The life of Louis Moinet (1768 – 1853)
REPUTED WATCHMAKER, ARTIST AND ASTRONOMER
1768
Louis Moinet’s birth certificate, dated December 7th 1768.
1785
Louis Moinet studies in Bourges, and shows a keen early interest in horology and the arts.
1789
Louis Moinet travels to Rome and Florence to study Art.
1804
Louis Moinet begins teaching at the Ecole Supérieure des Arts in Bourges (1804 – 1806).
1815
« Moinet became a close advisor to Breguet; from that point on onwards, there was no longer any hesitation or a sense of trial and error: the science of horology took giant steps towards perfection. »
Le Siècle
1816
Louis Moinet invents the chronograph.
1823
Louis Moinet installs his precision instruments workshop at 32 Rue Meslay, near the Porte Saint-Martin, in Paris.
1825
“One of the most skilled and scholarly horologists of our time”.
— Le Siècle
1837
Louis Moinet founds and chairs the Société Chronométrique de Paris, within which the most interesting issues from an art-related standpoint are raised and debated by distinguished artists. It initially comprises 37 members.
1848
Louis Moinet publishes his Watchmaking Treatise.
1853
Louis Moinet died on May 21st 1853, in Paris, and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.
2018
Louis Moinet lives again in Bourges, with the inauguration of the Impasse Louis Moinet, right next to the house he occupied in the 1820s.
He was always precise, lucid, indulgent, illuminating the weak with support and encouragement, sharing his own light and knowledge without restriction or the slightest hesitation
— Delmas