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Jean-Marc
Vacheron was a labour for more then thirty years at his
workbench before making way for his son Abraham, a master
watchmaker in his own right. He had patiently taught him
all he knew an cherished. So it was that in the last decades
of the century, as Geneva experienced the first stirrings
of the Romantic Age, absorbing English ideas and French
fashions, the Vacheron name gave birth to what was to
become one of watchmaking's most illustrious dynasties.
Throughout
his life, Abraham would endlessly have to cope with
the vicissitudes of the age. Geneva's growing watch
trade found itself entangled in the irresistible political
and economic currents sweeping across Europe.
Closely
liked by both culture and trade to France, the city
was progressively affected by the revolutionary fervour
of its neighbor and, from 1789 on, experienced three
years of political agitation and upheaval.
Was came between France and Austria whose
ally, the Kingdom of Piedmont, soon threatened to march
on Geneva. The city appealed for the protection of Swiss
neutrality and received assistance from Bern and Zurich.
But as soon as the threat abated, discord again rent
the city apart. Various "clubs" preached violence against
their opponents and heated argument replace quiet debate.
The "Terror" that was decimating France spread to Geneva,
soon followed by its notorious tribunals. Blood flowed.
Events
as momentous as those could not fail to affect the fortunes
of Geneva's elite band of watchmakers...
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