Testimonials

“I’m not particularly handyman or meticulous and I have absolutely no skills in watchmaking beyond knowing how to wind my watch regularly. So I was a little apprehensive about the reception of my clock and my ability to assemble it.

My fears were quickly dispelled, as the manual is clear and the assembly without any particular difficulty.

Assembling requires a bit of dexterity and concentration, but no specific ability and it actually quickly turned out to be not only accessible but also interesting: I had no idea how a watch mechanism worked and between the assembly itself and the very didactic explanations in the manual, I feel like I’ve really learned something while having a lot of fun.

The moment when you hear the ticking of the clock for the first time is a very special moment that alone was worth the ten hours of assembly: it is the moment when the inert object comes to life, when the heart of the clock starts beating, a truly moving moment.

The final object is particularly aesthetic and pleasing to the eye, and the fact that you have assembled it yourself creates a very unique relationship with the clock.
Allowing laymen to modestly touch the beauty of the art of watchmaking is a brilliant, intelligent, sensitive initiative, and I am absolutely delighted to have been able to experience it. “

David D.

“First of all, a little reminder of the first contact I had with Maison Alcée. I have a great admiration for mechanics in general and beautiful mechanics in particular, in which watchmaking figures very prominently. I receive the newsletter from a dedicated site called “Montres-de-luxe.com”.
It’s an article about Maison Alcée that made me want to know a little more.
I followed a course of technical studies.
Mechanical engineering, industrial maintenance, robotics and automated production.
I had a professional career in the service of the public, in the distribution of electricity in Paris at EDF/Enedis.

I have always wanted to be able to be autonomous, always wanted to be able to carry out work by myself, I am what you can call, a handyman.
However, and this is the result of my hesitation before embarking on the adventure of riding a clock on my own, I am the victim of a neurological problem that caused me to lose 50% of my motor skills on my right side when I was right-handed.
Today, I’m practically left-handed.
The object, although pretty and to my taste, especially in an upright position, requires careful consideration before making the purchase given the fear I had of not being able to assemble all the parts.
I called, Alcée and I had a long reassuring conversation and I went for it, without regrets.

I sequenced the entire editing operation in five steps.
I first took charge of the explanatory book, I paid attention to the prerequisites before starting the assembly.
I then took two to three hours over the next four afternoons to finish the editing.
Since then, I have set the chime at the passage of the hours and I am carrying out tests to verify the theory that one turn of winding the spring gives about two days of autonomy to the clock, I am exploring the possible small drift of the time depending on the residual energy of the spring…
I take possession of the object, I get to know it better.

Now, I am resuming the reading of the book to educate myself, I had left aside the passages of the historical and technical accounts.
Of course some operations were a little difficult, I had to repeat a few gestures before succeeding, find some tricks but the result is there and it works.
I only paid attention to the necessary times indicated in the sequences to decide on the daily stopping times.
I would like to point out that having the regulator assembly already assembled brought me serenity.

To conclude, I will simply say that it is up to you…”

Fabrice M.

“I am a teacher at the University of Franche-Comté.
I teach mechanics and as such, I have been curious and interested in microtechnology and watchmaking for a few years.

I discovered Maison Alcée through my watchmaking news.
I had the opportunity to identify this original project which immediately interested me because I find that the shared experience is enriching.
It’s not just about technology, it’s mostly about people.
You present an educational approach, a solution that is sustainable, that is reliable.
A clock that will obviously age well since we are talking about the historical watchmaking know-how used for decades.
Clocks of this type are made in the Jura massif.
You offer the buyer an experience in addition to owning the object.

I bought the experience more than the object in order to share it with my students.
These are students in mechanical training who are destined for industry, so we train in a transversal way in the fundamentals of engineering, rather mechanical engineering and production science.
It seemed interesting to me to bring some introductory watchmaking skills to my students.

I was already doing initiations on watch movements, but they are so small that students have trouble appropriating them.
It’s difficult to share an experience on a watch because you have an individual immersion.
Everyone has their magnifying glass and there is no room to put two magnifying glasses around a movement, so we have to use cameras, digital technology and thus, we are no longer in the real world.
As soon as the opportunity arose, I started the assembly and I did it twice: half a morning and half an afternoon.
Take advantage of the moment to make the pleasure last a little…

The installation of the balance wheel was the magic moment!
We are waiting to see the energy that evolves from the main barrel to this regulator, to this oscillator.
It was the moment of emotion because as soon as the ticking that was heard, I was able to savor the sound of its resonance on the beech workbench.
These are emotions that are pleasant.
I started the assembly relaxed, calm.
I’ve been waiting for it for a while!
I found the experience of the magnifying glass interesting on rather large pieces also because you can look in detail.
For example, when you come to lubricate, you bring this drop of oil with the oil spike.
It’s extremely interesting to take the time, to watch it go into the meniscus, something you don’t see as much on a watch.

I would recommend this experience to anyone who likes to be in their bubble, as if cut off from the world.
It allows you to really discover watchmaking, to get a foot in the door of this world and to understand what happens in watch movements, but on a much larger scale.
This allows you to take ownership of the efforts.
For example, when you wind a small watch crown with your fingertips with a small barrel spring, the feeling is not the same as when you take this key.
The phenomena are better understood.
There is energy and we know where it comes from.
Getting to know how a watch works is fascinating.
We talk about a desk clock here because it is a clock that has all the components of a watch.

We are lucky to be able to live this experience.
There are things to do to share this experience with an extremely wide audience from 7 to 60, I would even say 97 years old!
The clock will work now for a few decades so thank you… And bravo! “

Eric D.

“After almost twelve hours of service, Perseus has just sounded at 7:01 a.m., better than NASA!
There is no imbalance, so no adjustment after 48 hours!
To the second, it rings perfectly on time.

Your pedagogical approach is top notch I think, both in terms of content and form.
It’s a huge job on your side, bravo!

Thank you again and well done, it was really a great family experience thanks to you!”

Norbert S.