Concepto Marks 20 Years of Movement Making

Concepto Marks 20 Years of Movement Making The Jaquet comeback.One of the leading names in movement development, Concepto marks its 20th year in 2026. Concepto’s founder, Valérien Jaquet, has led the company since its founding in 2006, advised by his father, Jean-Pierre Jaquet, a fabled watch entrepreneur with a controversial history. Now a vertically integrated manufacture capable of creating and producing almost every part of a watch, Concepto is one of the rare handful of movement suppliers that have survived and prospered over the economic cycles of the watch industry. Some of its peers have gone bust, like Christophe Claret, while others, like La Fabrique du Temps, have been acquired by the industry’s giants. The company released a statement for its 20th anniversary that reveals some interesting facts about a little-known but crucial aspect of the industry — the specialist suppliers that feed watch brands with movements. Concepto remains a family business boasting some impressive numbers: according to the company, last year’s sales exceeded CHF60 million while output was some 30,000 movements, including about 1,100 tourbillon calibres. According to Concepto, its client list exceeds 100 brands. The list includes names large and small — the firm helped Bulgari set the record for the world’s thinnest tourbillon, while Jacob & Co. tapped Concepto for the V-16 engine automaton in the Bugatti Tourbillon wristwatch. Even Bugatti itself turned to Concepto for the mechanical instrument panel of its latest hypercar. Other clients range from Louis Vuitton to Ressence, and even some high-profile, newly established independent brands rely on Concepto, albeit quietly. The breadth of Concepto’s client base was on show at its 20th anniversary party in June 2026. Amongst the attendees were Jean-Christophe Babin, the former chief executive of Bulgari; Jacob Arabo of the eponymous jeweller; Franck Muller, making a rare appearance at an industry event; and Carlos Rosillo, cofounder of Bell & Ross. Concepto’s success is attributable to both the quality of its work and its investment in production, even during slower years. Many brands speak well of Concepto and Valérien Jaquet, and trust the company to deliver as promised — something that’s not always a given when it comes to specialist suppliers. According to Concepto, its ability to deliver is the result of an ever-growing manufacture. In the decade from 2012, the brand expanded its facility twice and quadrupled its stock of machine tools. Now it has 183 employees — twice the 2012 number — including 30 watchmakers and six prototypists. The company says it debuts 10 new calibres each year, with a particular speciality in tourbillons and chronographs. According to Concepto, it has designed over 50 tourbillon movements of every conceivable sort, from one to four axes, flying, bridged, and even cantilevered. Its most famous tourbillon is probably the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra, the slimmest tourbillon ever at just 1.85 mm including the case and crystal. Concepto’s focus on the two complications echoes that of its spiritual predecessor, Jaquet, a pioneering enterprise in the manufacture and supply of complicated movements. It was founded by Jean-Pierre Jaquet after he acquired a specialist supplier and later transformed it into Jaquet in 1992. Jaquet quickly became one of the go-to suppliers amongst the emerging haute horlogerie successes at the time, including Franck Muller, Ulysse Nardin, and Girard-Perregaux. Mr Jaquet himself even became a shareholder in The British Masters, an attempt to revive historic English marquees Graham, Arnold & Son, and Tompion. Jaquet’s best known products were arguably its chronograph movements, which included multiple iterations of the Valjoux 7750. Most notably, Jaquet was the first to upgrade the 7750 by replacing its cam with a column wheel. Jaquet also began making historical Venus chronograph movements from scratch, including the Venus 179 split-seconds. It unravelled in 2003 amidst a spiralling scandal known as the “Jaquet Affair” that saw more than a dozen people convicted and sent to jail for crimes relating to the watch industry, including the production of counterfeit watches and theft of gold bars. In 2008, Jean-Pierre Jaquet was sentenced to four and a half years behind bars, but was released early in 2009 on appeal. Jaquet was renamed La Joux-Perret (LJP) in 2005 after his fellow shareholders acquired Mr Jaquet’s stake in the firm. But the Jaquet name has been redeemed by Valérien Jaquet and Concepto. While Concepto and LJP are unrelated companies, they are comparable in terms of employees and revenue. Concepto embodies Jaquet’s 1990s speciality with its focus on pricier, complicated movements, while the firm’s commercial successor, LJP, operates at scale and produces a great number of simple calibres. Back to top.