Inside Louis Vuitton Watch Prize Winner Raúl Pagès’s Workshop

Earlier this year, Independent Swiss watchmaker, movement designer, and restorer, Raúl Pagès, was awarded the prestigious Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives for RP1 Régulateur à Détente, which featured an in-house designed caliber, along with a detent escapement. 

Pagès, who cut his teeth at Parmigiani and has spent years perfecting his art of restoration by giving the vintage and museum-grade timepieces a second life, is determined to inspire the future generation of watchmakers to master all the disciplines of watchmaking and stay independent. 

Excerpts from the interview:

How has the trajectory of your brand changed since you won the LV Watch Prize?

Music, art, design, and architecture influence my work. I grew up close to La Chaux-de-Fonds, where a famous architect, Le Corbusier, was born and raised. And it's part of my inspiration, especially for RP1. We were lucky to have this house be part of this inspiration because the architect who built the house was Le Corbusier’s teacher.

Le Corbusier inspired the color of the RP1 subdial, which was quite refreshing – an avant-garde design that respects the past but also looks into the future. No wonder you won the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize. How has the trajectory of your brand changed since then?

It hasn't changed much because I already had a clear vision of what I wanted to do. The visibility of my brand, however, grew. Before the prize, I think only passionate collectors knew about me. Right now, there are many more people. And, of course, it's a huge recognition of my work.

How was it in the beginning compared to now? Was it very different? You're a one-man show – the movement designer, watchmaker, and creator all at once – which is rare in the watch world. Did you feel like you were part of a dying breed and you needed to move this space forward? 

I didn’t think about it at all. I was crazy and naive because I wanted to create things by myself and be free. That's why I left Parmigiani and started creating the automaton turtles. The market for these kinds of objects, at the time, almost didn’t exist. I had no contacts with journalists, collectors, or retailers, so it was difficult for me at the beginning. I was lucky to have restoration; I was restoring many pieces for private collectors and museums, which helped me pay the bills and develop future projects. Then, I made the Soberly Onyx watch. It was difficult because I was restoring during the day and developing my first watch at night.

What's your work-life balance like? 

Sometimes it's difficult to put a clear separation between work and private life. I work during the day, then spend some time with my wife and daughter. And, when it's time to go to bed, I continue developing the future watches.

Your journey is very inspiring for the next generation of watchmakers. What's one piece of advice you would give them when starting their brand?

To have a clear vision. A lot of people will have different pieces of advice on how you should make your watch. However, if you listen to everybody, you won't create one. You have to be clear about what you want to do and persist. If you’re honest and do a good job, it’ll pay off one day. 

Here we are, at the workshop – it changed a little bit since the last time you came because my wife Natalia and I moved to the private part of La Chaux-de-Fonds. As you can see, there is a lot of equipment here – I work with traditional, manual machinery for decoration, polishing the pinions, or making Côtes de Genève. It’s important to keep this know-how for future generations.

Could you tell me a little bit about your detent escapement? It's notoriously difficult to make, yet you did it by hand using traditional tools. 

It came with restoration because I restored many pocket watches and clocks from the past. I enjoy restoring these pieces with technical detent escapement. The challenge for this escapement lay in shock resistance. I found old patents that described a system to avoid this problem with the shocks, but I’ve never seen a piece that utilized it. So, I decided to develop it inside a wristwatch. It was a lot of work to adjust all the springs and the different functions of the escapement. 

How do you plan to make the most out of the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize money?

We are already working with La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton to determine which areas of the brand require their assistance. The prize helped me to produce my current projects faster and focus on the future ones.

What is your ultimate goal for your brand?

To stay independent and to have this freedom to create everything I want and be totally free.