La Fabrique du Temps

La Fabrique du Temps was a high-end watch movement specialist manufacturer founded in 2010 after the bankruptcy of BNB Concept and purchased by Louis Vitton in 2011.

Overview

BNB Concept was a high-end movement specialist formed in 2004 by Mathias Buttet, Michael Navas, and Enrico Barbasini that served clients such as Hublot and Jacob & Co. BNB declared bankruptcy in January 2010 and most of the assets and employees were taken by Hublot. Shortly after, Navas and Barbasini formed La Fabrique du Temps to serve many of the same customers as their former company.

One of the first products of La Fabrique du Temps was the Jacob & Co. Cyclone Tourbillon, unveiled at Baselworld in 2011. The company produced the Speake-Marin Renaissance Tourbillon Minute Repeater as well. La Fabrique du Temps was also behind the first tourbillon for Ralph Lauren, the Cal. RL67 shown at Geneva in 2013. One of the best-known clients was Laurent Ferrier.

In July 2011, La Fabrique du Temps was acquired by Louis Vuitton to serve as a specialist watchmaking operation for the company. Vuitton purchased dial specialist Léman Cadrans the following March. These were consolidated with Louis Vuitton's existing La Chaux-de-Fonds operation into La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton in late 2014 in Meyrin near Geneva.