Many watchmakers take a roundabout route through life before finally settling at their workbench; not so Christophe Claret. The master watchmaker embarked directly on watchmaking studies, successfully graduated at the age of 19, visited the Basel Fair for the first time in 1987, and lost no time in setting up his own business.
He then met Rolf Schnyder, busy relaunching Ulysse Nardin, who asked him to produce the brand’s first automaton. Those two events proved momentous: in the space of 30 years, Claret was to become established as one of the greatest specialists in automatons – and Ulysse Nardin became a loyal customer, to this day. Nor is it the only one: at the Manufacture he set up in Le Locle, Christophe Claret never has fewer than a dozen or so projects on the go. Over the decades – usually shrouded in the utmost discretion – he has served over 65 brands and developed over 120 exclusive calibres.
Throughout his career, Christophe Claret has been an astute observer of developments behind the scenes in the watchmaking world. As he explains: “In the past, a good, powerful and disruptive idea with genuine potential always found a taker. Watchmakers did business with other watchmakers. Nowadays, they also have to deal with financial backers, investors and marketing departments, all of whom bring all kinds of other considerations to bear.”
Could that be why he created his own brand, under his own name, in 2009? “Indeed it was. I wanted to protect my creative freedom. Never again did I want to be told a project of mine was too far ahead of its time! You need to be daring, and never stop innovating. The big collectors are still out there.”
For those collectors, Christophe Claret turns the ‘wow effect’ into reality. From the magnetic workings of the X-TREM-1 to the rollers of the DualTow, via the poetic effect of the Margot and all the fun of the Blackjack, the watchmaker explores territories that nobody else has even thought of. How long can he keep it up? “Everything inspires me – magic, cars, nature, and history,” says this fan of the Middle Ages. Somewhere in Christophe Claret’s workshop lies a huge chest, packed with ideas. There’s more than enough material there for a few decades yet.
*On the occasion of GMT Magazine and WorldTempus' 20th anniversary, we have embarked on the ambitious project of summarising the last 20 years in watchmaking in The Millennium Watch Book, a big, beautifully laid out coffee table book. This article is an extract. The Millennium Watch Book is available on www.the-watch-book.com, in French and English, with a 10% discount if you use the following code: WT2021.
