Charles Oudin

In Breguet's Entourage

The Oudin family, which came from Northwest France, produced several renowned watchmakers. The first of these, Jean Baptiste Oudin, came from Clermont en Argonne (Meuse); his sons Nicolas and Charles (here called "Charles the elder") both became watch and clockmakers, as did their sons after them. While Charles Oudin the elder (1743–1803) remained all his life in Sedan (Ardennes), becoming the mayor of that city in 1794, he also worked for the famous watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet; he appears in the Breguet account books as "Oudin père" (Oudin the father).

Charles Oudin the elder and his brother Nicolas each had a son who became a watchmaker, and both were employed in the Paris workshop of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), considered the creator of modern horology. Breguet held the Oudin cousins - Charles, (the son of Nicolas, 1768–1840) and Joseph, (the son of Charles Oudin the elder (1773 - circa 1842) -in high esteem. During the time they spent in his workshop, they took part in the creation and production of several of his important inventions, from the simple souscription watch to the most elaborate "perpétuelles", or self-winding watches.

The best known and most prolific of the two cousins, however, was Charles. Charles Oudin developed a clever equation of time system that could be adapted to Breguet "souscription" watches, allowing them to indicate both true, or solar, time, and mean time, which is used in everyday life.

When Breguet fled France during the French Revolution, taking refuge in Switzerland, Charles Oudin (known as "Oudin Sedan" in the Breguet account books) helped his assistant, Boulanger, continue to run the workshop. Abraham-Louis Breguet respected him greatly, and went so far as to offer him the position of head of the workshop, which Oudin politely refused. Breguet also gave him permission - which he very rarely gave - to sign his watches "Charles Oudin, élève de Breguet" (Charles Oudin, student of Breguet). Oudin's watches are, indeed, on a par with those of his master.

Charles Oudin in the Palais-Royal

In 1801 Charles Oudin opened a workshop in the Palais-Royal, one of Paris's most fashionable areas at the time. Given to the Duke d'Orléans by his brother Louis XIV in 1692, it remained in the hands of the Orléans family. In 1780, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, the future Philippe Egalité, created a complex comprising buildings with decorative colonnades, shops, cafés, and even a circus. Having become a popular centre for entertainment and romantic rendez-vous, the Palais Royal also featured many elegant and exclusive shops. In this central and fashionable Parisian neighbourhood, Charles Oudin's first shop was located in the Galerie de Pierre, no 65.

In 1809, Charles Oudin's address is given as number 52, rue de Richelieu, Palais du Tribunat[4]. Today, passers-by can still admire the mosaic in the pavement, announcing his name and title "Horloger de la Marine française" (Clockmaker to the French Navy).

Charles Oudin remained in the same area all of his life, although his addresses changed slightly: Galerie de Pierre, 52 (in 1811)[5]; Palais Royal, 52 (in 1812)[6]; and Palais Royal, Galerie Montpensier, 52, in 1845[7].

In 1797 Charles Oudin married Antoinette Leroy, the sister of another famous watchmaker, Basile-Charles Leroy. They had a son named Charles Raymond (d. 1867), and a daughter, Elzire Marguerite. On June 30, 1836, Charles Oudin ceded his commerce to his son Charles Raymond, who continued his father's activity.

In 1899, the company moved to 17, avenue de l'Opéra. At that time it was run by Amédée Charpentier.

Throughout its history, Charles Oudin remained faithful to Paris's historic centre; the firm's workshops and boutiques were located, successively, in the Palais Royal, the avenue de l'Opéra, and today, in the Place Vendôme.

Oudin-Charpentier

Around 1857 Charles-Raymond sold the Charles Oudin firm to a watchmaker named Amédée Charpentier. Charpentier continued to produce watches and clocks under the name "Oudin-Charpentier", located first in the Palais Royal, no. 52 and then in rue Montpensier, no. 30. During this period, the firm became internationally known, with shops or representatives in London and New York.

Amédée Charpentier became known for precision watches, complication watches, and luxury watches in particular. His clients included the King and Queen of Spain, Pope Pius IX, the Russian Czar and Czarina, the Kings of Italy and Greece, and Empress Josephine.

Charles Oudin at the Exhibitions

The Charles Oudin firm took part in the important exhibitions of the time - the national Exhibitions of the Products of French Industry, and later the International Exhibitions that were among the most important events of the 19th century.

The company participated in the Exhibitions of the Products of French Industry in 1806 and 1819. In 1806, Charles Oudin was awarded a medal for a watch that was wound by the pendant - an exploit at the time. At the 1819 exhibition, the firm exhibited, among other things, an "equation watch with an ingenious system"[8] for which it was favourably cited.

Charles Oudin also took part in the International Exhibitions of London in 1862 and Paris in 1867.

For these two exhibitions, Oudin-Charpentier published catalogues that described in detail the pieces shown [9],[10]. Among them were the "Duchesse" clocks (Nos. 17 and 18, 1862); a rock crystal châtelaine and watch (No. 24, 1862); a pocket chronometer with remontoir and equation table (No. 47, 1862); a mantel regulator made for Emperor Napoleon III (No. 1, 1867); a mother-of-pearl watch ordered by the Czarina of Russia who gave it to Princess Dagmar, the wife of Czar Alexander III of Russia (No. 38, 1867); and a minute-repeating watch with remontoir and grande sonnerie, made for the Count de Villafranca (No. 55, 1867).

During this period Charles Oudin made many extraordinary watches for Europe's royal families. Among his clients were the Russian Czar and Czarina, the King and Queen of Spain, the King of Portugal, Empress Josephine, Napoleon III, the Count de Chambord, the King of Italy, the King of Greece, and Pope Pius IX [11],[12],[13],[14]

Precision and Technical Innovation

As indicated by its close ties with Abraham-Louis Breguet, from the beginning the Charles Oudin firm specialised in precision and technically innovative horology. Several watches and clocks testify to this:

- A travelling clock signed "Oudin à Sedan", made circa 1790, with Arnold's pivoted detent escapement and quarter repeat, whose case is similar to that of the clock Breguet delivered to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. - A "souscription" watch signed "Charles Oudin, Elève de Breguet, Palais Royal No. 65", with special escapement, made circa 1800; Charles Oudin developed a special mechanism for Breguet's souscription watches - A self-winding watch with "balançoire", whose cuvette is engraved "Inventée et exécutée par Ch. Oudin Elève de Breguet" (Invented and made by Ch. Oudin, student of Breguet), made for the 1806 Exhibition of the Products of French Industry (today in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva) - A self-winding watch, a pendant-wound watch [15], and a watch with moon phases and synodic months, which received medals at the 1806 Exhibition of the Products of French Industry - A watch with equation of time,which won a medal at the 1819 Exhibition of the Products of French Industry - A "souscription" watch [16] with equation of time, made circa 1820 - A small marine chronometer with special escapement, made circa 1830 - A watch with quarter repeat, grande and petite sonnerie and thermometer, made circa 1850 - A travelling clock with grande and petite sonnerie, moon phases, alarm, and special escapement, made in 1869 - An eight-day going watch with grande and petite sonnerie in passing and pendant winding, made for the Count de Chambord circa 1870

Famous Clients

Throughout its existence, Charles Oudin had many famous and influential clients. At the 1862 Universal Exhibition, Oudin was cited as being the horologist of the French Emperor and Empress, the Pope, the King and Queen of Spain, and the Imperial Navy [17]. Among its well-known clients:

- Empress Josephine, for whom a repeating, à tact watch was made (i.e., which indicates the time silently, bemoans of touch-pieces), in 1805[18] - Queen Victoria, for whom Charles Oudin made a miniature watch circa 1840, which was called "Six Pence" due to its small size, comparable to that of a six-pence coin - Count d'Adhémar, for whom a pocket chronometer was made in 1859[19] - Count Komar, who purchased a pocket chronometer with a solid gold movement in 1860 - The King of Spain, for whom the Oudin firm made a small travelling clock with striking on the hour and quarter hour, a detached lever escapement, and chronometric adjustment [20] - Napoleon III for whom a mantel regulator was made in 1867 [21]

Jewellery Watches, Parisian Style

Along with its precision and technical watches, Charles Oudin has always made watches whose elegant design and decoration were among the most fashionable, made by the finest artisans of the French capital. Among them:

- A gold and enamel purse-shaped watch, whose cover was adorned with diamonds and a star set with amethysts and diamonds, made circa 1860 - Cruciform watches, the earliest of which date from 1859; one of these watches, which was set with diamonds, sapphires and rubies, was created for the Queen of Spain circa 1860 - A skeleton pendant watch in rock crystal, set with diamonds, with the motto "Dieu mon droit" in enamel cartouches on the watch face, made for the British royal family, shown at the 1862 Universal Exhibition of London - Around 1920, as watches worn on the wrist grew in popularity, Oudin offered its first wristwatches for gentlemen and ladies. Some of these watches, with gold or platinum cases, were decorated with precious stones such as emeralds, sapphires, pearls, and diamonds.

In Museums

Today, many watches made by Charles Oudin made be seen in museums around the world. Among them :

- A gold "souscription" watch with an equation of time system invented by Charles Oudin, made circa 1825, in the Musée Paul Dupuy in Toulouse, France [22] - A large silver watch with two wheel duplex escapement, formerly in the Time Museum in Rockford, Illinois [23] - Two gold and enamel ladies' watches, made circa 1830, in the Metropolitan Museum in New York[24] - A small pendant watch with a long gold and pearl chain, made circa 1810, in the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, UK [25] - A mourning watch with châtelaine, and ebonite case, made circa 1860, in the British Museum in London [26] - A watch with châtelaine in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg - Two self-winding watches in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva - A watch in the Breguet Museum in Paris - A travelling clock with calendar, made circa 1865, in the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris[27]

New Start

In 1998, Camille Berthet, who also came from a watchmaking family, took over the Charles Oudin brand. Today the firm produces mostly jewellery watches. The "Retro" and "Deco" collections were inspired by Art Deco watches from the early 20th century. The "Historique" collection, with gold and platinum complication watches, is evocative of the history of the firm, when Charles Oudin was Horologist to the French Navy. The "Curvex" collection, launched in 1999, comprises watches that are entirely set with precious stones, like a ring. The "Full Amazone" watch, now an emblem of the firm, was created in 2000.

Camille Berthet's two daughters, Claire and Carole, joined the company in 2005 and 2008 respectively.

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