Inside La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton with Michel Navas & Enrico Barbasini

In watchmaking, few partnerships have proven as enduring or influential as that of Mr Michel Navas and Mr Enrico Barbasini. Their collaboration, spanning over three decades and some of Switzerland's most storied Manufactures, represents a masterclass in how technical mastery and creative vision can elevate each other to extraordinary heights.

Michel's path began in the traditional way—born into a watchmaking family, his destiny seemed preordained. Yet it was his natural talent, not mere inheritance, that saw him graduate at the top of his class and land one of the few coveted positions at Audemars Piguet in 1980, where he worked on pioneering tourbillon wristwatches, including a significant model in 1986. Enrico's journey was more unconventional—the son of an opera singer, he discovered his calling through a passion for mechanics and Sunday morning car repairs with his father. His baptism by fire came on his first day at gérald genta, when he was handed a pocket minute repeater to assemble with no practical experience.

Their paths converged at gérald genta in 1987, beginning a partnership that would take them through Patek Philippe, Franck Muller, and ultimately to La Fabrique du Temps, where they serve as the creative and technical conscience of Louis Vuitton's watchmaking ambitions. Under the vision of Mr Jean Arnault, they've transformed La Fabrique du Temps into something unprecedented—an atelier of around 200 individuals that somehow maintains the soul of a small workshop, where barriers between métiers dissolve and extraordinary complications emerge from genuine collaboration.

Now tasked with reviving the legendary brands of gérald genta and Daniel Roth, Michel and Enrico represent living links to these masters while pushing their legacies into uncharted territory. We spoke with them about their philosophy of limitless creativity, why the hardest thing in watchmaking is achieving simplicity, and how they've created an environment where, in Enrico's words, "you must step out of your comfort zone—always, always, always."

Your paths into watchmaking couldn't have been more different—one born into it, the other drawn by pure mechanical passion. How did these contrasting beginnings shape the craftsmen you've become?

MICHEL: Coming from a family of watchmakers, I did this job by family tradition and not by choice, since from a very young age, we were immersed in the world of watchmaking. So naturally, I went to a watchmaking school in France. After completing my studies, I couldn't really claim much personal merit. Most of what I knew, I had learned from my father. It wasn't so much the school that taught me, but rather my father. When I finished school, I graduated at the top of my class, thanks to my natural talent for watchmaking. After a study trip, 10 of the 35 in the class were invited to Audemars Piguet, which was a small company at the time. I was one of the 10 and the other 25 were invited to Jaeger-LeCoultre.

I was lucky to be accepted, since Audemars Piguet only took one person at that time. That was in 1980, and the economic situation was very different. There weren't many opportunities because of the "invasion" of quartz watches. The Maison would take one person after the visit, and I was lucky to be hired. I started my career there and I stayed at Audemars Piguet for seven years, where I assembled the world's first tourbillon wristwatch in 1986. And the following year, in 1987, that is to say, seven years later, I went to work with Gérald Genta, where I met Enrico Barbasini. And since then, we have worked in the same companies, sometimes together, sometimes on parallel paths. So, seven years at gérald genta, where we worked on complications, chiming watches.

Then, I worked for Patek Philippe for seven years, where we also worked on tourbillons, chiming watches, and complicated watches. And then, after Patek Philippe, I went to work for Franck Muller, with Enrico as well. That was in 2002, and we changed our way of working, since we were no longer so much at the workbench. We were between the workbench and development. We started developing pieces with Franck Muller, and we developed almost his entire collection. Enrico and I developed many models over two to three years. Then we decided to create our own company.

ENRICO: Well, mine is a little different. My father was an opera singer. So, he had nothing to do with watchmaking, but he was passionate about mechanics, and he passed this passion on to me, since we repaired cars every Sunday morning. Instead of going to mass, I was allowed to repair cars with my father. So, I was passionate about mechanics. And his best friend was Mr Genta's watchmaker, Mr Pierre-Michel Golay. When I had to choose a career, as I was passionate about mechanics and saw this man who spoke so highly about watchmaking, I said to myself, hey, I'm going to be a watchmaker. When I finished watchmaking school, I ended up working at gérald genta as my first job. The first day I arrived, I set myself up at the workbench, and then, it was quite extraordinary, he tasked me to make a pocket minute repeater. I said, “but I've never made it”. Then he says to me, “yes, but you're a watchmaker”. So, there you go. When I left school, I started out making a pocket minute repeater. Nowadays, I think it's impossible for that to happen. Then we decided to create our own company.

And you succeeded, right?

ENRICO: Yes, I did because I liked mechanics. I tinkered around a bit, but everything's fine as long as you don't make any big mistakes. We learned a bit of theory at school, but I'd never experienced anything like it in practice. No one except Mr Genta would give this kind of job to a watchmaker fresh out of school. For him, it was normal. After that, Michel arrived in 1987, and we were making minute repeaters, perpetual calendars, all the complicated pieces. Then, I went to work at Patek Philippe. I did two years at Patek Philippe and another five years at gérald genta, so 10 years were all at gérald genta. Then I did another 10 years at Patek Philippe. After that, we worked at Franck Muller, as we said. Then we joined La Fabrique du Temps, where we still are today. We feel like, with our backgrounds, we're able to meaningfully contribute to La Fabrique du Temps.

I love the Beatles and Rolling Stones analogy for creative partnerships. The Beatles brilliantly combusted and went their separate ways, while the Stones are still touring after 60 years. Your partnership has that Stones-like endurance—what's kept you creating together all these decades?

MICHEL: We're like a duo in some ways. We get along very well because we have a unique way of working and can accomplish much together. We can develop well-designed and accurate creations because we don't always agree. We often discuss—each person argues their point, and one convinces the other. We don't just want to create beautiful, technically impressive objects; we want to make it with originality in mind. We can do this because one of us will have an idea, and the other will contribute to the missing part of the puzzle. Because of this collaborative approach, we can often make very successful creations. There are two of us, but we have our engineering team and always work with designers. We're lucky.

ENRICO: One thing is for sure, a piece should never be unremarkable. We tend to have disagreements over strong ideas, which actually enriches the idea. We have to support and defend an idea. When you genuinely believe in something and have conviction, it matters.

I often have quite strong opinions, and that's precisely why we discuss a lot. Rather than taking something away from it, discussion always adds something to the creative process. We often point out a feature and say, "Well, what about that?" We always try to defend each decision and improve upon it in some way. Perhaps that's what my partnership with Michel is all about.

La Fabrique du Temps has this almost mythical reputation as a creative sanctuary. How did you cultivate this atmosphere where craftspeople could feel free to push boundaries? What makes people walk through your doors and feel they can create the impossible?

MICHEL: Our philosophy is to create in a positive environment; you must love coming to work to make beautiful watches. As watchmaker-developers, we have only one desire: to pass on our passion, not only to our friends and family but also to our colleagues, especially those who work with us. This passion carries with it a philosophy, an art of living, that we want to maintain at La Fabrique du Temps. Although we now have 200 people, we want to keep this artisan spirit, a spirit of sharing. I think that's something many people tell us, even our colleagues in Paris. When they come to visit, they experience an atmosphere they can't find anywhere else, and we want to perpetuate this atmosphere and create beautiful work.

ENRICO: La Fabrique du Temps is a state of mind. It's made up of around 200 people, but that's not what makes La Fabrique du Temps. In other words, we never take the easy way out. We're passionate about our work, passionate artisans. We refuse to create anything banal. That's why we rely on craftsmanship, on tools, on tradition. Our goal is always to produce something exceptional. How can I put it? It all begins in the mind. That's where the spark happens. The tools come later, they bring the idea to life. But it starts up here, in the mind. That's why I say it's a state of mind. It's a wonderful opportunity that Mr Arnault has given us, here, now, with all the crafts and everything we can do. We really must make the most of it and use it. So, we never let ourselves take the easy way out. I would say that La Fabrique du Temps is where you must step out of your comfort zone. Always, always, always. That's the state of mind. And that's in the service of that. There you go. For me, that's what La Fabrique du Temps is.

One watchmaker, one piece. Making a watch from A to Z. With respect for the craft, all the artisans, there's truly an artisanal spirit. Even though there are 200 of us, there are so many specialties that very few people are in each specialty. They're all small workshops. There are engravers and a whole bunch of other artisans, but it's still very small. Each activity is small, despite our 200 employees.

MICHEL: We want well-being for everyone. Based on this experience, we respond with this philosophy of well-being and sharing, and above all, passion.

ENRICO: There's something rare about La Fabrique du Temps. And it's not just because it's us, it's the fact that it's unique. I don't think it can be replicated indefinitely. The working conditions, the concentration of skills, the diversity of professions, and the tools are all extraordinary. Honestly, I can't think of another example quite like it.

The Escale à Asnières pocket watch beautifully channels the soul of Louis Vuitton's birthplace into mechanical form. How do you translate the essence of a place?

MICHEL: Today, at La Fabrique du Temps, we are fortunate to have a design studio with five people, and at the head of this studio is Mathieu Hegi, who is currently drawing lots of inspiration from very complicated pieces like the one you just mentioned, the Escale à Asnières. He wanted to convey the origins of Louis Vuitton craftsmanship. You know, Louis Vuitton was initially a trunk maker, making the most beautiful trunks in the world. Mathieu wanted to pay tribute to the spirit of the original trunk-making workshops in Asnières by incorporating it into the dial, blending its essence and motion with the intricate world of automatons and the complex mechanism behind the piece.

ENRICO: The inspiration comes from visiting Asnières. All employees have the opportunity to make this visit, and once you've been there, the inspiration follows naturally. The level of craftsmanship you witness is truly impressive, authentic, traditional workmanship you can see firsthand when you tour the historic house.

Once you've made that journey, you're naturally inspired to pay tribute to that craftsmanship. The inspiration comes to all of us eventually, though of course, you need to stay with the company long enough to have the opportunity to visit. Nearly everyone does visit Asnières, and no one returns unchanged. It's never just "oh well, I've seen Asnières, that's done." Not at all, the trip to Asnières becomes the source of inspiration. We've all experienced it.

MICHEL: There's one thing that's also important to Enrico and me: what hasn't been done in watchmaking since the beginning of our careers. We've always been very keen to know what a client might need on their wrist that they've never had. That's why we've always been very prolific in our ideas, in all the different companies we've worked in. We've submitted many ideas, whether at Patek Philippe, Franck Muller, or other companies. But today, we're still searching for what we can add regarding function, design, animation, or how to display the hour and minute. How can we do this differently, in an original way? How can we add something unique? Even now, we're still thinking about how to develop a different complication. It's always this drive to create something new for the client, to add to their wrist or pocket when it's a pocket watch.

Your watches seem to provoke wonder and introspection. Before sketches, before prototypes, there's that spark. Can you capture that elusive moment when an idea first appears? Does it ambush you at 3:00 am, or emerge from your conversations?

MICHEL: Many of our ideas actually emerge over coffee breaks. After working for a few hours, we'll take a break and chat with colleagues and directors. Through these casual conversations, ideas naturally develop. Discussions become the spark for new inspirations.

ENRICO: It's something that crosses your mind. I would say that an idea is not something clear. It's not always something obvious, an idea. It can disappear, but it always stays in your head. It never goes away, and then suddenly, you say, "Oh, this thing, I think I know how to do it, or I know what to do with it."

MICHEL: Like Enrico says, it often happens to me at night. Something in the night rouses me, and I wake up thinking about something. Occasionally, I even have to get up to sketch it out. Then, the next morning, I bring it to Enrico and say, "Look, what do you think of this?" And just like that, it clicks. But yes, more than once, inspiration has struck in the middle of the night. Ideas come when the mind isn't occupied with anything else.

ENRICO: I don't wake up every morning wondering what I could come up with. But sometimes, I do wake up and something suddenly strikes me. I think, "Maybe there's something in this." That's an idea, not one you chase down, but one that crosses your mind when you're not even trying. If it comes, something was quietly working somewhere in the background. There is no creative process. It doesn't exist.

Michel, you've said the most difficult thing in watchmaking is creating simple things. That's quite a paradox - why does stripping away complexity require the greatest mastery?

MICHEL: Of course. I often say that because we are fortunate to have worked in large companies and very complicated watch workshops. When we talk about a perpetual calendar, we know what it is. We already have ideas in mind. When we talk about a striking minute repeater, we understand how it works. We've worked so much with them. We know how to bring it all together, chronographs and everything else. We can develop something very complicated to display the date, the calendar, the chime and the chronograph. But, sometimes, simple watches are harder to achieve than complicated ones because it's hard to please just using two hands, time only. Achieving simplicity is difficult.

ENRICO: It's the most stripped-down mode of expression.

MICHEL: Making simplicity attractive is difficult. For Daniel Roth, the last model achieved something extraordinary. It's simple, fine and elegant.

ENRICO: The Daniel Roth Extra Plat.

MICHEL: Yes, exactly. It wasn't easy, but it's simple and elegant. It's a success. It has everything going for it. You have to try it on your wrist. It's incredible. You fall in love right away.

ENRICO: In fact, simplicity is the most difficult thing to achieve. Michel and I have always maintained that we're watchmakers, not designers—that's how we see ourselves. Watchmaking should be beautiful and impeccably finished, with deep respect for the craft. A movement must be technically perfect and exquisitely finished if you want to create fine watchmaking. Michel and me maintain genuine respect for our profession, striving to create something truly beautiful while remaining quite minimalist.

There's actually something very modern in the way you approach the movements. It's a traditional mechanism but treated with a contemporary sensibility.

ENRICO: We still use the tools and techniques available today, but try to stay 100 per cent true to our craft. Above all, we embrace what you might call the minimalist spirit of the watchmaker. We remind ourselves that a true watchmaker never had excessive means, so we try to honour that in everything we do.

MICHEL: In simplicity, you have to remain subtle. What one must do is to create to please today, tomorrow, always. That's what we're looking for; we don't want to overdo it.

ENRICO: It's like wine that's too oaky. The first sip is nice, the second is still okay, but by the third, it becomes sickening. That's the comparison. It's the same with the kind of watchmaking we do. We want the watch to be beautiful and gradually reveal itself. You shouldn't see everything all at once. Instead, over time, you notice new details. Each time you look at your watch, there's something more to discover.

You've assembled quite an orchestra of métiers under one roof. How has gathering all these craftspeople—from enamellers to engravers—transformed what's possible? And in an age of automation, what does it mean to insist on the human hand?

MICHEL: Even though there are now 200 of us at La Fabrique Du Temps, we have maintained the artisanal spirit. Thanks to the arrival of Mr Arnault three years ago, we've added the métiers we were missing. To make a great watch, you need a good watchmaker, but not only that. You need an engineer and a designer. We also need other métiers to work with us to bring an aesthetic touch, whether in enamel, engraving, miniature painting or guilloché engraving. We were missing all these métiers, and thanks to Mr Arnault, we could expand La Fabrique du Temps. Today, it's true, there are 200 of us, but always with this artisan spirit. Everyone brings their own touch to their work and expertise to create beautiful things. We can consider ourselves artisans, not new ones, because La Fabrique du Temps is now 17 years old, but artisans with all the expertise in each field.

ENRICO: From the very beginning, when we first spoke with Mr Arnault about what he wanted to do in watchmaking, we agreed on one thing: we didn't want to be limited. This sense of limitlessness comes from within, from working with highly skilled craftsmen, with people who know exactly what they're doing. For example, when making Daniel Roth watches, we make our own dials and can do guilloché in-house. We do things the way we want to do them. In a way, our desire, our vision, gets expressed through the watch itself. It's through the watch that the intent becomes reality. When we want to do something, we don't want to compromise. The only way to achieve that is to have the craftsmen and the skills. That's why we made The Escale Pocket Watch ourselves.

MICHEL: With every new development, experts from each field take part in the process. Everyone is involved in the development meetings. The watchmaker is there to talk about how far things can be pushed. The designer will add their touch, of course. The engineer will bring their own. The enameller and the engraver is consulted so that they can contribute, and we make sure everyone can bring their expertise to see how far we can go and what we can offer clients. And that's a real richness I haven't found anywhere else.

ENRICO: It goes back to what we said at the very beginning. It's a state of mind. It comes down to precisely that. We don't want to be limited by a "yes, but..." or something else. Here, the mindset is always, "Let's try." Maybe it will work, perhaps it won't, but we never start with a flat-out no. We explore every path. Always.

I've heard your be workshop described as remarkably ego-free, almost zen-like in its collaborative calm. Why was it essential to create this kind of environment?

ENRICO: Yes, I think it's important. It reminds me of something from when I worked in a large company. There were several hundred of us, and I came to realise that, in the end, hierarchy doesn't mean much. I was the boss of my team, yes, but in a big company, people don't see the whole structure. For them, their world is their immediate manager, the person closest to them. They follow you because you're good at what you do, and because you trust them and they trust you. And I think that's exactly what La Fabrique du Temps is about, that's the spirit. We're not here to give orders but to share and collaborate. What matters is having people who stand with you, not because you've forced them, but because they believe in you. Because there's mutual trust. That's why the structure is very flat, very open. By that I mean that if a watchmaker needs to come and consult a developer, they come; sometimes they drop by. It's really an open space, and the doors are always open.

MICHEL: The watchmaker might come to the development team with an idea, something they've noticed, something they think could be improved. And we often go to the designers to share our technical decisions. The designers come to us too. It's really like an open family. The doors are open, and there's no rigid hierarchy. Everyone brings their expertise, and every contribution is essential. When you step into La Fabrique du Temps, you have to experience it to believe it. You see people moving around freely, visiting colleagues, sharing thoughts, coming and going.

ENRICO: If we take the pocket watch Escale à Asnières for example, if everyone works in their own corner, this watch would never have come to exist. It would have been impossible to make. We have to exchange ideas, and we love that. To create watches like this, you have to remove barriers. You can't create something this complex if everyone's working in their own corner. It just doesn't work. We have to communicate with the designers, the company, the technical teams. It's a constant exchange, and it's absolutely essential. Without that, the product doesn't exist. It's too complex.

MICHEL: It also depends on the object. The object we're going to realise requires this expertise. So we can't remain isolated in our own corner. We have to collaborate because the movement has to fit into the case, and it has to be adjusted to fit within the case. The case has to be beautiful. It has to be technical and beautiful at the same time. The watch makes us work like that. The watches we create need us to work like that. Otherwise, they can't be realised.

Here you are, at the summit of your careers, still arriving each morning with evident joy. What does accomplishment mean to you now? Has your definition of success evolved?

MICHEL: At this point, Enrico and I are sort of coming to the end of our career after having worked in the big companies we just mentioned. But I find that at La Fabrique du Temps, not only me, I think my colleagues would say the same, we've never really had the feeling that we're working in the traditional sense. It doesn't feel like work. We come here to exchange ideas, to create beautiful watches. But I don't even consider it work. For me, I'm finishing my career fulfilled, with an incredible sense of fulfilment that I wouldn't have experienced in other companies. Because at La Fabrique du Temps, you can achieve what you can't achieve elsewhere. There is a real sense of internal fulfilment here. In other companies where I've worked, I gained a lot of experience. I learned a lot. But it was with a certain rigour and a certain professionalism that served me and still serves me today. But working at La Fabrique du Temps brings all that together to create a great sense of fulfilment, as far as I'm concerned. I'm fulfilled working there. And by the way, Enrico is past retirement age and he's still here.

ENRICO: There's a general observation in saying how one fits into a company or other. I've never confused position and profession. Research and Development Manager is a position. Watchmaker is a profession. When people ask me what my profession is, it is watchmaker. I've always been a watchmaker from the beginning, and I don't claim to have ever been anything else. Even when I was a manager in a large company, I was appointed for my skills. What matters to me is what I do, not the position. I'm not interested in the position. I'm interested in my day-to-day work. That's why I come to work. At La Fabrique du Temps, they asked me, "What position do you want?" I'll give you the answer. If you want to write it down or not, it doesn't matter. I was told, "You know, what do you see as your position?" I said, "I would see my job like this: I want to take care of nothing and get involved in everything." That is to say, I don't want a position. What I want is to have an impact on the product. That's the idea. And it's not the position that makes the impact on the product. That's all. That's my only ambition. I have no other. And now, even less than before. But I never had this ambition to have a position. I've always had the ambition to have an impact on the product. That's always been what has motivated me in my life. In my life, I have never prioritised the position over the work. The passion to have an impact on the product, whatever it may be.

Reviving gérald genta and Daniel Roth is like conducting a séance with mechanical spirits. How do you channel their essence while ensuring these aren't mere nostalgic exercises? What would Mr Genta and Mr Roth themselves make of what you're creating?

MICHEL: We decided to take over these two brands with Mr Arnault, because Enrico and I both worked for many years with Mr Genta. Reviving these two brands was a brilliant idea, and we accepted it very quickly. Because we know the gérald genta brand very well, and we're perhaps the last two watchmakers to have worked with him for a long period. Reviving this brand is an incredible opportunity for us, a great responsibility, but an incredible opportunity that we're taking at the end of our careers now.

Daniel Roth is a magnificent brand. We've visited Mr Roth himself several times with Enrico and Mr Arnault, and we continue to visit him. He's very happy that we're reviving his brand. Mr Genta is no longer here, but Madame Genta is still alive. With Mr Arnault and Enrico, we went to see Madame Genta to tell her that we were going to take over this brand. She was also very happy. And there you have it, together, we have this passion for watchmaking that means we're going to give these two brands a new life. For me, I see it as a very exciting opportunity that makes me get up every morning with a desire to put them back on the market.

ENRICO: It's a big challenge because I was a child of gérald genta, you could say, since it was my first job. I knew relatively little about Daniel Roth, the brand, and I didn't know Mr Roth himself, but it's an absolutely endearing brand that demands absolute rigour in the product. It's a watchmaking product, very different from gérald genta. Mr Genta was more of a designer, but still had watchmaking expertise, because his watchmaker, Mr Golay, as I said at the beginning, was a great watchmaker. There were complicated watches, we made the first waterproof wrist repeater in the 1980s. So, there was a lot of watchmaking content, but there was still a design focus. Mr Genta designed a lot. For Mr Roth, it's a case, sometimes with guilloché, sometimes not. Aesthetically, it tends to be simpler. But when it comes to the art of watchmaking, Daniel Roth is where you really have to dive in. We're carrying forward some of what he did, but we're also taking it further, doing things he didn't do.

But as I was saying earlier, always with respect for the craft. For Daniel Roth, you really have to respect the watchmaker. It's a watchmaker's watch. You have to achieve extraordinary finishing, but you can't make it over the top. That's something you should never do. Everything we do has to have a good reason, nothing is done just for show. That's why responsibility isn't just a word for us; it's something we live by every day. And when it comes to Mr Roth, our respect runs deep. It's something we take very seriously. There's no room for error. On Daniel Roth, it's really unforgiving...you have to be rigorous. On gérald genta, it's more design-oriented. So, perhaps on gérald genta, there's more, how can I say, letting go, perhaps. But the two brands are so different, it's not difficult for us to tell the difference. It's not easy to work on them, of course. We are not Mr Genta, we don't pretend to be, either. No, but the spirit will remain and it is there in the creativity of the design.

MICHEL: It's true that there are models that they've made that we're going to remake, that we're going to bring up to date and relaunch. But there are models that they haven't made. If I go back to Daniel Roth, he only had his brand for a few years and he didn't have time to make certain models, certain complications. And we're going to make them. We've released a few models that he had already made, that we redesigned, that we restructured, that we have given a different architecture in terms of movement, all that. We have a lot of respect for his company. But there are projects he didn't have time to do, that he couldn't do and we're going to carry them out. We really have a fairly wide range of possibilities ahead of us for both brands. With the great respect we have for both artists, whether it's Mr Genta or Mr Roth, we will always seek to pay tribute to them and respect them, but without remaining fixed on what they have done. We'll always have that spirit. We'll soak up their spirit, their philosophy to move forward and enrich their brand.

ENRICO: There's one thing, though: in the years when they were present as brands, it must be said that there weren't many of them. Mr Genta was not a trained watchmaker, but with a significant watchmaking background, he was one of the people who helped to save the profession in the dark years of Swiss watchmaking. I'm not saying that they saved watchmaking as it is today, but in any case, individuals like him helped to save the profession. I say Swiss in general because many brands started to make quartz, to develop quartz watches, whereas Mr Roth made a tourbillon and Mr Genta made a wrist minute repeater.

The watch industry excels at anniversary commemorations and technical milestones. But you create watches that seem to contemplate mortality, seize joy, celebrate life itself. In our accelerated, digital age, why do we need these mechanical philosophers on our wrists more than ever?

MICHEL: I think so. I think that today, people need this, they need this tranquillity and this truth. Because in some ways, the hectic and fast-paced life, as you say, is a huge source of information, but it's fast information that doesn't stay in people's heads. I think that what we're doing with Enrico in this field of watchmaking is something true. It's not that the rest is fake, but it's something tangible, something that people can hold in their hands, something they can, as some companies say, pass on to their children. It's something that lasts. It's eternal beauty, you could say, in a way. And people need that. It's something very important. Especially today, I think. Maybe less so 20-30 years ago, because there were other things. But today, there are only these kinds of things left, which are the truths, which will last, which will be there over time.

ENRICO: Today, technology moves very quickly. Cars, computers, phones, we're into consumption, fast fashion, all that. And watchmaking is there, and it's something that takes time, even to develop a watch. A computer, if we took the time to develop a computer like we develop a watch, it would be obsolete when we finished it. There's something else, though, a watch is a technical object. Of course, some people buy watches as investments. But most of the time, that's not why we choose them. We buy a watch because we like it. And why do we like it? Sometimes we can't even explain it. It's because it stirs something in us, it evokes an emotion. And that's the key. Every time you look at your watch, it should make you feel something. In the end, the technique may fade into the background, but the emotion, that stays.

It’s timeless.

ENRICO: Yes, but it's something that lasts. Today, we're constantly consuming, buying, replacing, and moving fast. But a watch is different. You wear it, you look at it, and somehow, it gives you a sense of calm. Maybe even a bit of peace of mind. It's something that endures, that stands the test of time, even as everything else moves so quickly.

MICHEL: These days, almost nothing lasts—except maybe your house and your watch. And in a way, that makes it eco-friendly too. It's mechanical, not disposable. It's built to last. There is a quietness, there is a serenity that we need especially today.

ENRICO: When someone owns a great watch, take me, for example, I have a tourbillon. But I never think, "I need to get the latest tourbillon." It's not like that. Now, with my phone, it's different. I'll change it because there are new features, new models. It's a consumer item. I have no emotional attachment to my phone. But my watch? That's something else entirely. I don't think, "This one's two years old, it's obsolete." Not at all. The relationship with the watch is not the relationship we have with any other existing product. It's really something lasting that gives you an emotion. When I look at it, it gives me an emotion every time I look at it. That's the idea. And the technique must fade into the background when you look at the watch.

MICHEL: I think all of this feels especially new, and especially necessary these days. In a world that moves so fast, where everything seems disposable, we need something that stands apart. A watch is not disposable. A watch is eternal. It's timeless. Absolutely.

You've both become almost legendary for nurturing young talent without a trace of jealousy or protectiveness. As you look at the next generation of watchmakers, what flame are you trying to pass on? What do you hope survives long after your last watch?

MICHEL: We do it every day. It's true that my father instilled this passion for watchmaking in me. I instil it in my colleagues. I try to share my passion with them. As you rightly say, we don't sponsor, but we do have a kind of mentoring role for the younger generations, and Mr Arnault created the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independant Creatives. There are various things we do to attract young people and inspire them to love the watchmaking profession. Every day, Enrico and I are at La Fabrique du Temps, sharing our passion for craftsmanship, especially for fine work, with our young watchmakers and other professionals. I love watchmaking, but I also love other métiers. I'm a very curious person. Whatever the craft, type of craft, or expertise, it interests me. I'm always very curious. Just the day before yesterday, I went to see the latest guilloché machine we received. I spoke with the expert for an hour to find out how it worked. That's what we want to convey: this curiosity, this passion for craftsmanship.

ENRICO: Thanks to the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independant Creatives, of course and from time to time, we meet independent watchmakers. They show us what they do. I love that there are independent watchmakers because I think Swiss watchmaking needs them. Perhaps this is what was missing in the 1980s and what caused the crisis in Swiss watchmaking. So that's important. I always tell them what my father taught me, you don't do things out of opportunism. That doesn't work, it's not a good reason. The only valid reason to do something is because you have something to say. If you don't, then don't do it. It's as simple as that. That's what I always tell people, and it's what I believe most deeply. If you truly have something to express, then you have to go for it. But never just to seize an opportunity. That's never the right reason.

What I wish for them is to remain creative, to continue to push boundaries, to challenge the watchmaking industry because they're creative. I have great respect for those watchmakers. I love them. And those are the ones I want to push, and I would also like them to be as passionate as I am. That's it too. You shouldn't just do watchmaking because you tell yourself it's a great profession. It's not quite enough. I think it's much more than that. It has to be a passion too, that's important. When it's a passion, you're never jaded. You're always curious. You're always open. That's it. I'd like to pass this on to them.