{"id":175,"date":"2017-09-30T23:06:40","date_gmt":"2017-09-30T21:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/?page_id=175"},"modified":"2026-03-17T22:56:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:56:36","slug":"philosophy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/index.php\/en\/philosophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=\u00a0\u00bb1″ admin_label=\u00a0\u00bbsection\u00a0\u00bb _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ background_color=\u00a0\u00bb#a89789″ locked=\u00a0\u00bboff\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_row admin_label=\u00a0\u00bbrow\u00a0\u00bb _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ background_size=\u00a0\u00bbinitial\u00a0\u00bb background_position=\u00a0\u00bbtop_left\u00a0\u00bb background_repeat=\u00a0\u00bbrepeat\u00a0\u00bb custom_margin=\u00a0\u00bb-20px|auto|-60px|auto|false|false\u00a0\u00bb hover_enabled=\u00a0\u00bb0″ global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb sticky_enabled=\u00a0\u00bb0″][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.16″ custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb|||\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb custom_padding__hover=\u00a0\u00bb|||\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_text admin_label=\u00a0\u00bbText\u00a0\u00bb _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ text_font=\u00a0\u00bbFrank Ruhl Libre|300|||||||\u00a0\u00bb text_text_color=\u00a0\u00bb#000000″ text_font_size=\u00a0\u00bb17px\u00a0\u00bb background_size=\u00a0\u00bbinitial\u00a0\u00bb background_position=\u00a0\u00bbtop_left\u00a0\u00bb background_repeat=\u00a0\u00bbrepeat\u00a0\u00bb background_layout=\u00a0\u00bbdark\u00a0\u00bb min_height=\u00a0\u00bb780.2px\u00a0\u00bb custom_margin=\u00a0\u00bb-20px||||false|false\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 These days, CNC (computer numerical control) machinery is increasingly being used, gradually ousting so-called conventional machines. In CNC machines, movement of the tool (which may be a laser, an electrical discharge machining (EDM) electrode, a water jet or more common cutting tools such as mills and drill bits) is controlled by computer, and human intervention is limited to providing the machine with the appropriate material and tools.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Although such machines enable industry (watchmaking included) to produce more items, of better quality, and offer amateurs the opportunity to try their hand at building mechanisms of their own invention, they are also, in my view, plainly a serious threat to manual craftsmanship.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Traditional watchmaking consists in building and assembling parts by sawing, filing, drilling, chamfering, forging, riveting, turning, cutting, stamping, hardening, hammering, and so on, with the material resounding to the blows of a tool guided at all times by a sensitive hand capable of feeling its effects on the material.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Two major consequences result from this turnaround in production means. The first is the loss of crafting skills handed down over countless generations, the second the devitalization of modern creations.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 While the loss of horological expertise is regrettable in light of the centuries spent finding and refining it and ensuring its transmission, devitalization is far more serious. By devitalization, I refer to the cold, dispassionate side of computer-controlled productions that leave no room for the imperfections and harmonisations of hand-made pieces. The quest for perfection in modern \u201cmanufactures\u201d, where watches are examined only under a magnifying glass (enlarging up to forty times) to seek out potential flaws, outweighs what appears to be the quality for which artisanal watch-designers formerly strove and still strive: harmony. Without praising flaws as such, I personally regard imperfection as the watchsmith\u2019s personal hallmark imprinted in his creation by a wandering file, an over-enthusiastic hammer blow, a roving saw\u2026 as signs which, without altering it in any way, lend soul and character to the timepiece, testifying to its unique, hand-crafted nature.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 This is the mindset that guides me in my creations. The focus is on manual work, and the term \u201cManibus Factum\u201d (hand-made) assumes its original, literal meaning, where each component is built in stages and depends on the others, not just on the fabrication plan, and where I like to think that the time I spend making it leaves an intangible mark in the resulting timepiece as a whole. If Master Zacharius, Jules Vernes\u2019 clockmaker, sees his clocks inexplicably stop in pace with his slowing heartbeat, it is because passion for his craft has put a little of him inside each one. A noble and inspiring philosophy, and one I modestly seek to follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cModern man\u2019s passion for machines is in no way the exaggeration of a natural feeling, but the mark of a terrible self-denial, an act of abdication. The man of machines will not be free of them until he is free of himself, because the artificial world they have enabled him to create matches his anxieties, and is no more than their projection onto things<\/em>\u201d<\/span>
Georges Bernanos<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=\u00a0\u00bb1_4,1_4,1_4,1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_image src=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/zach03rond.png\u00a0\u00bb alt=\u00a0\u00bbphilosophie_horloger_3″ title_text=\u00a0\u00bbphilosophie horlogerie\u00a0\u00bb align=\u00a0\u00bbcenter\u00a0\u00bb _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb max_width_tablet=\u00a0\u00bb90%\u00a0\u00bb max_width_phone=\u00a0\u00bb80%\u00a0\u00bb max_width_last_edited=\u00a0\u00bbon|phone\u00a0\u00bb border_radii=\u00a0\u00bbon|120px|120px|120px|120px\u00a0\u00bb border_width_all=\u00a0\u00bb2px\u00a0\u00bb border_color_all=\u00a0\u00bb#5c1e09″ border_radii_tablet=\u00a0\u00bbon|145px|145px|145px|145px\u00a0\u00bb border_radii_phone=\u00a0\u00bbon|145px|145px|145px|145px\u00a0\u00bb border_radii_last_edited=\u00a0\u00bbon|tablet\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_image src=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/mercator_with_globe.png\u00a0\u00bb alt=\u00a0\u00bbphilosophie_horloger_1″ title_text=\u00a0\u00bbphilosophie horlogerie\u00a0\u00bb align=\u00a0\u00bbcenter\u00a0\u00bb _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb border_radii=\u00a0\u00bbon|120px|120px|120px|120px\u00a0\u00bb border_width_all=\u00a0\u00bb2px\u00a0\u00bb border_color_all=\u00a0\u00bb#5c1e09″ border_radii_tablet=\u00a0\u00bbon|145px|145px|145px|145px\u00a0\u00bb border_radii_phone=\u00a0\u00bbon|145px|145px|145px|145px\u00a0\u00bb border_radii_last_edited=\u00a0\u00bbon|tablet\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_image src=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/horlogia-ferrea.png\u00a0\u00bb alt=\u00a0\u00bbphilosophie_horloger_2″ title_text=\u00a0\u00bbphilosophie horlogerie\u00a0\u00bb align=\u00a0\u00bbcenter\u00a0\u00bb _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb max_width_tablet=\u00a0\u00bb90%\u00a0\u00bb max_width_phone=\u00a0\u00bb80%\u00a0\u00bb max_width_last_edited=\u00a0\u00bbon|phone\u00a0\u00bb border_radii=\u00a0\u00bbon|120px|120px|120px|120px\u00a0\u00bb border_width_all=\u00a0\u00bb2px\u00a0\u00bb border_color_all=\u00a0\u00bb#5c1e09″ border_radii_tablet=\u00a0\u00bbon|145px|145px|145px|145px\u00a0\u00bb border_radii_phone=\u00a0\u00bbon|145px|145px|145px|145px\u00a0\u00bb border_radii_last_edited=\u00a0\u00bbon|tablet\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_image src=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Daniels.png\u00a0\u00bb alt=\u00a0\u00bbphilosophie_horloger_4″ title_text=\u00a0\u00bbDaniels horloger\u00a0\u00bb align=\u00a0\u00bbcenter\u00a0\u00bb _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb max_width_tablet=\u00a0\u00bb90%\u00a0\u00bb max_width_phone=\u00a0\u00bb80%\u00a0\u00bb max_width_last_edited=\u00a0\u00bbon|phone\u00a0\u00bb border_radii=\u00a0\u00bbon|120px|120px|120px|120px\u00a0\u00bb border_width_all=\u00a0\u00bb2px\u00a0\u00bb border_color_all=\u00a0\u00bb#5c1e09″ border_radii_tablet=\u00a0\u00bbon|145px|145px|145px|145px\u00a0\u00bb border_radii_phone=\u00a0\u00bbon|145px|145px|145px|145px\u00a0\u00bb border_radii_last_edited=\u00a0\u00bbon|tablet\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 These days, CNC (computer numerical control) machinery is increasingly being used, gradually ousting so-called conventional machines. In CNC machines, movement of the tool (which may be a laser, an electrical discharge machining (EDM) electrode, a water jet or more common cutting tools such as mills and drill bits) is controlled by computer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

These days, CNC (computer numerical control) machinery is increasingly being used, gradually ousting so-called conventional machines. In CNC machines, movement of the tool (which may be a laser, an electrical discharge machining (EDM) electrode, a water jet or more common cutting tools such as mills and drill bits) is controlled by computer, and human intervention is limited to providing the machine with the appropriate material and tools.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Although such machines enable industry (watchmaking included) to produce more items, of better quality, and offer amateurs the opportunity to try their hand at building mechanisms of their own invention, they are also, in my view, plainly a serious threat to manual craftsmanship.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Traditional watchmaking consists in building and assembling parts by sawing, filing, drilling, chamfering, forging, riveting<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>turning, cutting, <\/span><\/span>stamping<\/span><\/span>, hardening, hammering, and so on, with the material resounding to the blows of a tool guided at all times by a sensitive hand capable of feeling its effects on the material.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Two major consequences result from this turnaround in production means. The first is the loss of crafting skills handed down over countless generations, the second the devitalization of modern creations.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

While the loss of horological expertise is regrettable in light of the centuries spent finding and refining it and ensuring its transmission, devitalization is far more serious. By devitalization, I refer to the cold, dispassionate side of computer-controlled productions that leave no room for the imperfections and harmonisations of hand-made pieces. The quest for perfection in modern \u201cmanufactures\u201d, where watches are examined only under a magnifying glass (enlarging up to forty times) to seek out potential flaws, outweighs what appears to be the quality for which artisanal watch-designers formerly strove and still strive: harmony. Without praising flaws as such, I personally regard imperfection as the watchsmith\u2019s personal hallmark imprinted in his creation by a wandering file, an over-enthusiastic hammer blow, a roving saw\u2026 as signs which, without altering it in any way, lend soul and character to the timepiece, testifying to its unique, hand-crafted nature<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is the mindset that guides me in my creations. The focus is on manual work, and the term \u201c<\/span><\/span>Manibus Factum<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201d (hand-made) assumes its original, literal meaning, where each component is built in stages and depends on the others, not just on the fabrication plan, and where I like to think that the time I spend making it leaves an intangible mark in the resulting timepiece as a whole. If Master Zacharius, Jules Vernes\u2019 clockmaker, sees his clocks inexplicably stop in pace with his slowing heartbeat, it is because passion for his craft has put a little of him inside each one. A noble and inspiring philosophy, and one I modestly seek to follow.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201c<\/span><\/em>Modern man\u2019s passion for machines is in no way the exaggeration of a natural feeling, but the mark of a terrible self-denial, an act of abdication. The man of machines will not be free of them until he is free of himself, because the artificial world they have enabled him to create matches his anxieties, and is no more than their projection onto things<\/span><\/span><\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/em>\r\nGeorges Bernanos<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-175","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9eyn4-2P","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1913,"href":"https:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175\/revisions\/1913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brivet-naudot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}