Self-employed since 1987, with a passion for watchmaking, I like to touch everything that tells the time.
Assembling complicated movements for watch manufacturers.
Restoring old watches for collectors.
Expert appraisals and advice for watchmaking companies.
Design, prototypes and one-off pieces.
History of watchmaking, research

Born in Porrentruy in 1965, the son of three generations of watchmakers, I was immersed in the world of watchmaking from an early age. I've always been drawn to the world of small things, so my path was clear for later on. Our town also has a watchmaking school, so my choice was not difficult.

Twenty years old and with my watchmaker's diploma in my pocket, I applied for a job with one of the biggest watch manufacturers in Bienne (Rolex). After a trial period of two and a half months, I realised that the industry wasn't for me.

I applied for a second job in Lausanne, this time in a jewellery store, where the work was much more interesting and varied. However, I still hadn't found what I was looking for, and a year and a half later I decided to leave Lausanne.

Our region was starting to run out of watchmakers, so I decided to become self-employed. On 15 June 1987, a message in the regional press announced the opening of the Clinique Horlogère, in a former bakery in the town centre, at Grand-Rue 19. Ten years of hard work later, my goal has been achieved: a wide range of work, from private individuals owning a watch or clock, to various jewellers in French- and German-speaking Switzerland, not forgetting collectors from all walks of life looking for a watch or my services.

It was 1997, and the workshop was celebrating its 10th anniversary.

In 1996, a turning point in my career came in the form of an advertisement from Renaud & Papi, a company based in La Locle that today belongs to Audemars Piguet, a major international prestige brand. The company was looking for watchmakers capable of assembling complicated movements.

From there, I got to know some very well placed people in this very closed sphere, with whom I would work for several years. Thanks to this business card, I started working with the biggest watch brands (Ulysse Nardin, Paul Picot, Parmigiani, (Renaud&Papi) Audemars Piguet, Greubel & Forsey, Girard-Perregaux, Omega, Richard Mille).

I also take part in more watch fairs in Zurich, Basel, Bern, the Vallée de Joux and, of course, La Chaux de Fonds. It's a great way to get to know collectors.

The year 2000 was full of change, with the purchase of a house, its renovation and the moving of our flat and workshop. On 6 January 2001, the new workshop was inaugurated at rue du Creugenat 29.

The premises are more spacious and better suited to my work. Since then, my clientele has extended beyond our borders. Customers come from the United States, Italy, France and even Japan.

In 2001, an idea popped into my head: why not set up an exhibition here? The subject was "Russian watchmaking", which is so important and yet so little known to the general public.

The temporary exhibition would open in the spring of the following year. It received media coverage in three newspapers, as well as on Télévision Suisse Romande for the regional TJ programme.

An article on the subject, written by Sébastien Theurillat and myself, appeared in two issues of the watchmaking magazine "Chronométrophilia" in 2002.

On the strength of this success, I decided that same year to contact 24 watchmaking companies specialising in top-of-the-range products, in order to mount a new exhibition on "Promotional objects in top-of-the-range watchmaking". In the end, 13 of these companies agreed to take part, providing us with a wide range of objects (a golf club, a scale model of the Alinghi boat, items of clothing, an ashtray, presentation equipment - 70 objects in all). The exhibition took place in spring 2003. It was covered by various newspapers, Télévision Suisse Romande and Fréquence Jura.

In 2003, following an e-mail from a new American customer, a clock was sent from San Francisco to Porrentruy. It was a French travel clock, signed Lefrand in Paris, made in 1876. Featuring several complications - Grande sonnerie, minute repeater, perpetual calendar and alarm - it will take months of work to restore this timepiece. A Fréquence Jura journalist even produced a report on the subject.

2004 is just around the corner, and I've been given a new challenge. The watch manufacturer CompliTime, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, have asked me to assemble a grand complication clock that will be made in a single piece.

A metal jigsaw puzzle of more than 1,400 pieces and several months' work ahead.

It's 2007, and the workshop is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Sur l’autorisation de Richard Mille, je fais appel à la presse. La TSR fait le déplacement et le sujet passera le jour même au journal du soir, la radio Fréquence Jura, puis les journaux locaux présenteront également le sujet. Début décembre, le planétaire sera présenté au public et à la presse européenne à Paris à l’exposition Belles Montres au Carrousel du Louvre, Richard Mille me propose de venir présenter cette pendule aux visiteurs.

L’année 2008 sera riche en voyage et rencontre, à l’occasion de plusieurs présentations du Planétarium de Richard mille. En février à Tokyo, au mois de mai à Moscou, en novembre à Dubaï et Doha.

That same year, Girard Perregaux was given a new mandate to restore the watches in their museum, including several pocket watches with tourbillon and detent escapements.

I'm collaborating on an exhibition in March 2009 at the Hôtel-Dieu in Porrentruy, on the subject of watchmaking schools in Switzerland. A book will then be published by Antoine Simonin. I also work for Omega, carrying out revisions on watches from the 1940s and 1950s for their after-sales service.

In 2009, the Japanese magazine Time Scene contacted me to write an article about me.

Three people travelled from Tokyo to Porrentruy: a journalist, a photographer and an interpreter.
It was an extraordinary day spent in their company.
They wanted to know everything about me, and we even went to my old address at Grand-Rue 19.

In 2010, I finish the last watch restorations for the Girard Perregaux museum.

I carry out several replacements as an apprentice master at the Porrentruy watchmaking school.

I work with the writer Alain Cortat on his forthcoming book on the industrialisation of the Jura. I provide him with various documents and photos on watchmaking in Ajoie. The book was published in December 2014 by Alphil, under the title Des usines dans les vallées.

In 2011, I was commissioned by Audemars Piguet, via their museum, to appraise their entire collection. It will take one month to appraise the company's 1,100 watches.
I will be working on a number of different projects this year and in the years to come. For insurance companies, following burglaries of jewellers or watchmaking businesses.

In November, a telephone call from the Swiss Ambassador in Bucharest and a trip to the Romanian capital led to the prospect of another mandate to restore several watches in the history museum.

2012, replacement at the watchmaking school, followed in May by my 40% appointment as practice master.

In the same month, the Romanian Ambassador in Berne visited my workshop to discuss the project to restore the watches at the Bucharest History Museum.

From that year on, and from my position at the school, I no longer worked with Omega. I still repair fine timepieces, restore timepieces for museums and collectors and, of course, carry out various special projects for companies.

Les maîtres du Temps, livre, Editions Cabédita, J.-M. Probst, L'aventure horlogère de Genève à Bâle, 2016

It's 2017, and the workshop is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

April 2022, creation of a second website, dedicated to the Christian Etienne brand