Jean-Pierre Hagmann passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on the night of March 7, 2025 at the age of 84. With his passing, the watchmaking has lost the most important case maker of the last 50 years. He was a friend whom I first met some 35 years ago.

Born in Geneva in 1940 to a mechanic, Jean-Pierre was a living legend whose talent was evident from a young age. Jean-Pierre was an incredibly versatile and gifted precision machinist and craftsman. No mechanical problem was too difficult for him to tackle.

“If you have a complex mechanical problem, you have to break it down into many small steps,” he once told me. On another occasion, he said, “I’m lazy by nature, so I always look for the simplest and quickest technical solution, which is often the perfect one.”

After training as a jeweller at Geneva’s School of Fine Arts in 1956, Jean-Pierre didn’t want to go straight into the profession. His youthful curiosity and fervor led him to seek variety and adventure. Initially, he applied to Holiday on Ice, the iceskating theatre company, as a professional figure skater and taking the role of a clown. When that didn’t work out, he spent two years repairing coffee machines in the bistros of Geneva.

Later, he worked as a mechanic in a racing motorbike workshop. Jean-Pierre’s boss recognised his talent and introduced him to one of the most famous racing drivers of the time, Etienne de la Mar. With his technical finesse Jean-Pierre helped  the Frenchman win the European championship.

Even after that, motorcycling remained Jean-Pierre’s favourite hobby throughout his life.

The “JHP” hallmark, often found on the lugs

A career in case making

Before starting in his profession in 1972, Jean-Pierre quickly built a few sailing boats and giant model airplanes. He then worked for several years for well-known Geneva jewellery manufacturers such as Ponti Gennari and Gay Frères.

His career as a case maker began at the company Jean Ecoffey & Fils in Geneva, a manufacturer of metal watch bracelets and chains. Recognising his talent, the company’s management saw an opportunity to enter watch case manufacturing. In a short time, Jean-Pierre built up the necessary machinery and organized the automation of the work processes.

Around 1983, after a brief stint with the famous dial maker Stern Création, Jean-Pierre decided to open his own case-making workshop in Geneva. By now, he was known in the industry for taking on particularly challenging tasks, and he no longer had to worry about a lack of orders. His first customer was Svend Andersen, followed by Jean-Claude Biver who was then establishing a new brand known as Blancpain. In this way, Jean-Pierre also indirectly paved the way for the emergence of what we now know as independent watchmakers.

In the decades to come, he was to produce special cases for practically all major Swiss watch brands. His specialty were cases for minute repeaters, for which he had developed a unique feature that gave the watches an extraordinary sound. This innovation also led to a collaboration with Patek Philippe on cases for watches with complicated movements. Created for Patek Philippe’s 150th anniversary in 1989, the ref. 3974 with minute repeater and perpetual calendar is particularly well-known among collectors.

The Patek Philippe ref. 3974

Cases with the magical “JHP” stamp now enjoy a price premium in the collectors’ world. However, Jean-Pierre reached the pinnacle and absolute highlight of his career as a case maker with the production of the Star Caliber 2000. Launched at the turn of the millennium, the Star Caliber was a limited series of ultra-complicated pocket watches – five sets of four watches each with a double-sided display and numerous complications.

The Patek Philippe Star Caliber 2000

In 2016, Jean-Pierre sold his workshop to his long-standing customer Vacheron Constantin, which gave him the task of training a new generation of case makers.

After completing his mission, he went into temporary retirement before taking on the Herculean task of setting up the case workshop for the ambitious young watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi, founder of Akrivia, in 2019. Then aged almost 80, Jean-Pierre made the impossible possible in no time at all. Just months later, the first “JHP” cases were launched by Akrivia, starting with the Chronomètre Contemporain “Only Watch”.

Rexhep Rexhepi (left), and Jean-Pierre Hagmann

Recognition

The year 2024 was the year of public recognition and reward for Jean-Pierre, when he received accolades that that no other supplier in the watch industry has ever received.

First, in September 2024, he received the Prix Gaïa in the Artisanat et Création category that focuses on artisanal craft and creation. Considered by some to be the Nobel Prize of the watch industry, the Prix Gaïa is awarded annually by the MIH (International Museum of Horology) in La Chaux-de-Fonds to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to watchmaking in their lifetime. I had the honour of delivering the introductory speech for Jean-Pierre’s prize.

In his acceptance speech, Jean-Pierre said with pride and humility, “During my long career, I have improved practically every production step in the manufacture of handcrafted housings.

He added, “I’m probably the last case maker in Switzerland who still masters all the traditional production steps and methods.”

Jean-Pierre Hagmann at the 2024 GPHG

Just two months after this unique recognition, he received the Lifetime Achievement award at the 2024 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).

Two days before his death, I got a call from Jean-Pierre, who full of enthusiasm, telling me about his new workshop at the bracelet manufacturer Laurent Jolliet as well as a mandate to produce the case prototypes for a new collection soon to be launched by the revived Universal Genève.

But more than all his professional achievements, I will always remember Jean-Pierre as a generous personality, someone with high ethical and moral standards, and man for whom respect and recognition were more important than financial gain and professional success.

Au revoir Jean-Pierre.

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