French watchmaking is fighting to survive

The announcement effects and, finally, the bankruptcy ten days ago of the Aiôn group – which aimed to compete with the Swiss watch industry – cast a form of discredit on this sector in France. At the risk of making people forget that our neighbor was, between the Age of Enlightenment and the middle of the 20th century, a great watchmaking nation. Although a native of Neuchâtel, Abraham-Louis Breguet, considered the father of modern watchmaking, has, in fact, spent his entire career in Paris. Even today, the French Jura has several schools that supply the prestigious Swiss houses with watchmakers.