CABINET (WORKSHOP)

In horology, the word “cabinet” covers two distinct meanings. It first refers to the small Genevan workshops active mainly in the 18th and 19th centuries: set up in the attics and top floors of buildings, particularly in the Saint-Gervais district, they benefited from abundant natural light thanks to their large windows, an indispensable condition for the meticulous work of Établissage.

It was in these workshops that the cabinotiers worked, independent craftsmen — polishers, watch assemblers, engravers, casemakers — working on commission on behalf of the merchant-watchmakers of the Genevan Fabrique, a dispersed production system characteristic of Swiss horology under the Ancien Régime.

The term then refers to the piece of furniture or case, generally made of wood, precious, that houses and protects the mechanism of a clock or a pendulum: the cabinet (workshop) of a longcase clock, a wall cartel, or a table pendulum, often richly decorated (marquetry, gilded bronzes, varnish), fully contributes to the value and aesthetics of the object.

In both meanings, the cabinet (workshop) thus refers to an enclosed and carefully finished space, whether it is the place where the watch was crafted or the case that showcases a movement of clockmaking.