"A
watchmaker
of Paris will dwell on nothing but watches while one from
Geneva will converse with ease on all subjects wherever
he may find himself."
The
son and grandson of watchmakers, a much respected craft
in his day, Jean Jacques Rousseau's affection for that
profession is understandable. Sometimes the poet does
take precedence over the memorialist as when he writes
of his father: "... earning his living with his manual
skills and nourishing his spirit with the most sublime
truths. I see Tacicus, Plutarch and Grotius mixed together
with the tool of his trade. " Still, "cabinotiers" were
by and large exceptional men indeed.
Worthy of the philosophers and men of
learning who, before and during the 18th century, had
raised watchmaking to the level of a respected
science. The master watchmaker of Geneva was habitually
well read, possessing an extensive library. A skilled
craftsmen, proud of his inventiveness and dexterity,
his elegant creations bespoke his familiarity with the
arts.
Steeped
in an essentially humanistic tradition, watchmakers
gradually acquired an insight into the nature of Time,
expressing its mystery and poetry in timepieces admired
around the world. And their intriguing name came simply
form the "cabinets", or small workshops, which they
normally chose for themselves so as to have more and
better light to work by.
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