Ferdinand Berthoud Naissance d'une Montre 3

Watchworld, like the classic car world, is working to protect its traditional skills

- Mark McArthur-Christie

YOU KNOW THERE'S something special happening when the room is packed with more Watchworld royalty than a Friday night in Geneva's Hotel Beau-Rivage bar.

The evening was all about Ferdinand Berthoud's new watch - the Naissance d'une Montre 3. It's not often a new watch gets introduced by Chopard's Karl-Friedrich Scheufele with Aurel Bacs riding shotgun and pretty much anyone who's anyone in the audience. Octane's watch desk was there, too - we snuck in at the back thanks to the kindness of Escapement's Angus Davies.

No.3 (and its two predecessors) exists thanks to a group of watchmakers who have been farsighted enough to see well beyond their benches. The Naissance watches began when Robert Greubel, Stephen Forsey and Philippe Dufour realised just how fast watchmaking was losing traditional skills to automated, computer-controlled processes.

They initiated the Time Æon Foundation, which records, protects and preserves endangered crafts and helps pass them on by training the next generation of watchmakers.