Ferdinand Berthoud
Owned by Chopard but operating with full creative and technical autonomy in Fleurier — conceived and run as a dedicated independent manufacture, independent in every sense that matters.
Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud pays tribute to one of the greatest horologists of all time. Born in 1727 in Plancemont in the Val-de-Travers region of Neuchâtel, Ferdinand Berthoud moved to Paris at 18 and became Master Watchmaker in 1753 by special royal decree at only 26. He was appointed Watchmaker-Mechanic to the King and to the Navy in 1770, receiving a royal commission to supply the French Admiralty with longitude clocks for naval cartography. His marine chronometers guided the King of France's ships across the world — including those of the ill-fated La Pérouse expedition of 1785. He examined John Harrison's H4 in London in 1763 (Harrison refused to open it). He was a member of the Royal Society in London, received the Legion of Honour from Napoleon in 1804, and published over 4,000 pages of horological scholarship across dozens of works. His dynasty continued through nephews Henry Berthoud, Louis Berthoud, and the brothers Jean-Louis and Charles-Auguste Berthoud — producing marine chronometers under 'Berthoud Frères' until Charles-Auguste's death in 1876. The modern Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, based in Fleurier, was established in 2015 to revive this legacy with an innovative watchmaking approach.
Three current collections: the Mesure du Temps 1787 (Chronomètre FB 2TV.1 — flying tourbillon with constant-force fusée-and-chain in 18k white gold, hand-sanded nickel-silver movement); Naissance d'une Montre 3 (Chronomètre FB 4BTC — 11,000 hours and six years in development, split bimetallic balance with constant-force fusée-and-chain); and Chronomètre FB 3 (FB 3SPC — cylindrical balance-spring, COSC-certified, inspired by early 19th-century pocket watch design). The debut FB 1 (2015) — a vertical fusée-and-chain tourbillon in an 18th-century marine instrument-inspired case — won the Aiguille d'Or, the highest prize at GPHG 2016, recognising it as the best watch of the year across all categories. 'Our chronometers bear witness to the passion that impelled the explorers of the Age of Enlightenment.'