Pere Bouhelier A native of Saint Julien, a small village near Charquemont, in Franche Comte, where his surname was very common. Although mostly farmers, the population made cylinder escapements in winter-time, for both the French and the Swiss makers. It is interesting to note that the few watches known from this maker are all constructed with this very unusual calibre and all set with the same type of straight line lever escapement. Very few watches made by Pere Bouhelier are known to exist. Two were discussed in Horlogerie Ancienne, bulletin of the A.N.C.1--I. A., another was sold by Antiquorum, Geneva, 20 October 1991, lot No. 54, and another, Antiquorum, Geneve, October 12, 1996. These watches were made with a very special primitive calibre, each of special design. It was difficult to decide whether he was ahead of his time, technologically speaking, or behind. As Pere Bouhelier was a priest who emigrated to England during the French Revolution, it is most likely that he learned how to make the lever escapements during his enforced exile based on his own trial and error.