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19 HISTORY |
Watchmaking was now well-established and definitively
recognised as a Swiss occupation. It provided the mountain
dwellers and peasants to glimpse a better way of life.
t
he story oF a brILLIant
Watchmaker
Watchmaking as a profession had been established in Le Locle
for 30 years, when Abraham-Louis Perrelet was born there
on 9 January 1729.
His father, Daniel Perrelet, was both a farmer and a carpenter.
During the long winters in the Neuchâtel mountains, he made
tools, some of which, for the watchmakers, were extremely
fine. Like any deprived child of the period, Abraham-Louis
made himself useful, helping his parents in the fields and in
the workshop.
At the age of 20, seeing that watchmaking was increasing in
scale in the Neuchâtel mountains, he gave up his humble
work to commit himself fully to this fascinating new craft.
The first problem he encountered was the lack of proper tools.
He set himself to overcome this deficiency by designing and
producing a number of tools himself, such as the planter or
the rounding tool.
He invented, developed and refined a series of new combina-
tions to improve the performance of timepieces.
He was, for example, the first person in Le Locle, to make
watches with cylinder and duplex escapements, date and
equation. Despite his youth, he built himself a solid reputation,
and he was widely consulted as an expert.
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