Jean-Francois Bautte began his apprenticeship with Jacques-Dauphin Moulinié from the Pike at the age of twelve and trained himself as watchmaker, guillocheur and goldsmith. Craftsmanship, a remarkable business sense and charm made him one of the most coveted watchmakers of his time. From 1791 he manufactured his own watches, which he also signed, hence 1791 is considered the year of birth of the manufactory. Together with his partners, Jean-Gabriel Moynier, they were one of the most famous watchmakers in Geneva. Their customers: aristocratic and royal houses from all over Europe. A number of writers including Dumas, Blazac and Ruskin wrote about the brilliant watchmaker, who is the inventor of the extra-flat watch. In 1837 Bautte died, his son Jacques and his son-in-law Jean-Samuel Rossel took over the scepter. They continued the work for the manufactory Jean-Francois Bautte & Cie. In 1880, the German war marine ordered around 2,000 wristwatches at Girard-Perregaux, which was a major order for those times when all watches were made by hand and were considered luxury goods. The cover watches were made of 14 karat gold and the glass of the watches was protected by a metal lattice. In 1906 the manufactory Bautte was taken over by the watchmaker Constant Othenin Girard and the watchmaker's workshop was renamed Girard-Perregaux. In 1928, the company had to file for bankruptcy and was bought up in 1929 by the German watchmaker Otto Graef (1862-1948), the owner of the Manufactory Internationale de Montres d'Or (MIMO). Together with his family, Otto Graef has managed to save the Girard-Perregaux brand from destruction and oblivion and has helped to gain a worldwide reputation. In the 1960s, the Girard-Perregaux was one of the few brands to have its own research and development department. The main objective of the department succeeded - the development of a quartz wristwatch. At the beginning of the '70s, the luxury watch brand also introduced the currently used frequency of 32.768 Hz for quartz watches. This frequency has been the worldwide standard since then.
