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our
story truly begins to the middle of the 18th century,
on an island in the middle of the Rhone river know simply
as "I'lle", and an area of the city called "la Fabrique"
because most watchmakers' workshops were located there.
Jean-Marc
Vacheron moved with ease amongst the lively minds and
intellectual debates of the Age of Reason. Himself a
learned figure, versed in history, he had become a master
watchmaker by choice, out of fascination fort his craft.
In 1755, he too settled in the heart of Geneva's watchmaking
district.
Talented
as well as cultured, he possessed all the skills in
calling required and easily found his place amongst
the erudite craftsmen, know as "cabinotiers", who formed
the backbone of the city's watchmaking community.
The
public archives record that he opened small workshop
employing a single apprentice. He set to work turning
out the first of many timepieces which in time carried
his reputation far beyond the borders of the Republic
of Geneva. A tireless perfectionist, enlightened and
open-minded, he may well have subscribed to Voltaire's
dictum: "Time's span suffices for he who makes good
use of it; he who works and reflects enlarges his boundaries."
Jean-Marc
Vacheron was doubtless familiar with the writings
of as illustrious a figure as Voltaire, involved as
he was in the intellectual and public life of his time.
In this he was the epitome of the "cabinotiers", those
aristocrats among Genevan craftsmen, whose very name
is ignored by most dictionaries.
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