If you’re looking for the best French watch brands, you’ve come to the right place.
When it comes to watchmaking, Switzerland is king. However, not many people are aware that this industry was born in the Jura Mountains, a place that Switzerland shares with France. So the birthplace of watchmaking is both Swiss and French.
Another fact worth knowing is that some of the greatest achievements in watchmaking didn’t happen in Geneva but Paris. Three of the world’s most widely-recognized watchmakers – Jean-Antoine Lépine, Ferdinand Berthoud, and Abraham-Louis Breguet – had their workshops in a tiny square in the French capital during the 1770s. It was the Place Dauphine at the western tip of the Île de la Cité.
The work of Lépine, Berthoud, and Breguet had – each in their own way – changed the shape of mechanical watchmaking more intensely than any of their peers.
Also worth noting is the fact that thousands of Huguenots (French Protestants) fled to Geneva to escape religious persecution in France from 1560 to 1760. They took their clock-making skills and knowledge with them.
France’s timepieces have always been noted for their style and quality. Let’s check out the best French watch brands you should consider wearing on your wrist.
Things you'll find in this article
10 Best French Watch Brands
French Luxury Watch Brands
1. Cartier
Cartier watches are known for their elegance, precision, and beauty. From the timeless Santos to the fantastic Ballon Bleu and Maillon, Cartier has created many exceptional and original fine watches over the decades.
Founded in 1847 in the French capital by Louis-François Cartier, the Maison produced their first watch in 1904. It was a significant moment in the company’s history, when Louis Cartier created a timepiece with a leather strap that was specifically designed to be worn around the wrist. The brand’s first watch was made for Louis Cartier’s friend, the famous Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont.
Buying a Cartier watch is a good investment. The Maison’s watches are essentially a commodity, increasing in value like gold and other precious metals. Cartier watches are auctioned and resold at a premium price due to rarity and high demand.
2. Breguet
When Abraham-Louis Breguet founded his own watch brand in 1775 in Paris’ Île de la Cité, French aristocracy fast became his clientele.
Breguet created the self-winding Perpétuelle, dubbed “the watch of kings par excellence,” and sold the first piece to the Duc d’Orléans in 1780. Through this oscillating platinum-weight watch, Breguet became the first to discover a formula that would produce a reliable result.
These self-winding watches brought him considerable fame and fortune not only in France but throughout Europe.
To this day, the Perpétuelle remains one of the most powerful symbols of Breguet’s phenomenal creative genius. The Perpétuelle and all Breguet timepieces are very popular with watch enthusiasts and collectors.
3. L. Leroy
The traditional French watch brand L. Leroy has been making exemplary watches for generations since the founder, Basile-Charles Le Roy, began his apprenticeship in Paris in 1747.
Known for his luxury watches made through avant-garde techniques and noted for their timeless designs, Charles Le Roy was given the title “Master Watchmaker.”
The House of L. Leroy was first opened within the Palais-Royal in Paris in 1785 and for over 220 years, it has contributed significantly to the history of French watchmaking and chronometry. L. Leroy continues to produce exceptional timepieces that appreciate in value over time.
4. BRM Chronographes
Bernard Richards, founder of BRM Chronographes, made his first timepieces while practicing watchmaking – an art he’s inherited from his family.
Richards’ watches are inspired by his passion for cars and motor racing, hence BRM watches’ design is focused not only on beauty and precision but power as well.
BRM’s admirable attention to detail is apparent in all aspects of every timepiece they create. The care for each piece is seen even in the smallest screws, which makes their painstaking process take almost 12 times longer than that of most other watch brands.
The company uses only the finest materials and combined with their exemplary processes, their perfection and technical skills are beyond compare. BRM watches are also made in small quantities for that special feel, with the motorsport emblem to emphasize the brand’s passion for racing.
5. Bell & Ross
Bell & Ross, a French luxury watch brand based in Paris, was started in 1992 as a school project by two friends – Bruno Belamich and Carlos Rosillo.
Inspired by the history of aviation, Belamich (“Bell”) and Rosillo (“Ross”) had the vision of creating technical military timepieces.
Every Bell & Ross watch is manually assembled to ensure perfection, which makes this brand such a good one to add to any watch connoisseur’s collection.
6. Pequignet
One of the leaders in French fine watchmaking industry, Pequignet is an independent luxury watch brand hailing from the eastern French town of Morteau, located in the heart of the historic Jura watchmaking region.
Pequignet was founded in 1973 by Emile Pequignet, a self-educated man of multiple talents and skills. Over the years, his timepieces have won several prestigious and luxury awards.
Today, Pequignet prides itself for being one of the last truly independent watchmakers that still retain control over their creations and production.
Affordable French Watch Brands
7. Michel Herbelin
Michel Herbelin is one of the most popular French watchmakers creating high-quality and elegantly-designed timepieces. And although these pieces do not cost you an arm and a leg, they are nonetheless considered a must-have in any watch collector’s trove.
Michelin Herbelin has been making practical but stylish watches since 1947. The brand offers diverse watches made of top quality materials and designed in a well-known French style.
8. Merci
If you’re looking to buy a French watch as a keepsake on your next trip to France, Merci brand may be your best bet.
Merci produces and sells stunning watches besides their usual clothing and accessories. Merci watches are created using high-quality materials and every piece possesses an attractive field/military look.
Merci watches come with quartz or manually-wound mechanical movements, and with stylistic variations to choose from. These timepieces are not only elegant the way most French things are, they are quite affordable as well, making a piece such a great souvenir to remember your French vacation by.
9. Fugue
Founded only recently – in the late 2017 – in Paris, Fugue’s brand name literally means “Escape” in French and is pronounced “Fyg.”
This affordable French watch brand is focused on a contemporary interpretation of time, suggesting to treat a watch as a real “keeper of time.”
Since Fugue is quite young, albeit swiftly creating its mark in the modern watchmaking scene, don’t except heritage stories or vintage pieces from this French watch brand.
10. Yema
Yema watches have been around since 1948. It was founded by French watchmaker Henry Louis Belmont in Besançon, the historical capital of watchmaking in France.
Yema specializes in dive watches and Belmont is credited for creating some of the first automatic chronometers ever produced in France. The brand continues creating heritage pieces like the Navygraf and the Yachtingraf, as well as the Speedgraf chronograph and the iconic Superman Skin diver watch.
The brand offers a wide array of timepieces, movements, and price points – things that make Yema such a popular French watch brand.
Hi, I’m Christine – a full-time traveler and career woman. Although I’m from the Philippines, my location independent career took me to over 40 countries and lived in 4 continents in the last 10 years, including France. A self-proclaimed Francophile, I love everything France.