Confrérie Horlogère-3rd December 2008: Official presentation of the Confrérie Horlogère in Geneva

“The Confrérie Horlogère, far from being a product, is an ambitious project to promote such values as work, creativeness, craftsmanship, community spirit, respect and above all freedom of women and men moved by the will to express themselves through the excellence” These are the words used by Mathias Buttet, founder and President of the BNB Concept S.A., a world leader in the creation of complicated watch movements, to summarise his ambitious project presented on the 3rd of December in Geneva.

Image:Mathias Buttet, founder and President of the BNB Concept S.A


At the heart of the Confrérie Horlogère is the will to voice, through the talent of BNB Concept’s finest watchmakers, an absolute contemporary vision of the “haute horlogerie”. What does it mean? Following the words of Mathias Buttet, today’s “haute horlogerie” ought to convey, through precious timekeepers, a multitude of values such as excellence, modernity, innovation and, last but not least, character. From this stemmed the groundbreaking idea to create an elite companionship, that later took shape by bringing rise to the Confrérie Horlogère. From 2008 onwards the Confrérie Horlogère will select a restricted number of skilled watchmakers giving them the opportunity to develop their own watch brand. Every year, this is the project, a maximum of seven “graduates” will be chosen to give birth to as many niche eponymous watch brands.

Produced on a very small-scale – the creations will be edited in no more than 10 pieces each –, each of the grand complications timepieces will benefit from a lifetime’s guarantee. The lifetime’s guarantee offered by the Confrérie Horlogère represents, indeed, a real exception in the field of the high end watchmaking industry. In addition to the unquestionable technical aspects of the project, its deep human concern should not be forgotten.

The Confrérie Horlogère, it is not superfluous to emphasize it, has the main objective to express through the “haute horlogerie” the talent and the intrinsic personality of each companion. Enjoying an absolute freedom to create, the members of this Confrérie must comply with the one obligation imposed by Mathias Buttet : to express their character in developing mechanical devices as well as unexpected design.

Image:Members of Confrérie Horlogère


Take for example the timepiece signed by David Rodriguez: a sublime piece in terms of mechanics that unveils, through its open back, all the scars and the difficulties of a Peruvian orphan who has been abused, who goes on crutches, and who, finally, found in Switzerland, and precisely in the watchmaking industry, his revenge. Beside David Rodriguez, the Companions of the 2008-2009 class are Brigitte Carneiro, Ken Koshiyama, Ranieri Illicher, Clara Bise, Gabriel Salgado-de Arce and Sabitry Montandon. This panel of young men and women – 3 of them this year – once again stresses the modernity of the project, in a usually conservative industry. It is also important to mention that the collections created by the companions will be presented all through the year 2009 following different timings. The first four to discover will be :
- David Rodrigueuz : “la Résilience”
- Brigitte Carneiro: “la Face Cachée »
- Ken Koshiyama : “Racines japonaises”
- Ranieri Illicher: “la Passion à l’italienne”