The beauty of DIY horology - Maison Alcée, Reims

Dear readers, in the world of menswear, we have a privilege to experience and enjoy the art of handcraft creations from bespoke suits to leather goods; back in my luxury retail days when I was working in a luxury British menswear brand, I have another kind of experience about handcraft creation, that was the time when the brand was about to launch their brand-new luxury watch collection designed by watch expert, Mr. Tom Bolt, and I was summoned to join a watch-making workshop and training before the official launch, the purpose is relatively understandable as the brand simply wants to ensure all their sales team to acquire all the product knowledge and technique behind, but one of the focus of the workshop, is to have each one of us to assemble all the movement parts of an automatic watch by ourselves!

Of course, it’s under the guidance of the watch expert, but throughout the process, not only that I have learnt more about the importance of each movement of an automatic watch, but also the precision and dedication that is required for a craftsman, in particular their work and focus, to assemble and create this exquisite luxurious timepiece that it actually works and looks beautiful! This experience is still very vivid in my mind; fast forward to now after decades later, such experience was recalled when I came across Maison Alcée, a young luxury French watch-making house, and their first ever “Do it yourself” luxury clock, which will be presented in Geneva early September.

Founded by Ms. Alcée Montfort in 2019, Maison Alcée represents the harmonious marriage of French artistry and creativity, and, paying homage to the profound history of Swiss watch-making, their savoir-faire and knowledge. The maison’s iconic creation – the unique DIY watch-making box, was launched in 2022 after their Founder and team’s constant research and development, designed by Founder, Ms. Alcée Montfort, and her Swiss-French team included Swiss watch designer, Mr. Antoine Tschumi, and awarded French watchmaker, Mr. Thierry Ducret, this DIY luxury clock set comes in three different colors, it offers one to experience the art and work about how a luxury timepiece is made.

Throughout one’s hands-on participation with the assembling process, it gives one an opportunity to learn about the complexity, as well as the amount of work and focus needed in order to create a luxury timepiece, by having this experience, it enables one to share such legacy, and subsequently, passing this on to the next generation about the art of watch-making.

As mention that it’s paying homage to the Swiss watch-making history, 95% of the components of this luxury clock are made in the Swiss-French Jura Arc region, this exquisite box set comes with all the necessary tools that one’s need to do the job, from the luxurious wooden box, the well-protected 233 components for the luxury clock, and 15 professional tools to ensure that you can get your work done efficiently.

Even without any experience nor knowledge about watch-making, this DIY set makes it easy to be used for everyone as it comes with a comprehensive instruction guide, a video that dedicated to each stage of assembly, if case comes to worse that you need to ask for assistance, they do have a WhatsApp group to assist!

To experience the art of watch-making, besides just collecting the rare and luxury timepieces around, now you have another option to go for.

Image courtesy of Maison Alcée / DC Agencies Genève-Paris

https://www.maison-alcee.com/en/