By opting to bring together all the watchmaking trades under one roof, the Julien Coudray 1518 Manufacture is able to offer a new concept of Haute Horlogerie. Inspired by the Renaissance, when the clockmaker Julien Coudray invented the first portable watch, every watch - made either from gold or platinum - undergoes the complete design and manufacturing process in-house, starting with the components of its movement. This challenge calls for the mastery and experience of a team of experts, coordinated by Fabien Lamarche. Together they all put their passion for a challenge at the service of the firm, the better to share their passion with enthusiasts and collectors.
The choice of name is the assertion of a philosophy
By adopting the name "Julien Coudray 1518", the Manufacture deliberately alludes to the Renaissance, a time when ways of thinking, acting and creating were transformed. A new school of scientific thought was developing, while art was fuelled by investigation and curiosity: artists and scholars wanted both to understand nature and describe its riches. Francis 1st, a cultured monarch and Prince of the Renaissance, out of his concern to extend the influence of the Court, sponsored many artists, the most famous of whom was Leonardo da Vinci. To the same end, he invited to his Château at Blois the clockmaker Julien Coudray. In 1518, he transformed the clock into the form of a portable watch: at the behest of the King, he succeeded in inserting spring movements into the handles of two royal daggers. The portable watch was born.
