One man, one name, several families
As early as 1600, the first traces of the Grandjean families could be found in the Val de Travers and the Sagne Valley, in rugged and climatically hostile mountainous regions. These families played their part in forging the peasant- watchmaker tradition, to use a terminology now accepted by official Swiss history. These were valiant, fearless, self-determined, and independent people.
In Switzerland’s canton of Neuchâtel lies the small village of La Côte-aux-Fées, birthplace of the Piaget and Grandjean families. There is also the Val de Travers and the Vallée de La Sagne, home to other Grandjeans and many other illustrious names in watchmaking history: Abraham Louis Breguet, Louis Moinet, Ferdinand Berthoud, and Pierre Jaquet-Droz.
Joël A. Grandjean