The Maison
Portrait
Romain Gauthier is a high-end watch company based in the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland, that is led by Romain Gauthier who founded the brand in 2005. Romain marries the know-how he has developed living, studying and working in this picturesque valley – the heart of fine Swiss watchmaking – with a no-compromise approach to Haute Horlogerie, to create timepieces in limited numbers for collectors. Romain Gauthier timepieces have been hailed for their eye-catching designs, innovative in-house movements and extremely high level of hand-finishing.
History
Romain Gauthier was born in 1975 in the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland, the cradle of fine Swiss watchmaking. It was here that Romain developed his passion for traditional Haute Horlogerie, his grasp of mechanics and engineering, and his eye for design. Having specialised in precision mechanics at technical college, Romain qualified as a constructor of precision machinery in 1997. A year later, he started his first job as machine programmer-operator at a horological components manufacturer that he helped turn into one of the best-performing facilities in Europe. Determined to build from scratch not just his own high-end watch, but also his own high-end watch brand, Romain completed an MBA in 2002. His final thesis was the business plan for his own watch company. After working behind closed doors on his own timepieces for three years, he launched the Romain Gauthier brand in 2005, unveiling its first timepiece, Prestige HM, at Baselworld 2007. This was followed by Prestige HMS (2010), Logical One (2013), Logical One Secret (2014) and Insight Micro-Rotor (2017). These encompass classically refined pieces, contemporarily casual creations and ethereal objets d’art, all featuring supremely finished in-house movements. In 2013, the jury of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève – the Oscars of watchmaking – awarded Romain Gauthier’s Logical One the prize for Best Men’s Complication. Romain Gauthier’s ability to create exquisite timepieces is in large part thanks to his manufacture, based in Le Sentier, Switzerland, that he has steadily built up. The manufacture employs skilled craftsmen and time-honoured watchmaking tools alongside experienced technicians and cutting-edge production methods, allowing Romain Gauthier to design, produce, decorate, assemble and regulate in-house all movements for the brand’s timepieces.
