There is one book found dog-eared and annotated on the bench of almost every French-speaking watchmaking apprentice: the Théorie d'horlogerie by Reymondin, Monnier, Jeanneret and Pelaratti. Published by the Swiss Fédération des Écoles Techniques (FET), in its latest 2022 edition of 376 pages, this work is the official manual used at CIFOM, at the Geneva watchmaking school, at Porrentruy, and in most French-speaking CAP and BMA curricula. It is not just another book — it is the book.
A textbook in the noblest sense of the word
Théorie d'horlogerie is not a beautiful book to leaf through, nor a scholarly treatise reserved for calibre engineers. It is a learning manual, written by teachers to be read chapter by chapter, alongside weeks spent at the bench. Charles-André Reymondin laid its foundations back in the 1990s; successive editions — corrected and enriched by Georges Monnier, Vincent Jeanneret and Didier Pelaratti — have accompanied thirty years of evolution in the CFC curricula. The 2022 edition notably incorporates recent escapements, silicon hairsprings and new generations of synthetic oils.
The tone is neutral, technical, stripped of any romanticism. Each concept arrives in the logical order an apprentice encounters it: first vocabulary, then function, then gesture. The reader doesn't “read” this book in a narrative sense — they study it, return to it, annotate it.
What is inside
The 376 pages cover the entire anatomy of a mechanical movement and how it works. You will find the going train (barrel, centre wheel, third wheel, fourth wheel, escapement), the regulating organ (balance, hairspring, regulator), the escapements (Swiss lever, cylinder, detent, coaxial), the winding and hand-setting mechanism, simple complications (date, column-wheel chronograph, power reserve), and an introduction to automatic winding (unidirectional rotor, bidirectional rotor, pawl-based reversers).
Each section combines three registers: a short descriptive text, rigorous technical vocabulary (with the official Swiss terms — tigeron, rochet, cliquet, chaton, encageage) and very dense iconography. The book contains several hundred illustrations and technical cross-section drawings, many redrawn specifically for teaching purposes: you can see exactly the path a tooth of the escape wheel takes through the pallets, the geometry of a roller, or a cross-section of a set jewel setting. It is this iconography that has made the book's reputation.
Who is it really for?
The primary audience is the first- or second-year CFC apprentice or CAP student. The book assumes you are handling a movement alongside it: it describes, it does not show on video, and its abstraction becomes clear as soon as you hold a disassembled ETA 6497 in front of you. Used alone, it can feel austere to a complete beginner.
The second audience — often forgotten — is the serious adult enthusiast retraining or the dedicated self-learner. For them, Reymondin is the required rite of passage to establish a shared vocabulary with professionals. It is impossible to discuss with a watchmaker, read a service quote, or understand a movement's technical sheet without having absorbed this lexicon. Finally, the book remains a desk reference for any practising watchmaker looking to check a definition or find a precise diagram.
Its strengths, its limits
The strength of Théorie d'horlogerie lies in its coherence: a unified vocabulary, a pedagogical progression tested by schools, neutrality towards brands (no favouritism for any manufacturer), and an unmatched thoroughness in French. No other French-language work covers the entire school curriculum with this rigour.
Its limitations stem from its very nature. The book describes the mechanics; it does not teach the gesture: nothing on how to hold tweezers, on the force of a screwdriver against a jewel, on ultrasonic cleaning. A cross-section drawing shows where the escapement tooth passes, but not the speed at which it drops nor the sound of the recoil. For the dynamics and the hand, you need to complement it with L'Horloger moderne by Hans Jendritzki, with the English-language treatises of George Daniels, or with a macro video resource capable of rendering the real movement.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy the 2022 edition of Théorie d'horlogerie?
From specialist watchmaking booksellers: Watchprint (Lausanne), Éditions Simonin, MisterChrono (France) or Selfor Paris. It is also distributed directly by the Fédération des Écoles Techniques (FET) in Switzerland.
Is there an English translation?
No, the work exists only in French. The English-language equivalents are the Watchmakers' & Clockmakers' Encyclopaedic Dictionary and the treatises of George Daniels, with a different approach (geometry rather than school vocabulary).
Can you learn watchmaking with this book alone?
No. It provides the theory and vocabulary, but watchmaking is a craft of the hand. It must be combined with bench practice, a training movement (typically the ETA 6497), and a resource that shows the real gestures — a mentor, a school, or instructional macro video.
That combination — a book for theory, video for the gesture — is exactly the method described in how to learn watchmaking online, and the structure of our online watchmaking course.
Want to move from reading to the bench? The Décalibre curriculum takes Reymondin's theoretical backbone and sets it in motion through 200 high-definition macro video modules: you finally see move what the book describes.