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Ferdinand Berthoud

The watchmaker from the Principality of Neuchâtel who became clockmaker-mechanic to the King and the Navy in Paris: author of the Encyclopédie’s article on horology and of over 4,000 pages of treatises, and builder of the sea clocks France sent on its great voyages.

Born 18 March 1727, Plancemont (Couvet), Principality of Neuchâtel, Died 20 June 1807, Groslay (Val-d'Oise)

In the history France and the science of horology

A seated elderly man in a wig and dark coat with a cross-shaped decoration, one hand on a table with a marine timekeeper in gimbals and dividers, a regulator clock behind him, above an inscribed label.
Ferdinand Berthoud, 'Horloger, Membre de l'Institut de France et de la Légion d'honneur', portrait signed Morel.4 Public domain (Time Museum). Cropped here. View full original at Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · 1,207 × 1,599 px; Public domain (opens in a new tab).
A time line of Ferdinand Berthoud’s life, 1727 to 1807.
Ferdinand Berthoud, 1727 to 1807. The dots are key dates.1, 2

From the Val-de-Travers to Paris

He came from a Protestant family of the Val-de-Travers in which, from his father's generation, the sons became clockmakers; he learned the trade from his brother Jean-Henry at Couvet from 1741 to 1745.2, 5

He went to Paris in 1745 to perfect his skills; the HLS names Julien Le Roy as his master there, the French Wikipedia Pierre Le Roy.1, 3

A royal council decision of 4 December 1753 made him a master watchmaker, as an exception to the guild's rules.2, 3

The Encyclopédie and the treatises

He wrote the Encyclopédie's article 'Horlogerie' and, from 1755, other articles on watchmaking for it.1, 3

His books ran to over 4,000 pages: L'Art de conduire et de régler les pendules et les montres (1759), the Essai sur l'horlogerie (1763), the Traité des horloges marines (1773), Les longitudes par la mesure du temps (1775), De la mesure du temps (1787), the Traité des montres à longitudes (1792) and the Histoire de la mesure du temps par les horloges (1802).1, 2

Sea clocks for the Navy

In 1763 the King sent him to London with Camus and Lalande to examine Harrison's H4; Harrison refused to show it. He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Society in 1764, and on a second visit in 1765 Thomas Mudge described H4's principle to him.1, 2, 3

His sea clocks nos. 6 and 8, proposed to the Navy minister in 1766, were tested on the corvette Isis between Rochefort and Saint-Domingue in 1768-69; no. 8 was tried again in 1771-72 under Verdun, Borda and Pingré.2, 6

A line engraving of an oval-dialled timekeeper on a box, held by a curved carrying handle, with lettered parts.
'Die Seetaschenuhr von Herrn Berthoud', Berthoud's marine watch in a carrying frame, from Geißler's Der Uhrmacher (Leipzig, 1797), plate VI fig. 2.7 Public domain. Cropped here. View full original at Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · 1,600 × 1,546 px; Public domain (opens in a new tab).

On 1 April 1770 he became clockmaker-mechanic to the King and the Navy, with a pension of 3,000 livres, the inspection of marine clock construction and an order for 20 sea clocks.1, 2, 3

Wikipedia records that his clocks went with the great expeditions: five sailed with Lapérouse in 1785 and were lost in the wreck at Vanikoro; four went with d’Entrecasteaux in 1791.2

His workshop was a family enterprise: his nephews Jean-Henry, who ran it, and Pierre-Louis (Louis), who came from Couvet in 1769, both joined him in Paris.5, 8

Later years and legacy

After the Revolution he lived at the Louvre on a state pension, was elected to the Institut national in 1795 and made a knight of the Légion d'honneur in 1804.1, 2

His marine clocks survive in public collections, among them no. 11 in the Musée des arts et métiers in Paris and no. 12 of 1774 in the Musée international d'horlogerie at La Chaux-de-Fonds.6

The French Wikipedia records that he died childless and that Louis Berthoud’s sons continued as ‘Berthoud Frères’. The name was revived as a watch brand owned by Chopard from 2007.3

Key dates

  1. 1753

    Made a master by royal favour.2, 3

  2. 1763

    Publishes the Essai sur l’horlogerie; goes to London to see Harrison’s H4.1, 2

  3. 1768

    Sea clocks nos. 6 and 8 tried on the Isis (to 1769).2, 6

  4. 1770

    Clockmaker-mechanic to the King and the Navy.1, 2

  5. 1773

    Traité des horloges marines.1, 2

  6. 1795

    Elected to the Institut national.2, 3

Where Ferdinand Berthoud leads

  • Developed, TechnologyThe marine chronometer

    His sea clocks were tried at sea in 1768-69 and supplied to the French Navy.2, 6

  • Based in, PlaceParis

    Worked in Paris from 1745, and after the Revolution lived at the Louvre.1, 2

  • Part of, HistoryFrance and the science of horology

    The Neuchâtel-born maker who wrote the trade’s treatises and built the French Navy’s sea clocks.1, 2

  • See also, PersonJohn Harrison

    Sent by the King to London in 1763 to examine Harrison’s H4, which Harrison would not show him.2, 3

  • See also, PlaceLa Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle

    The Musée international d'horlogerie says it has held Berthoud's marine chronometer No. 12 of 1774 since 1902.9

  • See also, PlaceThe Jura Arc

    Born and trained in the Val-de-Travers, Principality of Neuchâtel.1, 5

Facts and sources

Born
18 March 1727, Plancemont (Couvet), Principality of Neuchâtel1, 2
Died
20 June 1807, Groslay (Val-d'Oise)1, 2
Worked in
Paris, from 17451

Sources

  1. 1

    Berthoud, Ferdinand (opens in a new tab), Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS), Eric-André Klauser, independent

  2. 2

    Ferdinand Berthoud (opens in a new tab), Wikipedia, independent

  3. 3

    Ferdinand Berthoud (opens in a new tab), Wikipédia (FR), independent

  4. 4

    Ferdinand Berthoud, 'Horloger, Membre de l'Institut de France et de la Légion d'honneur', portrait signed Morel. (opens in a new tab), Wikimedia Commons, public record

  5. 5

    Berthoud (family) (opens in a new tab), Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS), Myriam Volorio Perriard, independent

  6. 6

    Chronomètre de marine / Horloge marine no 12 (IV-84) (opens in a new tab), Musée international d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, public record

  7. 7

    'Die Seetaschenuhr von Herrn Berthoud', Berthoud's marine watch in a carrying frame, from Geißler's Der Uhrmacher (Leipzig, 1797), plate VI (opens in a new tab), Wikimedia Commons, public record

  8. 8

    Louis Berthoud (opens in a new tab), Wikipédia (FR), independent

  9. 9

    Histoire (opens in a new tab), Musée international d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, independent

Sources read November 11, 2026.