What is your role as a technical designer in our manufacture?

My job is to translate the Creation team’s aesthetic concept and technical feasibility constraints into a digital version of the finished product. I create all the components and assemblies using 3D design, along with their drawings and nomenclature, ensuring they are consistent with the Maison’s technical specifications and aesthetic criteria.

What part of your mission are you most passionate about?

I love harnessing technical mastery to support aesthetics. Having the opportunity to work with designers and craftspeople helps me to become attuned to their sensitivity and savoir-faire, which constitute the lifeblood and uniqueness of the pieces.

How do you work with/in the Maison des Métiers d'Art?

The Maison des Métiers d’Art brings craftspeople and product development and research innovation teams together under the same roof. There is also interaction between people working on different product types, who can thereby draw inspiration from one another: High Jewelry, Fine Watchmaking, métiers d'art, etc.
The environment is conducive to proximity between the different trades. Manufacturers discuss directly with domain experts when the design comes in from the Creation team, and throughout the entire development phase, right up to the prototype stage. They can also see what’s going on in production and after-sales returns.

What is the biggest challenge in building such beautiful pieces?

It can often be challenging to reconcile watchmaking precision with creative freedom in shaped watches. While guaranteeing the product’s reliability, aesthetic intentions lead us to be creative pioneers by pushing technical limitations ever further: delicacy of the metal, warped or even animal surfaces, mobility or layering of components, etc.

Which piece of work are you the most proud of?

I particularly love the Baignoire watch jewelry range. Cooperation by the entire technical team brought two worlds together: industrial precision machining on the one hand, and jewelry assembly and traditional, artisanal gem-setting on the other.
With each iteration, we found solutions to combine the potential of the two visions and produce a jewelry watch according to the Maison’s emblematic criteria, with more modern nuances in terms of shape, proportion and setting types.

What do you like about living and working in La Chaux-de-Fonds?

The town has witnessed its humble watchmaker’s farms evolve into small companies and later into the manufactures of major brands. It is home to a large number of watchmaking stakeholders, who preserve the expertise and innovate.
More broadly speaking, Neuchâtel Canton offers a very pleasant living and working environment with lakes, mountains and medium-sized towns. There’s a full range of services nearby and beautiful landscapes to enjoy in summer and winter alike.