In Switzerland, which has become a recognized center of watchmaking today, there is a region called Vallée de Joux, which has earned a reputation as the “cradle of fine watchmaking”, where passion for watchmaking and professional knowledge were passed down from generation to generation. It is here that the history of famous watchmaking dynasties begins: Meylan, Piguet, Audemars. In a valley closed off from the outside world, where subzero temperatures lasted for about half a year, residents were engaged in crafts that provided additional income and allowed them to support their families. Small iron reserves, known since the 15th century, made it possible to create tools and develop watchmaking.

In 1740, the son of a blacksmith named Samuel Olivier Meylan left his native valley and went to the small town of Rolle on the shores of Lake Geneva. His dream was to become a watchmaker. At that time, watchmaking was governed by guilds, which imposed a mandatory eight-year apprenticeship before becoming a watchmaker. Due to lack of money, the young watchmaker had to return home after only two years. But he continued to make watches and began to pass on his knowledge to several apprentices.

Daniel Piguet (1733–1813), the first watchmaker to bear the name Piguet, began his apprenticeship in 1749 with David Golay, who had learned the craft from Samuel Olivier Meylan himself. Thus began the history of the watchmakers of the Vallée de Joux.

16 Ventos, Year X of the Republic (7 March 1802) Isaac-Daniel Piguet (1775-1841) and his brother-in-law Henri-Daniel Capt (1773-1841), two young watchmakers originally from Le Cheny, a small village in the Vallée de Joux, who settled in Geneva, created a workshop producing exceptional luxury items (gold watches, snuff boxes, bonbonnieres, jewellery, etc.), incorporating horological complications, moving figures with or without music.

Isaac-Daniel married Jeanne-Françoise Capt around 1795 and settled in Geneva around 1800. The business partnership between Capt and Piguet lasted for about ten years. Then they went their separate ways. While Henri-Daniel Capt continued to work alone, Piguet joined Philippe-Samuel Meylan (1772-1845) in a new partnership. Philippe-Samuel Meylan was an experienced watchmaker who is credited with several horological improvements. Together they produced complex and beautifully decorated musical clocks, including skeleton and automaton clocks, as well as mechanical animals.

Henri-Daniel Capt, Isaac-Daniel Piguet and Philippe-Samuel Meylan were the main Geneva-based manufacturers of fantasy clocks (montre de fantasie), miniature automata and music boxes in the first third of the 19th century. Although most of their works are unsigned, they sometimes engraved their names or put trademarks on their movements.

The products of Swiss watchmakers and jewelers of the early 19th century are striking in the exquisiteness of their finishing and the perfection of their clockwork mechanisms. It is sometimes difficult to believe that these complex and miniature toys were created more than two hundred years ago. Luxury items such as this vanity case were often intended for export to the Near and Far East, where there was a huge demand for high-quality gold watches and precious trinkets such as boxes, vanity cases, and perfume bottles made of gold with bright enamels and precious stones.

They were especially prized by collectors from the upper classes of Chinese society. This extremely beautiful vanity case with a hidden watch was made in Geneva for the Chinese market in the early years of the 19th century. Let’s take a closer look.