This is one of five examples of the Delaloye Le Garde-Temps* with a 37mm white gold case and elegant, tuxedo-style dial. It was created by the independent maker Nicolas Delaloye and features his in-house calibre ND01, visible through an exhibition caseback. The aesthetic and mechanics benefit from the watchmaker’s experience working with some of the best regarded brands in Switzerland.
The Origin
Nicolas Delaloye’s journey to watchmaking started with his education at the reputed École d'Horlogerie de Genève. Much of his career since he graduated in 1991 has been spent at the house of Patek Philippe, where he has worked in different capacities over the years. These experiences have instilled in him an appreciation of classically shaped elegant watches and complications such as the quantieme perpetual and split second chronograph.
His most fruitful stint was his recent one. From 2016, Delaloye was restoration expert at the Patek Philippe Museum, working on pieces of various vintage. Bringing these clocks and pocket watches from antiquity back to life, devising and fabricating components to achieve this, was particularly fulfilling, he says.
Over the years, he has been associated with brands such as F. P. Journe, Roger Dubuis and Gevril. His concern, Le Garde-Temps SA, assembled complicated calibres and watches for brands including Ulysse Nardin, Vianney Halter and Christophe Claret.
In 2001, Delaloye established his eponymous independent brand, spending the next three years developing his in-house calibre, the ND01. It underpinned much of his offering available in 37mm and 41mm cases in a variety of precious metals. Delaloye also made an exceedingly small number of quantieme perpetual references during this time, also based on the calibre ND01, and a single example of a split-second chronograph based on the Venus 179. The watchmaker became a member of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) in 2004.
While he ceased making watches under his own name in 2016, focussing instead on restoration work, a resurgence in interest in his craft has led Delaloye to devise a new series named Renaissance. He hopes to produce 24 examples by hand, making no more than 10 pieces a year. He is also designing an update to the ND01. The new calibre is expected to feature a sonnerie au passage complication.