Léon Hatot

Léon Hatot (born April 22, 1883 in Châtillon-sur-Seine , † September 11, 1953 ) was a French watchmaker and jeweler .

Life

Hatot studied from 1895 to 1898 at the watchmaking school in Besançon and then at the college of arts. In 1905 he opened a specialty shop in Besançon for the manufacture and engraving of watch cases made of precious metals . In 1911 he took over the Bredillard company in Paris , but also continued to manufacture in his previous factory. From 1919 he founded a company for the production of battery-operated watches. In 1923, Marius Lavet joined them, with whom Hatot began manufacturing the ATO pendulets. In 1925 Hatot won the Grand Prix of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et industriels modern for a collection of Art Deco- style electric clocks and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor .

In 1929 a new type of self-winding wristwatch ("Rolls") was developed, but small electric clocks, which Hatot first presented at the 1931 Colonial Exhibition, attracted greater attention . In 1933 Hatot also took over the Paris-based watchmaking company from Jean Paul Garnier to expand the range of models. Manufacturing has now been centralized in Paris and the site in Besançon has been greatly reduced. In 1938, Marius Lavet registered a patent for the Lavet stepper motor for Hatot , which is still used in quartz watches today.

Hatot was particularly known for his artistic creation of custom-made products. He was one of the founding members of the Chronometric Society of France and annually also designed the watch trophy, which was awarded to the winner of the chronometric competition.

The Léon Hatot company is now part of the Swiss Swatch Group .

literature

• Arlette Emch: Léon Hatot (Memoire) . Assouline Publishing, 2005.
• Henry-L. Belmont: Léon Hatot. In: Horlogerie Ancienne. No. 12, 1982, pp. 97-104.

Web links

• Website of the Léon Hatot company
• Léon Hatot biography, auction results, library