Romain Gauthier began his professional life as a micro-mechanical engineer, but he could not deny that watchmaking was in his blood. In fact, both of his parents had worked for manufactures such as Audemars Piguet, Lemania, and Dubois Dépraz.

He launched his watch brand in 2005 with the Prestige HM, which was well-received by collectors largely due to the exquisite movement finishing incorporating brushed and grained decorations with sharply hand-beveled edges. Indeed, no less a personage than Philippe Dufour himself inspired Gauthier not only to establish his own brand rather than a single timepiece, but encouraged him to push the envelope of craftsmanship.



In 2013, Romain Gauthier launched the Logical One, incorporating a 600-year old invention: the fusée-and-chain mechanism. By employing the fusée-and-chain in a wristwatch, Gauthier was able to provide constant force to the movement. Each link in the chain has a corresponding ruby roller to minimize friction, and most interestingly, the watch is not wound through the crown but through a button set in the case at nine o’clock.

Unlike many watchmaking brands even among independent watchmakers, Romain Gauthier creates the majority of his components in-house, even before assembling and finishing them – including such challenging components as hairsprings. In order to reveal these mechanical innovations, the dial is openworked, with the escapement positioned on the dial-side of the plate at 5 o’ clock and the fusée-and-chain system occupying most of the left side of the dial. The time is displayed on two off-centere black subdials (one for hours and minutes, the other for the seconds) with guilloché decoration.