jots down in a per-fectly legible manner all his obser-vations and all his developments inhis very own book of magic spells.His concern each time is to find atechnical solution, to master thecorrect operation, and then to passit on. To cite just one of the count-less examples of this approach:how could a gold chronographcounter with an enamelled track beincorporated into an enamel dial?The cloisonné technique was inap-plicable within these dimensions…It took him a full two years to find theright procedure.

Trained in watchmaking, microme-chanics and electronic robotics, hequickly came up against the tight-lipped oldtimers of the Vallée deJoux, who were reluctant to passon their know-how. One thermaltreatment specialist simply said:“Looks like there’s a storm brewingoutside, so let’s postpone this tilltomorrow.” His only option was towatch the artisans at work, meas-ure temperatures, and take note ofadjustments, keenly aware thattime would not permit him toacquire such experience and thatintuition would not be enough.

Fabien Lamarche is his real nameand he certainly holds a record: hehas worked for more than120 watch brands, including manywho owe him a wealth of mechan-ical marvels, the details that makeall the difference, or various origi-nal products that have been soldaround the world. So what special-ity does this modest man have thatmakes him so keenly sought after?The paradox is that he doesn’thave one speciality – rather an infi-nite range of them.

Obsessed with solving problemsthat appear insoluble, he simplynever gives up. Whatever the sizeof the challenge and whetherdealing with a client request or hisown project, he has managed toturn extreme versatility into amodus operandi, switchingblithely from the design of a30,000-part monthly productionline to creating one-of-a-kindmodels, as well as smoothly jug-gling ancestral craft techniquesand futuristic technologies.

The company from Le Locle statesits case in three letters: IMH, stand-ing for Innovations ManufacturesHorlogères. After notably trans-forming the basic Peseux 7001movement into a variety of calibreswith original dials and multiple com-plications, as well as handling themass production of models thathave become too successful fortheir initially limited series, thesmall company run by FabienLamarche has experienced plentyof ups but no downs. A few yearsago, it even took the major step ofacquiring a brand name.

65

watch around no 017 spring - summer 2014 |

64

| watch around no 017 spring - summer 2014

The horological one-man-band64BACK-STAGEBACK-STAGEBACK-STAGE

For Fabien Lamarche, the con-straints imposed by Julien Coudray1518 are a great stimulus. How canone make do without luminova andyet achieve the same effect onwatch hands? This no easy task,but he is getting pretty close. Alongthe same lines, how can a domedmoon be formed using the plique àjour enamel technique? This hasnow been accomplished, and themoon phase will be truly innovative.Instead of playing hide and seekunder the dial it will reproduce theastronomical reality of the shadowcast by the Earth’s satellite.

The brand had never previouslyexisted. Its vocation is to drawinspiration from a watchmakerwho in 1518 created the firstportable watch movement, whichFrançois I had inserted into thepommels of two daggers. Theidea was to start from there, andto work within the context of thatera, using only pure, solid materi-als and to ban all chemical treat-ments that might have detrimentaleffects in the long term.

After years of working for otherpeople, he understandably wantedhis own brand so he could controlevery parameter and fully explorehis ideas and desires. Why not?An opportunity came up, which heinitially declined and then decidedto take up. The name JulienCoudray 1518 sounds very muchlike the currently popular trend forclaiming spectacularly ancientancestry… But that’s definitely notwhat it’s all about.

The constant concern of this com-pany is to avoid deceit of any kind,including lies by omission, whichare all too commonplace. JulienCoudray 1518 will not tolerate anycompromises on the authenticityof the materials from which allparts are crafted – for such is theprice of timeless sustainability.And what about after-sales serv-ice? The solution is original : pro-vide a secure capsule comprisinga complete set of all the parts thatmight one day break.

Finally, the ultimate device to sim-plify a watch owner’s life comes inthe shape of a multifunctional pres-entation box – an in-house micro-mechanical invention brimming withpatented features. It operates thevarious crowns and buttons of thewatch inside, monitors the appear-ance and even the sound of all itsparts, and successfully handles theadjustment, time-setting and main-tenance of all its functions.Programmable for the long-termmanagement of the most compli-cated models, it is actively propellingJulien Coudray 1518 towards theyear 2100 and beyond.

The underlying philosophy is toretain the best of the 16th and the21st centuries. That means creat-ing magnificent pieces in the oldway, but with the help of invisiblenew technologies used to roughout prototypes, miniaturise, savetime and achieve greater preci-sion. Today platinum can bemachined, so let’s by all means doso. But there is no question ofcoating it with palladium to hideany impurities ; the latter shouldon the contrary be exploited bymeans of engraving.

67

watch around no 017 spring - summer 2014 |

66

| watch around no 017 spring - summer 2014

BACK-STAGEBACK-STAGEBACK-STAGE