A taste of freedom

We are standing on a rocky outcrop high above the Doubs. To our left and right, a surging sea of fir trees, wild and harmonious at the same time. A red kite circles overhead, whistling. With a smile, Jean-Sébastien Bolzli points to his watch, which is named after the bird of prey and features a stylised fir-tree motif on the dial. How fitting. We’ve joined the CEO of Aerowatch on a trail he usually runs. Even at a leisurely walking pace, the climb takes our breath away. 

Naturally, the main topic of conversation is the forthcoming closure of Beyer Chronometrie. Aerowatch, the likeable watchmaker from Saignelégier, has been manufacturing Beyer watches since 2003. In March, it delivered the last order to Zurich, a week before the bad news came. “We knew this day would come,” says Bolzli. “But we didn’t know when or in what form.” For Aerowatch, this marks the end of a chapter that went far beyond mere business: Jean-Sébastien himself worked as a watchmaker at Beyer for several years. And until his death, René Beyer was at Aerowatch’s side as a dedicated sparring partner and godfather.

FOLLOWING ITS OWN PATH

Financially, Aerowatch will get by; it operates internationally, is broadly positioned and has always grown using its own funds. Risks and dependencies are kept to a minimum; the company has never been one to overdo things anyway. “In the Franches-Montagnes, we’re a cautious bunch and, deep down, we’re all farmers,” says Bolzli. “We trust our soil and know where its limits are. We leave the pipe dreams to others.” Even when trail running, he doesn’t set his sights on breaking records, but takes the time he needs to keep it enjoyable. He often seeks out his own routes through the unspoilt countryside. “It’s not just about the path beneath your feet,” he says, “but also about the journey to yourself.” 

Rugged crags, enchanted forests, the glistening river: this sparsely populated high plateau is one of Switzerland’s last remaining havens in which nature still sets the pace of life and, in turn, shapes the people who live there. It’s no cliché to say that people here are more headstrong and freedom-loving than elsewhere. If Asterix, Obelix and the indomitable Gauls were to settle in Switzerland, the Franches-Montagnes would be the ideal place for them. 

Denis Bolzli, the father, is just such an Asterix-like character. As a child, he had to share a bedroom with six siblings. He joined the Swiss rail company as soon as he could just to escape the village, but felt homesick and came back again. He went on to become mayor, freedom fighter and member of parliament for the newly created canton of Jura. Later, when he was earning good money as a senior executive at a watch company, he didn’t treat himself to a Ferrari – no, he fulfilled a childhood dream and bought a country inn with cows and horses. And he acquired Aerowatch, a long-established manufacturer of pocket watches whose owner was looking for a successor.

He said to his children: “I can’t offer you the salary you would earn elsewhere. But I’ve got something better for you – a future.” All three came back: Jean-Sébastien, the extrovert, as Head of Marketing; Fred-Eric, the creative mind, as Workshop Manager; and Adeline, the organisational genius, as Head of Back Office. The three of them finally took over completely in 2024.

SURVIVAL IN THE FRANCHES-MONTAGNES

“It’s nice to watch it working out; I don’t take that for granted,” says Denis Bolzli, shrouded in the fragrant smoke from his tobacco pipe. We meet the 74-year-old in Muriaux, the village of 500 inhabitants where he served as mayor. He has a story to tell about every house, often about people who had to get creative to survive – like Coghuf, the painter, who sometimes could only pay with paintings. The farmers grumbled because you couldn’t buy anything with a painting. “But then they realised that art is enriching in other ways,” says Bolzli, with a telling smile, and goes on to explain how the municipality then set up a health insurance scheme for the village’s 53 children. For just one franc per child per month from the municipal funds, parents no longer had to worry about their children falling ill or having an accident. Bolzli observes: "That was perhaps the most important thing I ever did.”

 Driving through the Franches-Montagnes, it becomes clear just how much the region depends on the watchmaking industry: time and again, Denis and Jean-Sébastien Bolzli point to a house or a factory where specific watch components are manufactured. Most small businesses have long since been swallowed up by the big players in the industry; stories are fading, and family names are being forgotten.

THE BOLZLI FAMILYʼS FAVOURITE PLACES 
IN THE FRANCHES-MONTAGNES