Bernard Favre: a magician of watch winding

Bernard Favre launched his own brand after an unusual career path and after he acquired a prestigious bunch of clients; watchmaking brands that entrust him with their presentation cases or their winding systems.

Bernard Favre Planet Classic Black

The acknowledgement of watchmaking brands

Favre wanted to be a professional musician just like his elder brother and thus came to Zurich like him to study music. “I realized that I was not skilled enough for this, so I turned to trade”, he admits, without a trace of regret. He learned something from the astounding music school and from the practice of musical rigor that he took to watchmaking: in order to create a beautiful object we need to respect a true partition.

He started selling products; i.e. tangible things. He was a leather distributor and has always had a love for tinkering. Consequently, he did not only sell but diversified into modifying and improving the objects that he sold.

Bernard Favre

He gradually built his own workshop where he produced leather objects, window displays and presentation cases. Watchmaking brands have been his clients for 15 years now. When he realized that the mechanisms housed in these products were not of the same quality as the watches they were driving, he decided to start producing his own screws. His small company was run with only eight employees, of whom one was a carpenter and another, a locksmith. The company specialized in wood, leather, mechanics and tubing.

Among the creations that helped develop his name is the famous Jaeger-LeCoultre suitcase that was the object of an international advertising campaign. It contains and protects, like it would a historical treasure, several watch calibers. Favre is also behind the creation of the carbon presentation case of the Luna Rossa race, challenge of America’s Cup. He also designed, for Parmigiani Fleurier, the presentation case of the Bugatti, which opens like a car’s hood thanks to carbon push-pieces. He works for almost all watchmaking brands but his only limit is the compromise he sometimes has to make with the budget his clients have. With this comes the certainty that he can see his work through, that he can afford ultimate coherence and not relent from refining things down to the smallest details.

Bernard Favre Planet Classic Silver

Creating Planet

Thus, in 2009, he crossed the threshold and decided he was going to do it all himself from start to finish. “I wanted to create a winding system that represented our region, our materials – brass, aluminum, chrome-plated. I used the same materials that are used to produce watches as well as the same finishes, such as polishing the rings produced here”, Bernard Favre explained. The mini-engines are Swiss and are produced by Faulhaber in Tessin. The latter were developed in Neuchâtel in partnership with Microcity (EPFL), while the electronic circuit was produced in the Jura. To date, the assembling is still done by Favre even though they are working on a partnership with a neighboring company that specializes in the electronics of welding. However, they will have to delegate the work if they want to focus on the creation of other watchmaking accessories. Indeed, they already have a first customized order of 250 pieces for Piaget with exclusivity for one year. That allowed Favre to start his own production of 500 pieces.

In 2015 – and BaselWorld may well be the transition it needs to expand – Bernard Favre intends to produce between 700 and 1,000 pieces. He is already present in 12 countries through a network of 50 points of sale.

Bernard Favre Planet Classic Gold with its travel case

This small wonder, a digest of smart electronics and exceptional mechanical finishes, is sold at CHF1,290 for the base models with aluminum rings. The version sporting gold-plated rings costs CHF 1,990. The 124 x 155 mm piece – if measured without the glass cover – is equipped with a USB charger and a travel set.

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