Geneva Watch Days: Ferdinand Berthoud & the Heritage Project That Is the Naissance d’une Montre 3
The next generation of watchmakers may well be upon us, and very soon, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t gotten a little help from the namesakes of generations past.
By Barbara Palumbo
Contributor
Prior to 2015, the vast majority of today’s watch enthusiasts, writers, editors, and influencers had likely not heard of the name Ferdinand Berthoud. The rights to the name were purchased in 2006 by none other than Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Co-President of Chopard. Then, in 2015, the Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud brand came to fruition. But who exactly was Ferdinand Berthoud? Here’s a very brief history.
A Lesson in History
Born in March of 1727, in the Plancemont, Val-de-Travers region in the Principality of Neuchâtel (then Prussia), Berthoud was the youngest of five boys; two of whom were clock and watchmakers.
At the age of fourteen, Berthoud began studying science and working as a clockmaking apprentice under his elder brother, Jean-Henry. By the age of eighteen, he had moved to Paris to further develop his skills. Just eight years later, Berthoud received the title of Master Watchmaker, bestowed upon him by the French Royal Council (with the royal assistance of King Louis XV, who was an enthusiastic patron fostering the advancement of science and technology).
So, while the Ferdinand Berthoud name may not be considered “household” at this point, Scheufele and his team of watchmakers are ensuring that the name gets the recognition it so rightfully deserves in contemporary watchmaking, which is where this year’s release comes in.
Years in the Making
The Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud Naissance d’une Montre 3 was six years in the making, and the brand has rightfully deemed it its “horological heritage project.”
What makes the piece important is that, while it is chronometer-certified by COSC (though not the brand’s first to be), the Naissance d’une Montre 3 was created using none of the digital assistance so commonplace in modern watchmaking (i.e., no CAD software, no digitally regulated machinery, and certainly no AI). Rather, this exquisite timepiece has been created in the way Berthoud, himself, might have designed something if he had been alive in, say, the 1950s and 1960s; so, old school tools and machines, Berthoud’s scientific orientation, and a modern watchmaker’s hands.
Limited to just eleven pieces, the Naissance d’une Montre 3 that Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud revealed at Geneva Watch Days carries a firm, direct historical inspiration, as well: The Astronomical Pocket Watch No. 3, originally built by the brand’s namesake in 1806.
Building a Legend
More than eighty artisans from the houses of Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud and Chopard spent over 11,000 hours working to create a timepiece powered by a movement featuring the rare combination of a split-bimetallic temperature-compensated balance wheel and a constant-force fusée-and-chain transmission system. This horological magic is visible when looking at the watch’s dial and is only made more beautiful by the 44mm 18K gold case that houses it.
What makes the project even more interesting is that one version, featuring a stainless steel case, was produced exclusively for Phillips in association with Bacs & Russo. This unique piece will be auctioned in Geneva in November of 2025, with a portion of the proceeds from the sale being donated to a charity dedicated to preserving and passing on watchmaking expertise to future generations. The remaining ten examples will be produced at a rate of two per year, starting in 2026.
Getting Technical (But Not Digital)
Reviving the classic production processes is certainly a big part of the project’s story, but the use of period technology is not just an engaging narrative. It also contributes to the Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud Naissance d’une Montre 3’s uniqueness.
For example, the split-bimetallic balance wheel mentioned above derives its effectiveness, helping maintain a constant oscillation frequency by compensating for the effects of extreme changes in temperature, via the use of two different metals with two different properties.
A typical balance wheel and spring approach can lose precision in extreme variations of temperature, which can affect metallic properties, especially in the balance spring. Exposed to extreme cold, a balance spring stiffens up, throwing off a timepiece’s precision. Of course, when a balance spring expands under extremes of heat, you can have a similar hit to precision.
Running Hot & Cold
The so-called “Guillaume”-type balance wheel used here (which has also virtually disappeared from modern watch making, BTW) compensates for temperature variations impacting the nickel-free steel alloy balance spring by employing both brass and Invar (a 19th-century alloy of iron and nickel that has an exceptionally low rate of thermal expansion).
The temperature effects on the split balance wheel have the opposite, mitigating nature of the temperature effects on the balance spring. So, when things get cold, the rims of the split balance open up, slightly increasing the wheel’s diameter and inertia to make up for any spring stiffness. And when things heat up, the balance rims close, creating a rotational gain to compensate for any temperature-created spring slackness.
Even the movement’s name highlights this sense of technical re-activation. Calibre FB-BTC.FC stands for Fernand Berthoud (“FB”) Balancier Thermo-Compense (“BTC”) and Fusée Chaine (“FC”). While we have 1920 Nobel prizewinner Charles Édouard Guillaume to thank for his invariable alloy, Invar, and the idea of bimetallic thermal compensation, the fusée chain part of the formula is even more historically interesting and mechanically compelling.
Chain of Command
The search for technologies to keep constant the force being delivered by an unwinding watch mainspring (thus ensuring better precision) could become a kind of historical detective novel. While there are multiple methods to accomplish this (which are often brand-proprietary solutions), the fusée-and-chain approach is the most visually dramatic and the most ancient.
Dating from the 15th century, the contrivance ensures that regulated, consistent energy is delivered to a watch’s gear train despite the varying forces generated by the mainspring as it unwinds.
In the case of the Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud’s Naissance d’une Montre 3, the system looks very nice doing its job: The conical design of the first fusée-and-chain barrel increases leverage while the spring tension decreases, kind of like bicycle gears. The transmission train moves from small diameter wheels to larger diameter wheels to provide more consistent torque as the mainspring unwinds.
This fusée-and-chain system is yet further proof that the reliance on heritage technical solutions underlines the new timepiece’s performance excellence and horological relevance.
Rounding Things Out
The Naissance d’une Montre 3 is equipped with a 50-hour power reserve via the FB-BTC.FC Caliber movement mentioned above, with two diamonds serving as luxurious end stones for the central balance-staff. Like the totality of this horological history lesson on the wrist, those adornments are both visible from the dial and through the transparent caseback, which protects the balance-staff and other components from shocks and damage.
Like Ferdinand Berthoud (who allowed his nephew to apprentice under him as he had no children of his own), the Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud brand, along with Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and the watchmakers at Chopard, are seeing to it that rare traditional watchmaking techniques don’t disappear and that the science and art of horology is not only appreciated for generations to come, but viewed as undeniably effective, even in this modern era.
For more information, including pricing, check out the Ferdinand Berthoud website.