The Lycée Edgar Faure in Morteau has produced an impressive wave of independent watchmakers who are emerging with fresh vision and craftsmanship. In recent years it has produced notable names such as Sylvain Pinaud, Théo Auffret, Rémy Cools, John-Mikaël Flaux, Cyril Brivet-Naudot, Thomas Aubert and Alexis Ramel-Sartori and many others. Today we turn our attention to a creation by another talented duo trained at this institution: Alexandre Hazemann and Victor Monnin. Their collaborative project “Montre École” (School Clock) not only received widespread recognition, but also laid the foundation for their own brand, Hazemann & Monnin, whose work recently received further recognition with a nomination for the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives 2026.
The beginning of the adventure for the young duo
As mentioned in the introduction to this article, Alexandre Hazemann and Victor Monnin's Montre École (school clock in French) laid the foundation for their brand. Just like another duo we recently featured on MONOCHROME, Aubert & Ramel, the FP Journe Young Talent Award was instrumental in bringing these young watchmakers into the spotlight and giving them the extra impetus to set up their business and open their workshop in Switzerland in Saint-Aubin on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel.
Victor Monnin (left) and Alexandre Hazemann (right) – below their respective school clocks and final versions of the clock
In just a few months, a team of 15 people was put together to develop and manufacture haute horlogerie watches in the traditional way. These watches are manufactured almost entirely in-house, using a combination of traditional tools and some CNC machines to produce most parts of their movements, dials and hands. Notable exceptions include the hairsprings made from Atokalpa, as well as the mainsprings, casings and buckles. Their watches are made in a traditional way but with a young, modern eye, with great attention to detail and with every decoration carried out in-house to a remarkable level.
The Watch School subscription
Hazemann & Monnin's now commercialized Montre École Souscription is inspired by their school clock that we discovered in this interview with Robin a few years ago, but also adds some key improvements that make it even more appealing. It combines a regulatory, dissociated display of the hours, minutes and seconds with two harmoniously working complications: an instantaneously jumping hour and an hourly strike in progress, which alerts the wearer to the passing time without having to look at the dial. Its openwork design creates a stunning visual display while providing a captivating orchestration of sound and movement.
In fact, the mechanism that drives these is fully visible on the dial side (especially on the technical/skeletonized Hazemann version). Both the jumping hour and an hour striking mechanism are driven by the snail cam in the middle of the clockwork. This camera collects energy for over an hour. When this feeler of the large folding lever on its surface goes down, one of its arms drives the hour jump and moves the 12 gear to 12 o'clock. At the same time, another arm lifts the hammer to synchronously strike the hours on the gong. The Grande folding lever's snail feeler features a ruby tip to reduce friction and wear while improving precision.
One of the challenges then was to find the right chime, with various factors playing a role: the strength of the strike, the angle, the shape of the hammer and of course the shape, length and material of the gong. For the latter, Hazemann and Monnin adjust it by carefully removing material with a file while listening to the sound produced and using their ear to fine-tune the note's pitch, resonance and clarity.
High-quality decoration and manufacture caliber
When you turn the watch over, you can discover the other side of the hand-wound caliber HM01 through the transparent case back. While their actual school watch was based on the LJP 6900, this new caliber was developed entirely in-house. Everything has been redesigned and the “production” movement and clock are now smaller. Its elegant architecture is based on an aligned barrel, a center wheel and a balance wheel along the vertical axis and is built across different levels. The idea was to create a feeling of depth, just like on the front of the watch. The large 13 mm variable inertia balance beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour. The HM01 caliber has a power reserve of 50 hours.
The bridges and the main board are made of nickel silver and finely matted by hand with small silicone balls. Their sides have a wide, elegant bevel (approx. 0.6 mm). The large ruby of the spring bridge is another beautiful detail. Of particular note are the balance bridge and the small bridge that attaches the center wheel. They are made of steel and are polished black.
Two editions, the Hazemann and the Monnin
The clock comes in two different versions (just like their original school clocks) and they are released in a limited edition of just 10 pieces each. The blue example is the technical expression and has the name Alexandre Hazemann on the front, while the other is more artistic with its malachite and opal subdials and is named after Victor Monnin.
The Hazemann & Monnin Montre École Souscription comes in a simple round steel case with classic proportions, clean lines and a balanced design that conveys understated elegance. As I said, it is smaller than the original school clock, measuring 39.5mm x 10.9mm. There are actually two different cases with different profiles. The technical Hazemann version features a monoblock construction for the middle of the case, while the artistic Monnin version features soldered lugs.
These two first editions cost CHF 59,000. These are already sold out and delivered. A new variant of the concept is scheduled to be presented in 2026, while a new complication in a new case will be presented in 2027. We can't wait to see what the duo cook up to see if their work lives up to the grand promise of their first effort.
Further information can be found at www.hazemann-monnin.ch.
https://monochrome-watches.com/hazemann-monnin-montre-ecole-souscription-school-watch/