8. 2000-2007 The Watch Workshop

The Foundation Watch

In 2000 self-employment beckoned, registering at the Chamber of Commerce under the company name “The Watch Workshop”. With the tools I used to make the Foundation Watch, we set up a small workshop in Rolle on Lac Leman.

Our first client was Vaucher in Fleurier building minute repeaters. I could assemble two in a month (working non-stop like an animal) and earn 20,000 Swiss francs for each delivered pair.

In parallel, I finished the Foundation Watch over the course of the first year, and in 2001 went with pictures of it to Baselworld with Kees Engelbarts (a Dutch engraver based in Geneva).

It was at Baselworld that Kees introduced me to Philippe Dufour, who suggested that the following year I should exhibit with the Independent Watch and Clock Makers Academy (AHCI). Philippe and Antoine Preziuso, both well-known watchmakers in this small obscure world of independent watchmaking, would become my sponsors for admission to the AHCI.

In 2002 we exhibited in the AHCI booth at Baselworld for the first time. The Foundation watch and the first of the prototypes of the Piccadilly were presented and the brand Speake-Marin was born.

Each exhibiting member had a display cabinet, despite the long hours on one’s feet, Basel was a great place to meet people and it was that first year at Basel that I met Eric Giroud. Now one of the industry’s most celebrated watch designers. We became friends chatting in front of the display cabinet. 

A few years later, I would introduce Eric to Maximilian Büsser, then director of the watch department at Harry Winston in Geneva, Max was already well known in the watch community and had developed the “Opus” programme. It was Opus that transformed the watch business of Harry Winston from a loss-making subsidiary into a major force. 

I would assist in the development of the Excenter Tourbillon for Harry Winston. Later Max left Harry Winston to develop his own company, MB&F (Maximilian Büsser & Friends). The first watch was called the Horological Machine No.1, I acted as a technical advisor and assisted with the logistical execution of the project..

Prior to working with MB&F, I had been approached by an American entrepreneur who had asked me to assist with the development of another new brand. Later in 2006 I started working with Mâitre du Temps.

With MDT I worked with Roger Dubuis (the individual), Daniel Roth and Christophe Claret as well as the manufacturer I had built repeaters for when I first become self-employed, Vaucher. 

In 2008 I stopped the collaborations and the consulting to concentrate on Speake-Marin watches. 

A few weeks later Lehman Brothers collapsed and the Swiss watch industry ground to a halt.