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46SKILLSSKILLSS
The scent of leather
Jacques Bélat
Bernadette
Richard
Saddle-making is traditionally not a woman’s job.
Nonetheless, at La Montre Hermès in Brügg, near
Biel, the strap production workshop is entirely
staffed by members of the fairer sex. The heady
fragrance of oil and leather pervades the premises
where the 11 craftswomen dedicate their time, their
patience and their sense of finesse to performing
their incredibly high-precision tasks. On the other
side of the window, in the light-filled inner courtyard,
a rough sculpture of a horse evokes the origins
of the brand, an undisputed specialist in the
field of equestrian supplies.
Such is the working environment of Isabelle
Daucourt, who admits to being passionately interested
in leather: “I could have pursued higher studies,
but I was always crazy about horse-riding from
my childhood on and knew that I would need
a physical activity.” Born in Montbéliard and
schooled in Belfort, France, she tried her luck as a
CR
EAT
IVE
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| watch around no 006 autumn 2008 – winter 2009

KILLSSKILLSSKIL
Double feather-stitching strengthens the strap where it
joins the watchcase and buckle.
stable hand, and although she loved the environment,
she soon understood just how physically
testing it could be. She then found a job as a waitress
in Switzerland. “I was 17 years old and it
knocked some sense into me,” she says with a
broad grin. “I then went to Alsace to earn a CAP
(Certificate of Professional Aptitude) in customer
relations.” A born DIY fan and self-taught dabbler
in many different fields, she invented all manner of
techniques for working with wool, fabrics, leather,
making bags and other objects, while constantly
sketching whenever the opportunity arose. She
decided to enter the Ecole Boudard in the Doubs
region of France. The school fully lived up to her
expectations and made up for any remaining deficiencies
in her training. “It’s simply the best possible
training one could hope for in the field of saddlemaking
and leather goods,” she enthuses. “I was so
happy that I used to stay there in the evenings on
my own initiative, for the sheer pleasure of creating.”
While she was aware that Boudard was in contact
with Hermès, she hardly dared dream that some
day… and yet her hopes and dreams gradually
became steadfastly set in that direction.
From Peugeot to Hermès. Having completed her
training, she was offered jobs in industry, but wished
to remain a craftswoman. While waiting for the perfect
job to come along, she worked on the assembly
line at the Peugeot factories. “I spent days and
nights fitting screws and stamping metals, and still
found enough time and energy to work on leather at
home.” One day, a small ad caught her eye :
Montres Hermès is looking for leather goods workers
for its strap-making department which has just
been relocated to Switzerland. “When the Parisian
master leather-maker started to get involved in
watchmaking, it seemed pretty natural to set up in
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watch around no 006 autumn 2008 – winter 2009 |

SKILLSSKILLSSKI
Switzerland, the cradle of precision and thus the
best possible choice. In 2006, Hermès installed its
strap-making workshops in Brügg, to create a complete
environment for watches.” The hides are still
prepared in Paris, but they are cut for straps at La
Montre Hermès in Switzerland.
Isabelle duly applied and sailed through the job
interviews. She then underwent training at the
parent company in Paris before returning to
Switzerland, where she has now settled. “Hermès
stands for pure craftsmanship, a way of making
objects the way our grandparents used to.” Matching
her action to her words, she carefully sands down
the edge of a half-strap, after which she will craft
the other half – tasks that must be done in a specific
order – and then coats it with beeswax and
attends to the stitching, explaining as she goes a
foolproof way of preventing the thread slipping out
of the eye of the needle. She taps, smoothes the
surface and prepares the loops without ever touching
the material, which remains impeccably clean,
without the slightest trace of fingerprints. Finally,
she coats the edges with a fine layer of the strap
dye, thus setting the crowning touch to the visual
harmony and perfection of the finished item. There
are indeed as many shades of thread as there are
colours of leather, ranging from beige or white to
bright red or tangy green across a broad palette of
subtle hues.
At the end of the day, the strap is entirely handcrafted.
Achieving the finished product calls for an
infinite number of oft-repeated gestures performed
by nimble fingers that are sometimes accidentally
pricked by the needle. One might indeed say that
this work costs blood – that of the animals, and
then these tiny drops of blood from the artisans.
The occasional slip is part of the profession,
because the intricate dance of the needle is lively
by nature – and a sharp pain punishes its slightest
misdirection.
While offering a glimpse of the stock of leathers in
all kinds of demure or vivid colours – calfskin, snakeskin,
alligator, lizard and ostrich skin – Isabelle
Daucourt chats away about her various interests:
Espion, the 17 year-old horse she left behind in
France; Chopin, the cat who came along with her;
and of course her new dream of one day working in
the tiny Parisian atelier, the beating heart of Hermès,
pervaded by a wealth of familiar scents… •
Hand stitching with a saddle-maker’s pincers.
Stoning the skin rounds the edge.
Threading improves the edge, removes surplus glue and
highlights the stitching. The thread is applied hot at a temperature
that varies according to the leather.
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| watch around no 006 autumn 2008 – winter 2009