Romain Gauthier trained at the Lycée Edgar Faure in Morteau (the historic French watchmaking school just over the Swiss border) and then specialised in CNC programming and component manufacturing for various Swiss manufactures through the 1990s and 2000s. He founded his eponymous brand in 2007, working from Le Sentier in the Vallée de Joux. His approach is unusual among modern independents in that he produces his own components in-house, including bridges, wheels, and many movement parts.
The Logical One (2013) is Gauthier's most-discussed piece: a chain-and-pusher constant-force system replaces the conventional going train's variable-torque output with a small fusée-style chain mechanism, and the user winds the watch via a pusher rather than a crown. The Insight Micro-Rotor (2017) places the winding rotor on the dial side as a design feature. The C by Romain Gauthier line, launched in the late 2010s, packages Gauthier's component-making expertise into more accessible references while retaining the manufacture's hand-finishing standards.
