Gay freres

Today, we investigate what is undoubtedly the most famous bracelet maker, Gay Frères, only to discover that the story goes far beyond watch bracelets. The characteristic Gay Frères engravings on the clasp. Oh, and the Bonklip and Patek beads-of-rice? Well, they were all original designs from a company named Gay Frères, a “chaîniste” established in and integrated by Rolex in It is, arguably, the parts supplier that had the biggest impact on today’s watches of all.

Time to have a closer look! The bracelet is a crucial part of. Whilst the horology-focused aspects are what make Gay Frères (GF) as famous as they are, the artisan jewellery that they made in the s and 70s is some of the most sought after by collectors. Throughout their long and illustrious history, Gay Frères manufactured bracelets for everything from conservatively designed dress watches of the s, to chunky and overtly sporty chronographs from the s.

If you’re a vintage watch collector, you’ve probably heard the name Gay Frères. The famed manufacturer produced bracelets for the likes of Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Rolex, who ultimately acquired Gay Frères in The condition of the case, the sharpness of the lugs, the purity of the dial.

But when the watch comes on what looks like an interesting bracelet, and the opportunity to find more clues arises, one might have found not just a rare watch, but a rare accessory too. If you pick up a vintage watch and engraved in the bracelet's clasp you are able make out the letters "G" and "F" and in between them the bust of a ram, there's a good chance the bracelet in your hands is original to the watch or at the very least from the same time period.

With time, the lines will have softened, the engravings likely will have become less visible. Like the names of those who once upon a time supplied the watch manufacturers, they have faded. But make no mistake, this is a bracelet from one of most renowned metalworkers of the 20th century. Not a bad way to get your foot into the door when it comes to watches, right?

These were extendable, supremely comfortable and robust. The style was popular at the time and other companies were capable of supplying the same design to Rolex and they did! This advertising underlines one of the benefits of the Bonklip, namely its ability to fit different wrist sizes.

Over the course of the 20th century, the company was able to offer products that perfectly captured the various fashions of the day, using steel, gold, and platinum to create bracelets in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Those made during the Art Deco period were particularly impressive in their variety and outstanding in their artistry. While across the border the French maison Cartier proved its sense of style during the s and s, so did the Geneva-based bracelet-maker.

During the s and s, the company supplied Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin , two of its closest neighbors, with bracelets that matched the quality of the watches to which they were fitted. The beads-of-rice pattern proved its versatility at Patek, which paired it with simple stainless steel Calatravas and rose gold perpetual calendars alike.

gay frères jewelry

The same references in precious metals? The from Patek Philippe, introduced in , was Patek's first perpetual calendar with chronograph, ever. Being able to adapt a design from one realm into another was critical. A Heuer Ref. Sold last year by Phillips for CHF 40, This is the case for several models, including early Carreras and Autavias — but not the Monaco, which used a Novavit S.

NSA bracelet. Heuer, like Rolex, had several suppliers. The ladder bracelet in particular has become something of a Zenith icon, to the point where some don't even know it's a GF design. In the s, the delicate balance between elegant and powerful design attracted some of the more established grands marques , including former clients such as Patek Philippe, but also watchmakers who had never worked with steel.

Before the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet had been a manufacturer of complicated dress watches, all of them in precious metals, and so it relied heavily on GF's expertise with non-precious metals for the design of the first integrated bracelet. Same went, four years later, when Patek Philippe launched the Nautilus. As pocket watches lost grounds to wristwatches, those chainistes had to adapt and offer bracelets in addition to chains those that survived, of course — many simply went out of business.

Obviously, one could say that those prestigious pieces allowed GF to better showcase the craftsmanship it could achieve, sort of how the automotive industry creates concept cars, but truthfully this was not an anecdotal production made just for the show. Very funky examples from , the smaller piece of jewelry getting an award that year for its innovative treatment of gold for the round endings.

Or, as one veteran explained, even the finishing of the Royal Oak bracelet felt easy in comparison to regularly making one of those pieces, on which several qualified workers would successively intervene. And you have to know that the slightest mistake often meant the item would need to be melted down and the process would have to be started all over, which definitely gives one a new appreciation for teamwork.