Girard-Perregaux exhibition opens in Yokohama
The six-day long special exhibition on François Perregaux, pioneer of Swiss watchmaking, supported by Manufacture Girard-Perregaux, began at Creative City Center, Yokohama on December 19.
The opening ceremony was hosted by Antonio Calce, Chief Executive Officer of Sowind, with the presence of VIP guests. The exhibition is a tribute to the protagonist of the first steps of Swiss watchmaking in the Land of the Rising Sun. On the eve of its 225th anniversary, the Manufacture highlights its heritage and its secular tradition through the dedicated exhibition, the first fruits of the future Girard-Perregaux museum which will open its doors current 2016 in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
“In his life, François Perregaux never turned away from new challenges and continually sought to build the future while preserving tradition. We continue to deliver his compelling message,” stated Antonio Calce, Girard-Perregaux’s CEO, during the ceremony.
In collaboration with the International Watchmaking Museum, La Chaux-de-Fonds, and the Neuchâtel Museum of Ethnography, the Manufacture Girard-Perregaux unveils through the exhibition historical artifacts of the 19th century part of the remarkable story of François Perregaux, first Swiss watchmaker established in Japan.
Among the exhibits are a marine chronometer produced by the Perregaux family, pocket watches made specially by Girard-Perregaux for Japan, Japanese clocks and various Japanese handcrafted items from the family, a copy of Japan Illustrated first referenced book on the Land of the Rising Sun as published in the West (1870), to which François Perregaux was involved.
Valuable testimonials of the deep ties between Girard-Perregaux and Japan for over a century and a half, many of the items showcased for the first time in Yokohama, adopted town of François Perregaux, for which he felt a real fascination.
In February 1864, Swiss emissaries and representatives of the Imperial Japanese Government signed a Friendship and Trade Treaty. This bilateral agreement
would in the future become the basis for the special relationship between Japan and Switzerland, and would permit the first Swiss watch exports to the Land of the Rising Sun. At the time of the long-awaited signature, a watch merchant from Switzerland had already been in business for several years on the Japanese archipelago: François Perregaux
Born into a family of big watchmaking businessmen in Le Locle, François Perregaux set off in 1853 for New York, where he spent six years representing the family business H. Perregaux & Co. Back in his home town in 1859, he set off the same year for Asia as the agent of the Watchmaking Union to set up an export office. From 1860 he was based in Yokohama, becoming the first Swiss watchmaking businessman to set up in the Land of the Rising Sun, before the signature of the friendship and trade treaty between Switzerland and Japan (1864). In 1865, he founded the company F. Perregaux & Co in Yokohama, and eventually become be the official agent of Girard-Perregaux until the year 1877, when he passed away.
