Ferdinand Berthoud’s Naissance d’une Montre 3 is an 11-watch project that pairs a hand-built mechanical chronometer with an effort to preserve and document traditional watchmaking skills. Its open movement reveals a fusee-and-chain transmission, while an off-centre white-gold time dial and peripheral seconds scale give the 44 mm watch an unusual layout. The maker says the six-year project involved more than 80 craftspeople and specialists; those figures and the construction story are manufacturer statements, not independent performance findings.
What is Naissance d’une Montre 3?
Naissance d’une Montre 3 is a limited wristwatch project by Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, presented as both a mechanical chronometer and a way to preserve watchmaking knowledge. The manufacturer describes six years of work, traditional tools and processes, and no digital assistance in making the watch. It says the finished watch is COSC-certified. The official project page is the source for those construction and certification claims.
The project follows an earlier initiative that began in 2019. In an update dated January 27, 2025, the manufacturer anticipated revealing the first example in the second half of that year; its later, September 2025 project page gave the edition and auction plan. The January 2025 update and the later project page therefore describe different stages of the announced schedule.
How does the fusee-and-chain movement work?
A mainspring delivers changing force as it unwinds. In a fusee-and-chain system, a fine chain connects the barrel to a cone-shaped fusee. The chain winds and unwinds along the fusee’s varying profile, compensating for changes in the mainspring’s pull and helping provide more consistent force to the movement. It is a traditional transmission arrangement; its presence alone does not establish a measured accuracy advantage for this particular watch.
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Naissance d’une Montre 3 combines that transmission with a bimetallic balance. The maker identifies the fusee and chain, the cut bimetallic balance, and an open movement structure among the watch’s defining features. A sector engraved on the mainplate indicates a 50-hour power reserve, the only published reserve figure identified in the cited material. The manufacturer’s description does not provide an independent accuracy test or performance statistic beyond its COSC-certification statement.
What does the watch look like?
The case measures 44 mm across and 13 mm thick. The hours and minutes appear on a small, hand-engraved 18-carat white-gold dial positioned at 2 o’clock. Roman numerals mark the hours and Arabic numerals the minutes, an arrangement the maker says draws inspiration from Ferdinand Berthoud’s Astronomical Pocket Watch No. 3. Seconds are shown separately on a peripheral ring supported by pillars, with a flame-blued steel hand at the centre. The official description and related dial information describe the layout.
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Because the movement is exposed on the dial side, the barrel, fusee and connecting chain are part of the visual composition rather than hidden behind a conventional dial. The manufacturer calls this its first watch with the entire movement structure exposed on the dial side; that “first” is the brand’s own characterization. A Foundation of Haute Horlogerie profile also repeats the project’s six-year framing and the 44 mm by 13 mm dimensions. See the FHH profile.
How many people made it, and what does “handmade” mean here?
The maker says more than 80 craftspeople and specialists from Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud and Chopard contributed. Its list of disciplines spans design and engineering, foundry work, mechanics, micromechanics, jewellery, polishing, decoration and watchmaking. It also says the team assembled a database of thousands of photographs and videos documenting how components and processes were made. These are project details reported by the manufacturer.
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In this context, “handmade” is a description of the project’s stated methods: traditional tools, documented manual processes and an intention to reproduce the skills needed to make a modern chronometer. It should not be read as meaning that every component was made by one person, or as a guarantee of greater accuracy. The maker says the watch had to satisfy chronometer tolerances and receive COSC certification; no independent test data is supplied here to compare its accuracy with other watches.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How many were planned, and can you buy one?
The manufacturer announced a total edition of 11 watches. Its September 2025 plan called for one steel example to be offered at a Phillips auction in November 2025, followed by ten 18-carat-gold examples planned at two per year from 2026. This is an announced schedule, not confirmation that the auction occurred as planned or that any example is currently available. The sources cited here do not establish the auction result, a current price or present sale status. Consult the manufacturer’s project page for its published plan.
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