Janvier was initiated from a young age to horology while studying theories of astronomy and mechanics. The son of a farm worker who later turned to horology, Mr. “Janvier used his knowledge of this natural phenomenon to build clocks with two identical pendulums closely regulated to the same rate to take advantage of this effect so that each pendulum would correct any errors in the other.”Īt the same conference, Jean-Claude Sabrier, a watchmaking expert and former consultant to the Swatch Group, explained that “this is because two pendulums working side by side would, over time, become synchronized, even if placed in different rooms.” “Resonance occurs when two suspended pendulums of the same frequency swing in the same plane,” he said. Journe to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his own resonance-based collection. The preview of the sale was the occasion for Mr. “His son took the reins after him, and his descendants went on to build a dynasty, until in the 19th century, the family sold the business that today is owned by the Swatch Group.” “The only 18th-century clockmaker whose name the public remembers today is Bréguet,” Mr. Janvier is remembered today only by the most erudite of timepiece connoisseurs. Bréguet went on to build a successful business in own lifetime, one that was later successfully carried on by his descendants, Mr. Janvier, who died in 1835 with no heirs, was a contemporary of Abraham-Louis Bréguet, founder of the eponymous watch brand. The Janvier pedestal double-dial regulator, a museum-quality piece last seen in 1949 in an exhibition called “Masterpieces of Horology” at the Musée du Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris, was sold for €432,750, or about $595,000, a belated recognition for a brilliant clockmaker who died in poverty and obscurity. “Janvier did not produce much in his lifetime, and to have three pieces at once is exceptional.” “The Janvier pieces are a very rare ensemble,” said Hervé Chayette, Parisian auctioneer and horology expert. The Janvier pieces in the auction came from the collection of Marcel Mennesson, the French inventor of the VeloSolex motorized bicycle, himself a mechanical genius and horology connoisseur.
Journe adapted for the “Chronomètre à Résonance” wristwatches that he began making 10 years ago, relying on the natural phenomenon of resonance for accuracy. “Before becoming an horologer, Janvier was a mathematician consumed by astronomy,” said the watchmaker François-Paul Journe, at a conference held during the preview of the sale at Sotheby’s. Janvier is credited with the fabrication of the first double-pendulum, or resonance, clock, based upon the natural phenomenon of resonance recognized a century earlier by Galileo in his investigations of musical strings and pendulums. In collaboration with the French auction house and the horology specialists Chayette & Cheval, Sotheby’s held a sale this month of rarely seen historical pieces that included an armillary planetarium, a double-dial pedestal regulator and a calendrical table regulator, all signed by the 18th-century French clockmaker Antide Janvier.Īmong his achievements, Mr. Journe, coincided with an exceptional horology sale at Sotheby’s in Paris.
PARIS - This year, the 10th anniversary of the presentation of the first “Chronomètre à Résonance,” a unique mechanism by the Geneva-based watchmaker F.
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