Tristan Ledard

Tristan Ledard is a French watchmaker who trained through the Brevet des Métiers d'Art at a Paris watchmaking school, a course that led to internships with several established watchmakers and a formative stint working on the restoration of an astronomical clock. For his diploma's research and development project, he set out to linearize the equation of time — the seasonal variation between solar and clock time, traditionally shown on a curved kidney-shaped scale — and build a clock display around it, adding further complications as he went. The result, Astro, was developed between 2014 and 2015 and later lightly updated in 2019.

Astro won the 2016 'Young Talent' competition jointly organised by the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) and F.P. Journe, with Ledard receiving the prize personally from Journe at a press conference during Baselworld, where Astro was exhibited on the AHCI stand — by his own account, a childhood dream realised. Built on a centuries-old chimney-clock movement (calibre PDP 00P, anchor and pendulum escapement, 8-day reserve, accurate to roughly 30 seconds a day), the 360mm cherry-wood clock strikes the hours and half-hours and combines its linear equation of time with an annual calendar showing the month, day, solstices, equinoxes, and zodiac sign, plus a rotating globe ring for tracking the time in other parts of the world. Ledard made every component by hand except the dial engraving, using only a Hauser M1 and a Schaublin 102, and finished the piece with a sandblasted brass dial, polished steel and brass indices, and hands made from a steel-and-brass bi-material construction unique to the brand.

Astro's win gave Ledard the momentum to found TL-Watchmaking, initially to sell Astro alongside fully handmade wristwatches. Model 1, still in development, carries Astro's design language onto the wrist, with two-tone hands and a crownless case Ledard had first sketched as early as 2010. It is built around the TL01, his own in-house calibre, deliberately designed to minimise milling work and keep the handmade mainplate as simple as possible; for now, TL01 borrows its escapement, jewels, and mainspring from a 649X-2 base movement, pending the machinery needed to produce those parts in-house as well.

Alongside his own watch and clock designs, Ledard runs a working restoration business from his workshop in Sainte-Anne-d'Auray, in Brittany's Morbihan department, servicing mechanical, self-winding, and chronograph watches as well as antique chimney, Westminster, and grandfather clocks, with pieces accepted either in person or by mail. Since 2020 he has also offered remote watchmaking courses built around the Unitas 6497 movement, pairing a video walkthrough and illustrated guide with optional rental of the movement, a complete watch, and a full tool kit so students can practise the same service at home. A separate professional arm of the workshop takes on CAD design, 3D-printed prototyping, and subcontracted parts manufacturing and consulting for other brands.