Romain Gauthier Manufacture Visit Overview

Jay (Eire) takes WatchProSite readers on an exclusive journey to the Romain Gauthier manufacture in Vallée de Joux, offering a rare glimpse into the creation of his highly anticipated C6 timepiece. This post not only chronicles a personal milestone in his collecting journey but also sparks a broader discussion among enthusiasts about the evolving landscape of independent watchmaking visits and the value of shared experiences.

I was thinking folks may have been tired of my continuous posting of the C6 and so I held off posting this follow up until now.  

To recap briefly; after many years admiring Romain Gauthier’s watches I finally committed to one in mid 2023.  It was, as many of you know, neither the Logical One or the Insight Micro Rotor but instead the C6. 

And so knowing my watch would be ready sometime in the autumn of 2024 I had decided that I needed to make the trip to Vallée de Joux and to Manufacture Romain Gauthier.  

This would be my third time meeting Romain in the 2024 calendar year, and not just passing meetings but actually spending hours in his company.  I don’t want to dwell on this, although I do believe it important enough to repeat, when spending time with Romain one feels like you are spending time with a familiar friend.  Maybe one you don’t see often, or have not seen in a while.  

What I mean by that is that it is comfortable.    Easy.  I don’t think there are any stupid questions, he is patient and eager to explain his watches, his process, his visions.  

I never got the feeling one needed to be on Romain’s level in order to keep him engaged.  

My old friend (and sometime Singapore tour guide) Teacher Yang posted a thread a long time ago about watchmaker’s personalities , their innate “goodness” or “badness”and whether one needs to like the watchmaker to buy his or her watches.  There are most definitely situations where as a collector (and not a very technical one) you just know the person / watchmaker on the other side of table is just thinking “you’re stupid, why am I wasting my time with you” or better still (and I do mean better) they brush off the question and move on.  

This is the opposite of the feelings I have gotten in Romain’s company.  He wants to be there, he wants to be engaged in the conversation and he wants to answer the stupid questions.  

So with that I will say that from the moment I arrived at the manufacture Romain was fully engaged.  Even though his regular day was still happening, there was a business to run and watches to make.  

For the first hour or 90 minutes we just sat in his office and talked.  Not about watches at all actually; Romain as I had known likes art, street art, pop art or more broadly contemporary art.   If you’ve seen any pictures or videos of the manufacture and his office you will know what I’m talking about.  

And then it was out the door for a drive to lunch (Romain driving) with Moe and another collector from Asia who was also at the manufacture but only for the morning.  

Lunch was a fantastic family owned and run restaurant at the other end of Lac de Joux.  A beautiful location, albeit not the best day to be there as it was quite foggy and overcast this day.  

Venison was in season and so that was the obvious choice.  To warm up I also chose something a little more French. 

I actually didn’t bring my new watch to lunch; I had left back at Romain’s office.  

Not to fret as Moe let me borrow his Insight Micro Rotor, a watch I like very much too (and although I do love how Moe has spec’ed his, I have some little design twists of my own for when my time comes).