Hands-On: How Théo Auffret’s Tourbillon à Paris Bridges The Past, Present, And Future

It’s been almost four years since we last wrote about French watchmaker Théo Auffret. As Stephen Pulvirent said back in January of 2021, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that Switzerland is the center of watchmaking. Germany and Japan get some credit as well. Roger Smith keeps the history of British watchmaking alive as well. But from Abraham-Louis Breguet to LeRoy’s creation of the then-most complicated watch in the world, the French used to reign supreme. The most notable French watchmaker in the modern era, François-Paul Journe, is now based in Geneva. While Auffret remains at his workshop in France – and this story will still focus on his Tourbillon à Paris – he’s also used the last few years to expand his vision of what a French watchmaker can be.

I’ve wanted to see Auffret’s work in person since 2018 when he was one of three winners in the FHH and F.P. Journe–sponsored Young Talent Competition. That early version of the Tourbillon à Paris was unfinished, but his finished work has caught steam with some indie collectors. So, when we finally met at Geneva Watch Days in August, I took the opportunity to photograph a unique example of the Tourbillon à Paris. For a relatively niche aesthetic – traditional but outside the norms of classical Swiss styling – it’s a great example of the history of French watchmaking; I was impressed. 

Regardless, I usually don’t like to revisit a watch or a watchmaker unless there’s something new or novel to talk about. This watch is technically the same as the souscription series started in 2019. But we can spare an extra story about things we love. Two reasons prompted me to put together an update on Auffret and how he’s bridging past and future with his work. So, let’s start with the past. I photographed some of Auffret’s watches all the way back in August, but delaying this story allowed me a chance to photograph two rare examples of Jean-Batiste Viot’s Chronomètre à Paris at IAMWATCH in Singapore, and Auffret’s inspiration should be apparent.

Viot’s name didn’t appear in our “One to Watch” story, which focused to some extent on his mentorship in Paris with Denis Corpechot, who specialized in repairing old clocks and watches. But without Viot’s work, we probably wouldn’t have Auffret. 

Viot is among a small group of remaining masters of restoration, specializing in works from Breguet and Lepine, which means that he’s both incredibly important for the preservation of watchmaking history and about as far from a celebrity as you get in the watch world. And that’s a shame – we need more people like him. His schooling started at L’École d’Horlogerie de Paris, then continued at École Technique de Vallée de Joux, but in pursuit of the restoration skillset, he eventually took courses in the subject at Musée International d’Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds. 

He later did restoration in the workshop of Daniel Gendron and later worked in-house for Breguet, working on restoring the brand’s original maker’s timepieces. Eventually, he left Breguet, returned to Paris, and began to make watches in the French style, resulting in this: the Chronomètre à Paris

There are only eight examples of the Chronomètre à Paris, so having two of them in one place was a surprise. The watch was designed by hand (paper, pencil, and calculator) with a focus on serviceability (no surprise for a restoration specialist) with a white gold three-part case and screwed-in lugs that are removable if needed for work or replacement. 

The movement is based on the same Peseux 260 caliber that Kari Voutilainen used for his Observatoire, providing a good chronometer-grade base. The dial side, on the other hand, reminds me of Jean-Antoine Lepine’s calibers that developed over the years from an elegant and flowing shape to a more straight-bridged design.

There’s a charming hand-made quality to the watch. The engravings, wheels, and even the shape of some of the bridges or end caps all have a bit of unevenness that places the watch far earlier than 2009, which is when it was announced. Finishing and construction has come so far in such a short time and when I showed these photos to a few collectors, they fawned over the watch. One even went so far as to ask if we could contact Viot to entice him to make more.

Auffret’s caliber, below, has taken a lot of Viot’s ideas (themselves revived from much older makers) and elevated them. The first thing you’ll probably notice is the unusual charbonnage finishing of the plates, with the yellowish tinge of German silver. The Breguet-styled bridges nestle with beautiful finishing, all of which contribute to the quintessential French design. While technical and construction abilities have improved over the centuries, using a simplified mainplate connects to the past when more complex plates and bridges weren’t possible.

As visually complex as it is to remove the dial and design the layout with a small time display, the movement side is simple but has perfect touches of anglage that stand out particularly well against the plate finishing. Honestly, the French style has never been my first choice. Still, after looking at these watches and the pictures over and over, I’ve come to understand that there’s really something excruciatingly beautiful about them.

YetAuffret has retained a bit of that 18th-century industrial design aesthetic. For the unique piece I photographed in Singapore, the subdial for the hours has a raised four-sided pyramid pattern guilloché in the center of a large circular-brushed dial. The hands have square segments around the posts, which adds to the industrial quality. And yet, it’s just so finely and thoughtfully done.

This is Auffret’s own personally designed movement, with a low frequency (2.5Hz) for a longer 50-hour power reserve. The finger bridges for the tourbillon and barrel on the earlier examples of the Tourbillon à Paris were full, but here, they’re thoughtfully skeletonized. This probably reduces legibility for the regulator (less space for the hand to contrast against) but celebrates his finishing and design work.

The case design continues that crude-meets-thoughtful design. With the brushed mid-case of the three-piece design, it feels a bit more simple than the rest of the watch. The lugs are also a bit odd compared to what I’m used to seeing, but they suit the rest of the watch. Doing something like a Vichet case à la Rexhep’s Chronomètre Contemporain wouldn’t have worked in this instance. The domed sapphire is another thoughtful touch and adds dimension.

This is one of my favorite watches to go back and look at on my wrist. There’s something so perfect and elegant about the way that it wears, and this level of subtle craft reminds me of Roger Smith in some ways. The regulator isn’t the most legible, but I think it’s worth the extra effort you’ll need to read the time. At 38.5mm in diameter by 12mm high, it’s an incredibly comfortable watch that hits the right balance of size. Auffret made his souscription series available in platinum, gold, sterling silver, or steel at the same price regardless of material: $122,000 at the time of launch in 2019. The timeline was four years to complete 20 pieces, so now the Tourbillon à Paris is complete, and Auffret is moving on to other things.

While at Geneva Watch Days earlier this year, I looked at one of those “other” things, a unique example of Auffret’s Tourbillon Grand Sport, an evolution of that initial movement. It’s a smart play for Auffret to pick up a wider audience for his watches. At 41mm by 13mm in height, it is a bolder and more modern take but still quite wearable. The movement has evolved to have a power reserve at 4 o’clock on the dial while removing the regulator display for a more traditional handset. The Tourbillon Grand Sport was made as a set of four watches, each selling for around $134,000. That means between the Grand Sport and the Tourbillon à Paris, there’s not much left to buy from Auffret at the moment.

Well, again, he’s working on other pieces under the Auffret Paris name that I hope to cover when they’re officially announced. In the meantime, the most interesting thing (to me, at least) that Auffret has gotten involved in over the past few years is his work with SpaceOne.

We covered the brand extensively for the first time just recently, but it’s been a darling of the microbrand scene since its Kickstarter not too long ago. Since then, they’ve done a number of variations of their Jumping Hour watch and the new Tellurium (which quickly sold out), both with modules designed by Theo Auffret. After the boom in independent watchmaking – and I know I repeat this ad nauseam – I’m so happy to see indies also remember that a large portion of watch lovers can’t afford $100,000+ watches but still have a passion for creative design and deserve to be able to access that design at a more attainable price. This, to me, is the future of watchmaking: blending high-end craft and affordable pricing side-by-side.

Auffret seems very happy to be able to make hundreds of watches for a more general audience (prices start around $1,800 and go up to a little more than $3,000) and bring in a solid cash flow for him and the SpaceOne team. At the same time, doing this project with SpaceOne creates distance for his more elevated brand and name so he can continue his high-end work without watering down the Auffret name.

​Hodinkee 

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