Jean-François Bautte (22 March 1772 in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

– 30 November 1837 in Geneva) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

and

jeweller A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabrica ...

famous for several reasons: he founded the most complete watch manufacture of his time in

. He also created

watches A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

and

jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...

for famous people and was one of the inventors of the extra-thin watch.

Life

Jean-François Bautte came from a family of modest workmen. Very soon an orphan, he was placed in an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

at the age of 12, i.e. in 1784, and was trained in the different trades of being a case fitter, engraver, watchmaker, jeweller, and

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...

. He signed his first creations in 1791. On August 1, 1793, he joined forces with Jacques-Dauphin Moulinié, under the corporate name Moulinié & Bautte, case fitters. On October 1, 1804, with the arrival of Jean-Gabriel Moynier, the firm became Moulinié, Bautte & Cie, seller of watch making-jewellery making. It was then that Jean-François Bautte developed his own manufacture in Geneva that brought together under the same roof all the bodies of trades of watch making from that time. He died on November 30, 1837 and was buried in Plainpalais Cemetery in Geneva.

Creations

The workshops of Jean-François Bautte were grouped around the sales shop situated on Rue du Rhône. With his workmen, he produced watches, jewellery, music boxes…he excelled in the “watches of shape:” watches disguised in miniature musical instruments, in butterflies or in flowers, and even a watch in the form of a perfume-dispensing gun. He was also one of the first fabricators of extra-thin watches, of which he made one of his specialties. In addition to his store in Geneva, he had branches in Paris and Florence. He also traded equally with

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Recognized by his high quality creations, his popularity exceeded the borders of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The name of Bautte appeared in the writings of

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where ''Suffix (name)#Generational titles, '' is French language, French for 'father', to distinguish him from ...

, the writings of Balzac in his “Letters to the Stranger,” and in the writings of John Ruskin. Among some of his clients included

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, the duchess of Clermont-Tonnerre.

Succession

On December 20, 1837, the Jean-François Bautte & Cie Company was formed, seller of watch and jewellery making, by his son Jacques Bautte and his son-in-law Jean-Samuel Rossel. The company was then repurchased by Constant Girard-Gallet, owner of the Swiss watch Manufacturer Girard-Perregaux (La Chaux-de-Fonds) in 1906. Some of his creations are on display at the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva and at the

Girard-Perregaux Girard-Perregaux SA () is a luxury Swiss watch ''manufacture'' with its origins dating back to 1791. Since 2011, the Swiss holding group of Girard-Perregaux, Sowind Group, has been a subsidiary of the French luxury group Kering. Headquartered i ...

Museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

References

*François Chaille, Girard-Perregaux, Editions Flammarion, 2004, *Joseph Rambal, L’Horlogerie à Genève, In Nos Anciens et leurs Oeuvres, Recueil genevois d’Art, Genève, 1905 *Eugène Jaquet, Le Cabinotier Jean-François Bautte, rénovateur de la « Fabrique » genevoise, In Revue internationale d’horlogerie, 51, 1950, 7 *Eugène Jaquet, Alfred Chapuis, Histoire et technique de la montre suisse de ses origines à nos jours, Urs Graf, Bâle et Olten, 1945

External links

*
Website of the Fondation de la Haute HorlogerieSite de l’entreprise Girard-Perregaux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bautte, Jean 1772 births 1837 deaths Clockmakers from the Republic of Geneva Swiss watchmakers (people)

Life

Creations

Succession

See also

References

External links