====== Capt, Edmond ======
**Edmond Capt** is a watchmaker famous for designing the [[Valjoux 7750]] and many other movements, notably at [[Frédéric Piguet]]. In all, Capt is said to have created 32 different watch movements, more than any other watchmaker.

===== Biography =====
Edmond Capt was born in [[1946]] in [[Le Brassus]], a small village in the [[Vallée de Joux]], home of [[complicated]] Swiss watchmaking. He attended watchmaker's school in nearby [[Le Sentier]] in [[1962]] and engineering school in [[Geneva]].

===== Valjoux =====
Upon completing his education in [[1969]], Capt went to work at [[Rolex]] in Geneva for a hear before moving to [[Valjoux]] in [[Les Bioux]], close to his birth place. This company was famous for making complicated watch movements, especially [[chronograph]]s, and Capt was assigned to work on their next-generation mass-market [[automatic chronograph]] movement. Capt was a key member of the team that created a new derivative of the low-cost [[Venus 188]] movement that used cams rather than a traditional [[column wheel]] to actuate the chronograph timers. The [[Valjoux 7750]] family was related to the [[Valjoux 7730]] but included [[automatic]] winding and ran at a modern frequency of 28,800 A/h. This was Capt's focus from [[1971]] through [[1974]], and the project relied on computer assisted design (CAD), the first movement designed in this way.

Released on July 1, [[1974]], the Valjoux 7750 had a short life in the 1970s before being overshadowed by [[quartz]] technology. Production ended the following year, but so many were built in that short time that supplies lasted into the 1980s. Because the designs and tooling was preserved, the company would re-start production in [[1985]] under new owner [[ETA]] and Capt's design would live on as one of the most successful watch movement designs of all time. It remains in production today, and the [[assortment]] and [[wheel train]] are the basis of derivative high-end movements from many brands.

===== Frédéric Piguet =====
Capt left Valjoux in [[1978]] to become Technical Director at [[Frédéric Piguet]], turning down a similar offer to lead [[Peseux]]. Located in nearby [[Le Brassus]], this firm specialized in high-end movements, supplying [[Cartier]], [[Ebel]], and (after they purchased the brand in [[1981]]), [[Blancpain]]. Capt's initial task was to initiate production of high-end quartz movements for these customers. He created the 6.75 ligne Cal. [[FP 620]] for Cartier and Ebel, 8.25 ligne Cal. [[FP 820]] for Audemars Piguet, and 8.25 Cal. [[FP 8310]], which included a date and sweep seconds hand. He also created the slim Cal. [[FP 18]] for Audemars Piguet, a mechanical movement. Later, Capt was key in creating the first Swiss quartz chronograph, the so-called [[Meca-Quartz]] movement.

Once Blancpain was purchased by company owner [[Jacques Piguet]] and [[Jean-Claude Biver]], Capt was asked to develop "six masterpieces" of mechanical watchmaking. Capt began by re-creating the historic [[moon phase]] Cal. [[FP 65]] and smaller [[FP 63]] that would become the signature of Blancpain. He also created thin and compact movements, Calibres [[FP 810]] (hand-winding) and [[FP 951]] (automatic with date) for time-only watches in [[1985]]. Next, Capt's team developed the slim integrated automatic chronograph movement, Cal. [[Piguet 1185|FP 1185]], which remains one of the most important such movements today and is used by many brands, including [[Blancpain]].

Capt's team next focused on novel [[complication]]s to set Blancpain apart. Using a concept from [[Vincent Calabrese]], the team created a [[tourbillon]] movement, first for [[Gérald Genta]] but later an 8-day version for [[Blancpain]]. The hand-winding Cal. [[FP 23]] [[tourbillon]] was the smallest ever created.

===== Nouvelle Lémania =====
When [[SMH]] acquired [[Frédéric Piguet]] and [[Blancpain]] in [[1992]], Capt left the company to become Technical Director of [[Nouvelle Lémania]]. Located nearby in [[L'Orient]], Lémania was a historic high-end movement maker spun off by [[SSIH]] in [[1981]], at the same time Blancpain was sold. It had been purchased by [[Investcorp]], who also bought [[Breguet]], and was paired with that famous brand much the same as Frédéric Piguet and Blancpain.

His stint at Nouvelle Lémania lasted just two years before he was lured back to Frédéric Piguet to become General Director of his former employer. While there, Capt continued development of many of the movements he had pioneered in the 1980s. He combined the [[tourbillon]] and [[chronograph]] in Cal. [[FP 2383]], which is also available with a [[flyback]] and [[rattrapante]] complication.

Many of Capt's Capt's later movements set records for compact dimensions. The 6.75 ligne Cal. [[FP 610]] measures just 2.10 mm thick and powers the new generation of [[Blancpain Ladybird]] watches from the 1990s. A related automatic movement, Cal. [[FP 615]] is just 3.70 mm thick. The 10.5 ligne [[minute repeater]] Cal. [[FP 33]] is just 3.30 mm thick, or 4.85 mm for the automatic [[FP 35]]. For Lémania, Capt developed the 8.75 ligne Cal. 7875, and Breguet also got the world's smallest automatic chronograph, the 10.5 ligne Cal. 1050. He also created an oblong movement for Breguet, Cal. 7875, which includes moon phase and power reserve at the side.

In [[1999]], [[Swatch Group]] purchased [[Breguet]] and [[Nouvelle Lémania]]. Formerly known as [[SMH]] and holding company for [[Frédéric Piguet]] and [[Blancpain]], Swatch Group would closely couple the paired companies, with Frédéric Piguet becoming [[Manufacture Blancpain]] and Nouvelle Lémania becoming [[Manufacture Breguet]]. Capt was appointed General Director of both Manufactures, overseeing high-end watchmaking for [[Blancpain]] and [[Breguet]], and supporting the development of movements for sister company [[Jaquet Droz]] as well.


{{tag>Biographies Le_Brassus}}