One Watchmaker – One Watch
The Story Of A Watchmaker: Behind the scenes with our Head of Watchmaking, Basile Monnin.
Every watch bearing the LAURENT FERRIER name is designed in-house and meticulously assembled in our workshop, built around our calibres, by a team of highly skilled artisans and watchmakers. In an independent company like ours, the relationship between each watch and its creator is deeply personal – a connection we wish to share with you.
Leading our team of watchmakers is Basile Monnin, a watchmaker with a heart as big as his smile, whose days are guided by the pursuit of horological perfection.
Basile Monnin’s Education and Experience
After starting his Swiss education at the École d’horlogerie de Genève as a CFC horloger praticien, Basile's schooling included CEPTA and CRPM degrees, followed by an apprenticeship at Patek Philippe between 1999 and 2003. This laid the foundations of Basile’s early career, which took him on a journey working for brands like Omega, Breguet, and movement specialists Agenhor.
Basile was hired by Laurent Ferrier in 2012 and has led the workshop as Responsable d’atelier or Head of Watchmaking since 2013. Here he heads our talented team of 13 watchmakers, 10 decorators and two quality control specialists.
We sat down and chatted with Basile about what inspires his day, giving you, the collector, a deeper insight into how a timepiece comes to life in our atelier.
Basile, can you tell us more about your role at LAURENT FERRIER and what brought you to the brand?
My role within the company is to ensure the aesthetic and functional quality of our movements by applying the standards of fine watchmaking.
To do this, I coordinate the entire production chain, starting upstream by working on the prototypes of future in-house calibers in collaboration with our Technical Office and Design Studio.
Then, when the calibres go into production, I oversee dimensional and aesthetic checks, the decoration of components, the assembly of movements, and the final inspection of the watch heads to ensure that our standards of excellence are met throughout the production process.
I joined Laurent Ferrier because I found in its products the same values and horological qualities that were passed down to me during my apprenticeship at Patek Philippe.
Although I remain open to new tools, materials, and production methods, I’m deeply attached to the traditional codes of watchmaking – the ones that make this craft so beautiful and allow us to elevate ordinary materials like steel and brass.
If you have to choose only one, which is your favourite watch and calibre, and why?
My favourite piece is without a doubt the Dual Time, the Classic Traveller. First, the aesthetic of the Classic case is, to me, the true signature of the brand and remains my favourite across our entire collection.
As for the movement, not only does it feature the natural escapement – a true challenge that brings back great memories from the prototyping phase – but the "dual time" complication is, in my opinion, one of the most useful complications a wristwatch can offer today.
Being able to know, at a glance and anywhere in the world, what time it is at home is something I greatly appreciate. To me, it’s almost like a “romantic” complication.
The Making Of a LAURENT FERRIER Timepiece
We also asked Basile Monnin to walk us through the different stages of creating a LAURENT FERRIER timepiece – a valuable insight into the reality of the watchmaking craft and the intimate bond between the watchmaker and the finished timepiece.
Basile, taking the LAURENT FERRIER LCF036.TI.CG, Classic Origin as an example, can you briefly describe the production steps and the time dedicated to each before a watch is completed?
Chapter 1 – The Birth of a Beat
The first step of a LAURENT FERRIER timepiece revolves around component preparation and the first quality checks on pre-machined parts received in the workshop.
Once raw components are received, they undergo a dimensional and aesthetic inspection by our Quality Control department, staffed by Maika and Selma. In these first chapters, I will use our barrel bridge 116 as an example.
First, all its positioning points are validated using a Marcel Aubert machine, and milling on the bridge is measured using a vertical comparator. Specific drilled holes and threads are also verified with plug or thread gauges.
After this first dimensional test, the bridge undergoes a visual aesthetic check at 30 cm with the naked eye, to ensure the raw finish is suitable for high-end decoration. If these steps meet our standards of approval, the raw bridge is validated and sent to the decoration workshop.
Chapter 2 – The Eye of The Master
This is where we introduce manual finishing, beveling, polishing, and decoration, a very time-intensive part of creating the finished timepiece.
The bridge is first sandblasted in-house using 50-micron beads, quality controlled by Marlène Battista, then a protective varnish is applied by electroplating to preserve the sandblasting during the decoration process.
The bevelling, a signifying feature of all LAURENT FERRIER movements, is then prepared using a cabron (a wooden stick), and polished by hand. Mouldings and chamfers are hand-milled, then polished with wood and diamantine, before the bridge is inspected by our Head of Decoration, Marlène Batista.
The decorated bridge then undergoes cataphoresis to remove the protective varnish and is given a gilding bath, before I perform the final quality control. Then, a precise masking (épargne) is applied to the engraving to protect the gilding, before the bridge is placed in a ruthenium bath.
Finally, the masking is removed, and the bridge leaves the decoration workshop for a quality check by me before moving to pre-assembly.
Chapter 3 – Mechanical Harmony
The barrel bridge now enters the pre-assembly phase in the watchmaking workshop, where jewels are set into the piece and crown wheels are pre-installed.
Before this step, the watchmaker carefully hand-polishes the screw tips to enhance the aesthetic of the bridge’s center. As in each small step, a rigorous quality control is followed, performed by me and Alexis Perret, before the pre-assembled bridge is added to a movement assembly kit.
Chapter 4 – The Breath of Life and Time
After the first time-consuming stages in the workshop, we have now reached the first complete assembly. The barrel bridge we have followed through its early preparation and decoration is now part of a watchmaker’s complete kit – decorated and pre-assembled – for two, four or six calibre 116 movements. This is when the initial assembly takes place, and each unique LAURENT FERRIER watch and movement serial number is linked to a specific watchmaker, allowing each owner to become familiar with their assigned watchmaker. The movement is now adjusted for end-shakes and clearances of moving parts, and during this phase, the run-in and polishing of screw heads are also performed.
The watchmaker will then start the movement with a pre-adjustment of the balance spring. After this “dry run” assembly, the watchmaker fully disassembles the movement and places all parts in a cleaning machine, ensuring no dust or residue remains.
Chapter 5 – A Real-World Test
We are finally entering the final lap, where the Classic Origin is cased, precision and water resistance are tested, and its power reserve is checked.
A casing kit, including the middle case, strap, clasp, dial, and hands, is now paired with the movement capsule and assigned to the same watchmaker who built the movement. The individual watchmaker cases the watch and performs various tests depending on the calibre, including power reserve, six-position regulating, and pressure testing for water resistance.
Finally, the watchmaker installs the strap and clasp and delivers the finished piece, and the final quality control is then conducted either by Alexis Perret, Head of the Watchmaking Workshop, or by myself, Basile Monnin. If all quality criteria are met, the watch is packaged and returned to logistics before being shipped to our clients.
Words by Thor Svaboe
