Jean-Marc Vacheron

Who was Jean-Marc Vacheron?

Jean-Marc Vacheron was a Swiss horologist and a founder of Vacheron Constantin watch company.

Jean-Marc Vacheron was born the son of a weaver in 1731. By the age of 20, he was already a multi-talented watchmaker and had developed many diverse interests. After completing his apprenticeship, he found his way into the elite circle of Geneva's cabinotiers. But he wasn't entirely satisfied with the contemplative existence of a cabinotier, so he opened a watch atelier of his own on 17. September 1755 in the old city of Geneva, the so-called Cite, where he employed one or perhaps even two apprentices. His timepieces naturally bore the name "Jean-Marc Vacheron". At that time he was 24 years old and was one of many cabinotiers-watchmakers who specialized in the production of certain components, selling them to so-called etablisseurs. The watchmakers were called cabinotiers in honor of the well-lit cabinets on the top floors of the houses in Geneva's Saint-Gervais neighborhood where they worked. His decision to begin his own company and hire an apprentice illustrated his vision and laid the cornerstone for one of the finest and most reputable watch manufacturers. The times have not always been easy for Vacheron Constantin. A notary certified document records that a loan of 1000 pounds silver was granted to Jean-Marc Vacheron on September 29, 1773. This sum could be related to the death of his aged father, Jean-Jacques Vacheron on February 11 of the same year, or the loan may have been necessary because of the inclement economic climate that prevailed at the time, when hunger was a fact of daily life and few buyers could be found for luxurious merchandise of the Genevan industry. Jean-Marc Vacheron, the father of five living children, struggled against various obstacles. As was usual in watchmaking families, his sons Louis Andre and Abraham had begun following in his footsteps. In all likelihood, he had personally trained them in the family's traditional metier. The older brother signed his products "Louis Andre Vacheron", the younger sibling initially signed them "Abraham Vacheron" starting in 1785 and then, after his marriage to Annette Girod in 1786, he began engraving them with the name "A. Vacheron Girod". The corporate name underwent further alterations in ensuing years. These changes were initially caused by the Ancien Régime and later by Swiss commercial legislation, both of which did not permit firms to use permanent names. Only after the establishment of joint stock companies toward the end of the 19th century did it become possible to register a permanent name. Prior to that time, a firm was obligated to do business under the name of its owner. The name of the owner's spouse was sometimes added to avoid mistaken identity. Individuals, rather than enterprises, occupied the foreground. For this reason, the watchmaking lineage of Louis Andre Vacheron, who died in 1814, ended around 1837 with the vanishing of the last traces left by his son Pierre Andre, who had sired no horologically active offspring. It thus remained for Jean-Marc Vacheron, his son Abraham, and starting in 1810, Abraham's son Jacques-Barthelemy to earn for the name "Vacheron" an immortal place in the history of watchmaking.