Inventor of the automatic watch

“History is interpreted by written accounts”.

In the world of watchmaking, there are those who invent and create and those who, with skill and patience, perfect the designs of others. In this world you will rub shoulders with excellent craftsmen, who are often greatly admired. Praiseworthy representatives of contemporary watchmaking. This world also includes men whose genius at a given moment revolutionized the way things were done: these are the discoverers, and Abraham Louis Perrelet was one of them.

There are innumerable accounts testifying to this fabulous discovery of inventing the automatic watch by Abraham Louis Perrelet.

Thus, in 1777, Professor Horace Benedict de Saussure, one of the founders of the Société des Arts de Genève (Geneva Arts Society), embarked on a journey through the Neuchâtel region to make some useful investigations by visiting the watchmaking manufacturers and craftsmen. He informed the committee that a certain Mr. Perrelet, a watchmaker from Le Locle, had made a special watch constructed in such a manner that it wound itself automatically in a person's pocket just by the movement he made while walking, and that it ran for eight days. In his personal notes, de Saussure noted: «... from there we went to Mr. Perrelet, the inventor of the watch which self winds just through the movement of the person carrying it ... He had to make the first model again because he hadn't installed a stop mechanism and, on one occasion, when the self-winding mechanism was shaken too much by a man running to the post office, it broke the watch. Mr. Perrelet has now integrated an efficient stop mechanism. He had a lot of trouble finding out how to make it, but it works”. As for Frederic Samuel Osterwald, whom you may recall contributed to the editing of the Encyclopedia of Diderot and d’ Alembert, he asked Jacques Louis Perrot for news about the watchmaking industry in the Neuchâtel Mountains. The latter replied as follows: “The perpetual motion watches which were invented two or three years ago in our mountains have aroused considerable curiosity and have done more than merely bring fame to these parts; these are bigger watches than usual and they are self-winding: all the wearer has to do is to walk around the room several times during the day, 8 minutes' walk is enough to wind them up for 24 hours…”. At the Court of Versailles, the Abbot of Versailles and Paris, Joseph Grellet Desprades, expressed a marked interest in this invention, regarding which he had written seventeen letters to Mr. Osterwald.

Over the past 100 years, numerous historians have studied the rich heritage of Swiss watchmaking and extolled its origins. They have contributed as much to specialist publications as they have to prestigious brands in researching their past and have paid tribute to Abraham Louis Perrelet, recognizing him as the inventor of automatic watches.



Original can be found here --->>> http://www.worldtempus.com/en/brands/partner-brands/perrelet/history/abraham-louis-perrelet-inventor-of-the-automatic-watch/

Alex, all take Michael Kobold for 1000....

Good read Mark but i only got half way and started getting silly thoughts!

This is COOL Mark ! Many times we see and hear about the
important people and brands that have done great things for the
world of Horology. However, this is VERY BIG, and it's nice to see
a clear picture of who the inventor of the automatic watch actually
was ! Super info sir ! Thanks again !