France has history in watchmaking, and it's making a comeback

In the late 18th century, Paris was the Silicon Valley of watchmaking. And the comparison isn’t as daft as it sounds. The marine chronometer was the groundbreaking technology of the day, allowing ships to navigate the world without the point and hope approach of earlier centuries.

Sadly for French watchmaking, this was also when the guillotining started. And most of the posh heads that rolled were the ones buying expensive watches. Watchmakers fled over the border, helping Switzerland to become the watchmaking hub of the world.

This wasn’t the French Revolution’s only effect on the clock industry. It brought in decimal currency, a great idea that Britain failed to adopt for another two centuries. The problem was the French didn’t stop at money. The revolutionaries were so obsessed with washing away the old regime they wanted to decimalise everything, including time – meaning a 10-day week and a 10-hour clock.

The few remaining French clockmakers were forced to make clocks accordingly, with some showing both old and new time, making it even more confusing. Luckily within a few years, the French saw sense and said “Non” to the whole decimalised time business.

France’s watch industry has never returned to its former glory, but it is fighting back.

Pro tip:

A rejection of accepted wisdom has long been central to the thinking of French philosophers from René Descartes to Eric Cantona. The central tenet being that you shouldn’t be bound by what other people want you to think. Therefore, if you want to buy a bright red watch, you should get one. And wear it with pride. Be free to set your own path through life, and let the seagulls follow your trawler.