Page 40 - DIVA1 2026

culture

when people are poor, they cannot afford to
waste anything, and they become meticulous.
When they are ‘imprisoned’ in time and in
closed mountain areas, they also become
patient. These meticulous and patient farmers
were also creative and pragmatic, as well as
loyal and honest. These were valuable assets
for developing the watchmaking industry, but
not sufficient. As Biver describes it, ‘Once you
are rigorous, precise, and patient, you have the
qualities necessary to manage the fingers. It is
the head that gives orders to the fingers. The best
minds to move the best fingers would be found
in the mountains, not on the plains. The farmers
on the plains are not enclosed, so they lack the
elements needed to make perfect clocks”. So,
the Huguenots approached the farmers living
in the “accessible” but enclosed mountains of
the Jura region, at altitudes ranging from 900
to 1,500 meters. These farmers had never made
watches before, but the Huguenots told them
that they were going to teach them how. The
Huguenots were sure that the farmers would
polish small wheels patiently and meticulously,
as they did when making cheese. And what
the Huguenots had hoped for happened. These
farmers, who were also cheesemakers, did
everything to perfection. They were meticulous,
specifically in isolated areas that were difficult focused on the infinitely small, and had great
to access and remote, in the mountains, where patience. By spring, after the long, harsh winter,
the harsh climate “imprisons” you for many when the Huguenots returned to see them, they
winter months. These were usually poor discovered that these farmers-cheesemakers
farmers who only earned a living through had done a magnificent job. They did it so
working with cattle and making cheese during well, that around 1690 there appeared the first
the summer months. The Huguenots knew that Swiss farmers-watchmakers. This is how the
watchmaking started to
develop in Switzerland”.

Once the snow had melted
and the grass had grown
lush, these farmers would
stop their manual labour
and head for the mountain
pastures, resuming their
cheesemaking activities
with the same passion. This
work required precision,
care and consistent effort.
To produce the best cheese,
they knew they had to find
the best grass for their
animals, grazing them in the
best fields and following the
changing climate. The same

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