Chaumet watches at Mercat del Diamant, Andorra’s luxury watch retailer

Chaumet revisits the history of luxury

Each minute detail of a Chaumet watch - from creative complications to exceptional dials - combines the scrupulous accuracy of the finest Swiss watchmaking techniques while maintaining their Parisian refinement. Chaumet has instilled its timepieces with its outstanding skill in jewellery crafting.

The collections

Dandy

Joséphine

Hortensia

Liens Lumiere

Class One

Luxury Swiss watchmaking techniques with a French touch

Marie-Etienne Nitot founded the House of Chaumet in Paris in 1780; since its inception, the history of the House of Chaumet has been intricately intertwined with the history of France. Nitot was appointed Emperor Napoleon the First and Empress Josephine’s official jeweller. Nitot designed countless pieces for the court, most notably Napoleon’s coronation crown and the Imperial Sword’s hilt.

For over 200 years, Chaumet has used its inspirations to achieve its lofty aspirations. Gradually, the House of Chaumet adapted its skill and knowledge in jewellery craftsmanship to create exceptional timepieces. The astute finesse with which Chaumet combined traditional Swiss watchmaking techniques with French refinement resulted in timepieces that have become icons in the watchmaking field. This brand became a true master of naturalism, using its creations to celebrate nature in movement. Today, Chaumet explores the infinite subtleties of the hydrangea flower in its designs. Careful observations gave rise to unique timepieces inspired by nature’s intricacies and ingenuity. This luxury brand’s obsession with detail and precision, combined with their skill and knowledge of the watchmaking and jewellery fields, gives each Chaumet watch exceptional properties. This famous brand’s watchmakers produce and assemble numerous components while utilising their distinctive mastery of this unique artistry.

Influential periods in Chaumet’s history

Italian Renaissance art

From 1815 to 1885, the Fossin family and Jean-Valentin Morel perpetuated the skill and knowledge bequeathed to the House of Chaumet by the Nitot family. During this period, the House of Chaumet established an exclusive and prestigious clientele, including the King of France Louis-Philippe and his family, the Duchess of Berry, Queen Victoria and the Russian Prince Anatole Demidoff. The luxury timepieces and jewellery crafted during this period drew heavy inspiration from the decorative arts of the Italian Renaissance, evocative of that era’s romantic style. The elite class was enthralled by these creations, widely accepted as exemplary pieces from this era.

The Art Deco period

From the end of the 19^th century to 1945, the Art Deco style played a pivotal role in the design of Chaumet’s creations. The decorative motifs used during this period continued to show hints of inspiration gleaned from the artistic movement of the Italian Renaissance. The brand’s increasingly fascinating creations attracted great personalities from art and entertainment, including Pablo Picasso, Elizabeth Taylor, Olga Khokhlova’s ballerina and Sacha Guitry.

The Post-War Period

Chaumet had become a significant enterprise in fashion and luxury by collaborating with the world’s leading couturiers, such as Christian Dior and Yves Saint-Laurent. The brand brought its professional knowledge of its unique artistry to fashion trends and was inspired by the revolutionary style of the time, dubbed the New Look. Once again, Chaumet proved its exceptional talent by combining watchmaking and jewellery crafting traditions with unconventional audacity. The brand’s casual style was showcased in its original works, which incorporated surprising combinations of materials such as mother-of-pearl, marquetry and diamonds mounted in yellow gold.

Timepieces born of the finest jewelling techniques

Meticulous craftsmanship: The core of the artisanal watchmaking

The scrupulous attention to detail and technological rigour inherent in the Swiss watchmaking craft are the cornerstones of this emblematic luxury watch brand. Chaumet’s expertise in decorative techniques such as crimping, enamelling, engraving and quilloché is proof of this brand’s obsessive attention to detail. Chaumet creates cases, wristbands and dials that combine all the trade’s technological secrets to provide infallibly precise timepieces. Using the rarest gemstones and diamonds, the brand continues to design creative complications that reveal Chaumet’s unrivalled aesthetic and technical prowess.

Chaumet timepieces: True watchmaking gems

Chaumet’s precious timepieces are fine examples of true gems crafted in the watchmaking and jewellery tradition. The brand’s Liens, Class One, and Dandy collections were designed using extraordinary raw materials, transforming these watches into pieces that resemble jewellery capable of attracting covetous stares. The Liens watch collection features a minimalist design and embodies the visual expression of technical mastery, streamlined design and unparalleled quality Chaumet is known for. The Class One collection is Chaumet’s first jewelled diving watch, crafted from steel, diamonds and rubber. It features a surprising combination of materials, design, delicacy and technical prowess, resulting in a truly modern style.

The complex mechanisms hidden underneath the cushion-shaped dial of the watches in the Dandy collection echo the brand’s unique style and mastery of cutting-edge technologies.

Chaumet designs and manufactures all its mechanisms for its collections in Switzerland.